Example

Example of Translating into an Equation in a Word Problem

To successfully translate a word problem into a mathematical equation, it is beneficial to first condense the critical information into a single sentence. For example, if you know the total weight of newspapers collected over two months is 5757 pounds, and the second month's collection weighed 2828 pounds, you can summarize this step-by-step as: "Weight of newspapers the 1st month plus the weight of the newspapers the 2nd month equals 5757 pounds," which simplifies to "Weight from 1st month plus 2828 equals 5757." By assigning the variable ww to the unknown first month's weight, this phrase converts directly into the algebraic equation w+28=57w + 28 = 57.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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