Gianna paid $4.75 for a strawberry smoothie. She now has $12.35. How much money did Gianna have before she bought the smoothie?
The variable, m, represents the amount of money . The problem uses difference to help determine the amount of money Gianna started with, so it is a problem. The correct equation to solve this problem is .
This is right because to find the amount she had before you know it had to have been subtracted from the total she had before she bought the smoothie. Therefore once solved this equals 17.10.