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Teacher, Derbyshire
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
"Used this as a plenary question to a year 8 lesson on solving equations with x on both sides. Good challenge both in setting up the equation and then solving it."
Teacher, Surrey
Thursday, January 26, 2012
"When checking answer, it only works on non-scientific calculators as they do not apply BIDMAS!!"

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This starter has scored a mean of 1.9 out of 5 based on 169 votes.

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Answers

This question is best answered by forming an algebraic equation then solving it. Let Makayla's original number be x.

First operation gives 2x

Second operation gives 2x- 2

Third operation gives 3(2x- 2)

Fourth operation gives 3(2x- 2) + 38

This is equal to 10 times the original number

3(2x - 2) + 38 = 10x

6x- 6 + 38 = 10x

...

x = 8

Makayla's original number was 8.

Note to teacher: Doing this activity once with a class helps students develop strategies. It is only when they do this activity a second time that they will have the opportunity to practise those strategies. That is when the learning is consolidated. Click the button above to regenerate another version of this starter from random numbers.


	Teacher, do your students have access to computers? Do they have Laptops in Lessons or iPads? Whether your students each have a TabletPC, a Surface or a Mac, this activity lends itself to eLearning (Engaged Learning).

Here is the URL for a concise version of this page without comments or answers.

Transum.org/go/?Start=April11

Here is the URL which will take students to our eQuation Generator which provides unlimited practice solving linear equations.

Transum.org/go/?to=eQuation