Someone claims, “No matter what number you choose, if you add \(5\), double the result, and then subtract twice your original number, the answer is always \(10\).”
a) Test the claim by writing and simplifying an expression.
b) After the doubling step, how could you change the remaining directions so that the final result is always the original number \(x\), rather than \(10\)? Give one possible rule.
Hints
- Write one expression for the original rule.
- Simplify to see why the result does not depend on \(x\).
- After doubling, compare \(2x+10\) with the desired result \(x\).
- What terms must be removed so that only \(x\) remains?
Solution
1. The expression for the claim is \(2(x+5)-2x\).
2. Distributing and combining like terms gives \(2x+10-2x=10\), so the claim is true.
3. After doubling, the expression is \(2x+10\). To leave only \(x\), subtract \(10\) and subtract one copy of \(x\).
4. One possible revised ending is: subtract \(10\), then subtract the original number. Algebraically, \(2x+10-10-x=x\).
Answer
a) \(2(x+5)-2x=10\), so the claim is true.
b) One possible rule is: after doubling, subtract \(10\), then subtract the original number. This gives \(2x+10-10-x=x\).