Question

You made two deposits to your bank account this month. One deposit was $24.61, and the second deposit was $16.49. Your balance at the end of the month is $72.31, and you made no withdrawals. Write and evaluate an expression for your balance at the beginning of the month.

Answer 1

First you have to find out how much money you have put in this month, so you need to add your two deposits together. 

24.61 + 16.49 = $41.10

Now we know that this month you put $41.10 in your account, but there is a total of $72.31 in your account. Now you need to subtract what you put in this month to your total amount.

72.31 - 41.10 = $31.21 was your balance at the beginning of the month.