Video Transcript
William and Michael were playing a video game. Michael scored 58959 more points than William. If their combined score was 86905, write and solve an equation to determine William’s score.
Our first step is to let a letter, in this case 𝑘, be William’s score. As Michael scored 58959 more points than William, his score is 𝑘 plus 58959. Their combined score was 86905. Therefore, when we add William’s score to Michael’s score, we’ll get an answer of 86905. Our equation is therefore 𝑘 plus 𝑘 plus 58959 is equal to 86905.
In order to solve this equation, we firstly need to group or collect like terms. 𝑘 plus 𝑘 is equal to two 𝑘. We therefore have two 𝑘 plus 58959 is equal to 86905. Subtracting 58959 from both sides of this equation gives us two 𝑘 is equal to 27946. Finally, dividing both sides of this new equation by two gives us a value of 𝑘 equal to 13973.
This means that William’s score was 13973. We could calculate Michael’s score by adding 58959 to William’s score. 13973 plus 58959 is equal to 72932. We can then check that these two scores add up to 86905.
