Question
Keisha had $54 when she went to a book store. She had $12 left after buying some books. Which equation can be used to find a, the amount Keisha spent on books?
The equation that can be used to find the amount Keisha spent on books is:
$54 - a = $12
To find the amount Keisha spent on books, we can use the equation:
Amount Keisha had - Amount Keisha spent = Amount Keisha had left
Let's denote the amount Keisha spent on books as "a". The equation can be written as:
$54 - a = $12
So, the equation that can be used to find "a", the amount Keisha spent on books, is:
54 - a = 12
To find the amount Keisha spent on books, we need to set up an equation. Let's break down the information given:
Keisha started with $54.
After buying books, she had $12 left.
We can create an equation by subtracting the amount Keisha has left from the amount she started with. Let's call the amount she spent on books "a". Using this information, the equation will be:
54 - a = 12
In this equation, "54" represents how much money Keisha started with, "a" represents the amount she spent on books, and "12" represents the money she had left after buying books.
Now, we can solve this equation to find the value of "a", which is the amount Keisha spent on books.
By subtracting 12 from both sides of the equation:
54 - 12 - a = 12 - 12
After simplifying, we get:
42 - a = 0
To isolate "a", we can subtract 42 from both sides:
42 - a - 42 = 0 - 42
Which simplifies to:
-a = -42
Finally, we can solve for "a" by multiplying both sides of the equation by -1:
(-a) * (-1) = (-42) * (-1)
This gives us:
a = 42
Therefore, the amount Keisha spent on books, "a", is $42.