Question

When we subtract 5 from a number x and divide the answer by 7 the result is 23 times less than x. Find x

Answer 1

The unknown number is x, and when we subtract 5 from this we would have;

$x-5$

When we divide the answer by 7, that translates to;

$\frac{(x-5)}{7}$

The result is 23 times less than x, therefore we would have;

$\frac{(x-5)}{7}=x-23$

We can now solve the resulting equation as follows;

$\begin{gathered} \frac{(x-5)}{7}=x-23 \\ \text{Cross multiply and you'll have;} \\ x-5=7\times(x-23) \\ x-5=7x-161 \\ \text{Collect all like terms and you'll have;} \\ -5+161=7x-x \\ 161-5=6x \\ 156=6x \\ \text{Divide both sides by 6} \\ \frac{156}{6}=\frac{6x}{6} \\ 26=x \\ \text{Therefore,} \\ x=26 \end{gathered}$

ANSWER;

The value of the number x, is 26