Exercise 41

If 17 is added to a number, then 5 is subtracted from the sum, and the resulting difference is multiplied by 4, the result is 132. What was the original number?

  1. 10

  2. 12

  3. 19

  4. 21

  5. 31

Try to solve it before checking the answer.
  1. 21

If \(x\) is the original number, we have:

\[ \begin{aligned} &4 \left[ (x + 17) – 5 \right] = 132 \\[.5em] &\hspace{5em}\Rightarrow 4 (x + 17) – 20 = 132 \\[.5em] &\hspace{5em}\Rightarrow 4x + 68 – 20 = 132 \\[.5em] &\hspace{5em}\Rightarrow 4x = 84 \\[.5em] &\hspace{5em}\Rightarrow \boldsymbol{ x = 21 } \end{aligned} \]
\[ \begin{aligned} 4 \left[ (x + 17) – 5 \right] = 132 &\Rightarrow 4 (x + 17) – 20 = 132 \\[.5em] &\Rightarrow 4x + 68 – 20 = 132 \\[.5em] &\Rightarrow 4x = 84 \\[.5em] &\Rightarrow \boldsymbol{ x = 21 } \end{aligned} \]