One of your classmates was absent on the day that you learned how to write and solve an equation from a contextual situation. Your teacher has asked you to explain the four steps and their application to the problem that follows.

Natasha stole three fewer bases than twice the number Elena stole. If Natasha stole 15 bases, how many did Elena steal?

Using the four steps from this lesson, write and solve an equation to find the number of bases Elena stole.

Elena stole 9  bases.

Step-by-step explanation:

Using the give information, we will represent the number of bases that Natasha sold by the variable x and the number of Bases Elena stole by the variable y.  

If Natasha stole three fewer bases than twice the number Elena stole, the we can represent that by the equation   x = 2y - 3      

And it also says that Natasha stole 15 bases so we can also represent that by the equation   x= 15

x = 2y -3  

x= 15    

Now using both equations substitute the value for x in the second equation into the first equation and solve for y so find out the number of bases Elena stole.

15 = 2y - 3       Add 3 to both sides

+3          +3

18 = 2y              Divide both sides by 2

y = 9    

if a = 1,   and b = 2, then the answer is 47.99999999. if you round that to the nearest whole number, the answer is 48.