As part of a school science project, Jacob bought some bulbs for a total of $18. The cost of each bulb was $3. How many bulbs did Jacob buy?
Write an equation with a variable and state what the variable represents.
What do you think? I'll be glad to check your answer.
Well 18 / 3 = 6 would give the answer but that does not have a variable so I really don't know how to do this.
I'm glad you tried. Now I understand your thinking.
b = the variable representing the number of bulbs he bought.
3b = 18
Thank you!
You're welcome.
6b
To solve this problem, let's create an equation with a variable.
Let's represent the number of bulbs Jacob bought with the variable "x".
The cost of each bulb is given as $3. So, the total cost of the bulbs can be found by multiplying the cost per bulb ($3) with the number of bulbs bought (x):
Total cost of bulbs = Cost per bulb × Number of bulbs
Since Jacob bought bulbs worth a total of $18, we can write the equation as:
$18 = $3 × x
Now, we have an equation with a variable where "x" represents the number of bulbs Jacob bought.