Video Transcript
In 2016, Mississippi and Georgia
had a total of 21 electoral votes. If Mississippi had six electoral
votes, solve the equation six plus 𝑔 equals 21 to find the number of electoral
votes that Georgia had 𝑔.
Here, we’ve actually been given an
equation: six plus 𝑔 equals 21. And our goal is to solve for
𝑔. To solve for 𝑔, we want to get the
𝑔 by itself. We want to isolate this 𝑔
variable. To do that, we’ll need the inverse
property of addition, which tells us that any value if you add its opposite equal
zero. To get 𝑔 by itself, we want to get
rid of the six. And we can do that by subtracting
six. Six minus six equals zero. But we also know that to keep both
sides of this equation equal, if we subtract six from one side, we must subtract six
from the other side. On the left, it would be zero plus
𝑔. Or we can write that simply as
𝑔. And on the right, 21 minus six
equals 15. And so, we found that 𝑔 equals
15. It’s worth checking to make sure
that that’s true. Is six plus 15 equal to 21? Yes, it is. This tells us that 𝑔 is in fact
15. So, Georgia had 15 votes and
Mississippi had six votes.
