Example

Translating a Rectangle's Length as '1414 less than the width'

Word problems often describe one quantity in terms of another using phrases that must be translated into algebra. For example, translating the phrase "1414 less than the width" to an algebraic expression for the length of a rectangle:

If we let ww represent the width of the rectangle, we can substitute ww for "the width" to get "1414 less than ww." Rewriting "less than" as "subtracted from" gives "1414 subtracted from ww." Translating this into algebra results in the expression w14w - 14.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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