Question

Ming had some candy to give to her five children. She first took three pieces for herself and then evenly divided the rest among her children. Each child received four pieces. With how many pieces did she start? You write the following equation to express this situation: c-3/5=4 What does the expression "c-3" represent in this situation?

Answer 1

C-3/5=4

c-3/5*5=4*5 (We do this to get ride 5 so we can simplify to just 3)

c-3=20
  +3 +3
c=17