To translate the statement into an equation, you follow what Joe does step by step:
1. Joe thinks of a number, which we'll call "n".
2. Joe trebles the number, which means to multiply it by 3. So we have "3 n".
3. Joe then subtracts 5 from the result of tripling the number. So we have "3 n - 5".
4. The result after subtracting 5 is 22. So we can write that as an equation:
3 n - 5 = 22
Now we can solve this equation step by step.
Step 1: Add 5 to both sides of the equation to isolate the term with "n" on one side.
3 n - 5 + 5 = 22 + 5
Simplifying both sides gives us:
3 n = 27
Step 2: Divide both sides of the equation by 3 to solve for "n".
(3 n) / 3 = 27 / 3
Simplifying both sides gives us:
n = 9
So the number Joe was thinking of is 9.
