Question

Donnel practiced the piano 3 hours longer than Marcus. Together they practiced the piano for 11 hours. How many hours did each boy practice??

Answer 1

Here is the equation: $x+(x+3)=11$ ⇒$x+x+3=11$


You need to get "x" by itself so minus 3 from each side

$x+x+3-3=11-3$ ⇒ $x+x=8$ ⇒ $2x=8$

Divide 8 by 2

$8$ ÷ $2=4$

x=4

So each 4 is equivalent to 4 

Lets check:

$4+(4+3)=11$ ⇒ $4+4+3=11$ ⇒ $11=11$

So that means that Marcus practiced the piano for 4 hours and Donnel practiced for 7