Jerome's teacher gave him a homework assignment on solving equations. Since he's been thinking about saving for a used car, he decided to use the assignment as an opportunity to model a savings plan.
He already has $500, and he plans to save $375 every month. To model the situation, he created this equation, where y represents the total
amount saved for the car and x represents the number of months since he started saving:
500 + 375x = y.
He then solved the equation to determine how many months he would need to save to have enough to purchase the car. Review his work, and
select the error.
Justification
500 + 375x=y
1: given
2: addition property of equality
3: simplification
4: division property of equality
5: simplification
6: substitution, y = 3,500
7: simplification
Step 1:
Step 2: 500 +375x -500 = y- 500
Step 3:
375x = y-500
3751
- 500
Step 4:
375 -1 375
y - 500
Step 5:
375
3,500 - 500
Step 6:
Step 7:
X8
375