Question

Mike scored 38 points in the first half of the basketball game, and he scored p points in the second half of the game. Write an expression to determine the number of points he scored in all. Then, find the number of points he scored in all he scored 20 points in the second half of the game.

Answer 1

38 + p

He scored 58 points total if she scored 20 in the second half

Adding up the number of the points earned in the first half (38) and the number of points earned in the second half (p) will give you the total points.

If he scored 20 points in the second half of the game, then you can change the expression to:

38 + 20

Because now you know what he scored in both the first half and the second half. Then you can add them together to get the answer of 58

Answer 2

Ok, so if you want to find the total number of points that Mike has scored, you just need to take your 2 values and add them up.  This has to be an expression which means that there is no equals sign.  

A) Your expression will just be 38+p.  This gives you the total

B) Using A, we can say that if 'p' is 20 then the total is 38+20=58.  So the total is 58 points.