Question

Ms. Green has 18 pencils at her desk. Students borrow some of the pencils, and 6 pencils are left at the end of the school day. How many pencils were borrowed.1. x-6=182. 18- x=63. 18+6=x4. x- 18=6

Answer 1

The pencils at first were 18. Students borrow some and this number is not given, but we can call this number x (that is, unknown).

6 pencils are left at the end of the day, and this means;

$\begin{gathered} 18-x=6 \\ \text{Collect all like terms and you'll have} \\ -x=6-18 \\ -x=-12 \\ \text{Multiply both sides by -1 and you'll have,} \\ -x(-1)=-12(-1) \\ x=12 \end{gathered}$

That means 12 pencils were borrowed.

Also answer option 2 is the correct equation to arrive at the correct answer