Question

During the past month, you withdrew $22 from your savings account and then deposited $24. If your balance at the end of the month is $120, how much did you have in your account at the beginning of the month?

Answer 1

Answer:

You had $118 the beginning of the month.

Step-by-step explanation:

Method 1:

Work the question backwards

You end up with $120, which resulted from depositing (or adding) $24,

So subtract that amount to see how much there was before the deposit

So before the deposit, you had $120 - $24, which is $96.

The $96 resulted from withdrawing (or subtracting) $22.

So add that amount to see how much there was before the withdrawal.

So before the withdrawal, you had $96 + $22, which was $118

Method 2:

Look at the difference between the withdrawal and deposit.  Treat a withdrawal as a negative number since you are subtracting, or reducing the amount in the account.  Treat any deposit as a positive number since you are adding to the amount in the account.  

You withdrew 22, and deposited 24.  Reword this as

You subracted 22 and added 24.    Rewrite this as

-22 + 24    which simpifies to 2

So you added $2 overall during the month.  You have $120, so

$120 - $2 is $118