Solve for X: Finding Camila's Balls When Total is 16 and Difference is 8

Question

The total number of balls found by David and Camila is 16.

David finds 8 more balls than Camila.

Work out how many balls are found by Camila.

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Define the variable for Camila's balls.
  • Step 2: Set up an equation to sum their findings.
  • Step 3: Solve the equation for Camila's ball count.

Now, let's work through each step:

Step 1: Let x x be the number of balls Camila finds.
Step 2: According to the problem, David finds 8 more balls than Camila, so he finds x+8 x + 8 balls.
Therefore, the equation representing the total number of balls is:
x+(x+8)=16 x + (x + 8) = 16 .

Step 3: Simplify and solve for x x :

x+x+8=16 x + x + 8 = 16

Combine like terms:

2x+8=16 2x + 8 = 16

Subtract 8 from both sides:

2x=8 2x = 8

Divide both sides by 2:

x=4 x = 4

Therefore, the number of balls found by Camila is 4 4 .

Answer

4 4