Question

A football player caught the ball and made a gain of 8 yards on the first play. On the next play the team lost 12 yards. How many yards do they need to gain on the next play to get back to their original position?

Answer 1

Answer:  The number of yards needed to gain on the next play to get back to their original position is 4.

Step-by-step explanation:  Given that a football player caught the ball and made a gain of 8 yards on the first play. On the next play the team lost 12 yards.

we are to find the number of yards needed to gain on the next play to get back to their original position.

Let, x be the number of yards that the team had originally.

So, on first day, the number of yards of the team is given by

$(x+8)~\textup{yards}.$

On the next play, the team lost 12 yards, so the number of yards had on the second play will be

$(x+8)-12=(x-4)~\textup{yards}.$

Let 'k' be the number of yards  needed to gain on the next play to get back to their original position.

So, we must have

$(x-4)+k=x\\\\\Rightarrow k-4=0\\\\\Rightarrow k=4.$

Thus, the number of yards needed to gain on the next play to get back to their original position is 4.

Answer 2

The football player would need to gain 4 yards in order to get back to their original position.