Question

Oliver is thinking of a number. He multiplies it by 5, subtracts 26, and then divides by 6. He then multiplies his original number by 3, and gets the same answer. Find Oliver's number.

Answer 1

Answer:

-2

Step-by-step explanation:

Let Oliver's number be x.

He multiplies it by 5:

x * 5 = 5x

He then subtracts 26:

5x - 26

Then, he divides by 6:

$\frac{5x - 26}{6}$  

He then multiplies his original number by 3, and gets the same answer.

This implies that:

$\frac{5x - 26}{6} = 3x$

Let us simplify this:

$\frac{5x - 26}{6} = 3x\\\\5x - 26 = 3x * 6\\\\5x - 26 = 18x$

Collecting like terms:

$5x - 18x = 26\\\\-13x = 26\\\\=> x = \frac{26}{-13}\\\\x = -2$

Oliver's number is -2.