Solving Two-Step Equations: Find the Missing Variables

1. Sarah has some apples. If she buys 5 more apples and then has a total of 12 apples, how many apples did she start with? (Let x be the number of apples Sarah started with.)

• 7

• 3

• 5

• 10

2. A book costs $15. If you have $x and you buy 3 books, how much money will you have left? (Translate this into an equation.)

• x - 60

• x - 45

• x + 15

• x - 30

3. Tom is x years old. In 5 years, he will be 3 times as old as he is now. How old is Tom now?

• 15

• 5

• 10

• 2

4. A box contains x candies. If you eat 4 candies and then have 10 left, how many candies were in the box originally?

• 14

• 10

• 12

• 8

5. Lisa has x dollars. She spends $8 and then has $20 left. How much money did she have at the start?

• 24

• 28

• 30

• 18

6. A car travels x miles. If it travels 15 miles more and then has gone 50 miles in total, how far did it travel initially?

• 35 miles

• 40 miles

• 25 miles

• 45 miles

7. A gardener plants x flowers. If he plants 10 more flowers and then has 30 flowers in total, how many flowers did he plant at first?

• 15

• 20

• 25

• 35

8. A movie ticket costs $12. If you buy x tickets and spend $60, how many tickets did you buy?

• 5

• 7

• 6

• 4

9. A recipe calls for x cups of sugar. If you use 2 cups and then have 3 cups left, how many cups of sugar did the recipe require?

• 7 cups

• 6 cups

• 5 cups

• 4 cups

10. A train leaves the station with x passengers. If 5 more passengers board and the total becomes 25, how many passengers were on the train initially?

• 10

• 30

• 20

• 15