Question

How do you translate “5 less than a number” into a mathematical expression?

Answer 1

Hint: In the given question, we have been given a phrase. We have to translate that phrase into its mathematical expression. To do that, we just simply read from left to right and step by step translate the information we are encountering into its mathematical counterpart. We are going to write the given phrase in our main working area, assume any variable to be the given number and apply the given information’s operations on that number.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The given phrase is:
5 less than a number
Let the given number be \[x\].
Now, we have been given that this expression evaluates “five” less than the given number, hence,
\[x - 5\]
Thus, when “5 less than a number” is translated into mathematical expression, it reads as
\[x - 5\]

Note: In the given question we had been given a phrase. We had to translate that given phrase into a mathematical expression, which correctly shows the relation of the given expression. To do that, we first assumed a variable, a variable which represented the “number” given in the question. Then, we read from left to right and applied the information to that number.