Question Video: Solving One-Variable Equations Embedded in a Real-Life Context Mathematics • 7th Grade

Video Transcript

William paid 130 dollars to subscribe to a sports club. The rate for renting a squash court is 30 dollars per round. Since he was a student, he got a 20-dollar discount per round. Given that William spent 360 dollars, use the equation 360 equals 30𝑔 minus 20𝑔 plus 130 to determine how many rounds of squash he played, where 𝑔 is the number of rounds.

So we’re to use this equation to help determine how many rounds of squash he played. And 𝑔 will represent the number of rounds he played. So let’s solve for 𝑔. First, we needed to take 30𝑔 minus 20𝑔, which equals 10𝑔. Now we need to subtract 130 from both sides of the equation. And 130s cancel on the right. And 360 minus 130 is equal to 230. So now we’re to divide both sides of the equation by 10. And we find that 𝑔 is equal to 23. So William was able to play 23 rounds of squash.

Now before finishing, it was great that they gave us the equation to use. But let’s make sense of the equation. Right away, William had to pay 130 dollars just to subscribe to the sports club. And the rate for renting the squash court was 30 dollars per round. But because he was a student, he got a discount of 20 dollars per round. So we need to subtract 20𝑔. And then it says, altogether, William spent 360 dollars. So that’s why we’ll say equal to 360. So after solving for 𝑔, we found that the number of rounds William could play would be 23.