Two young mathematicians examine an equation.
- Devyn
- Riley, I have a question.
- Riley
- What’s on your mind?
- Devyn
- Suppose we have three exams.
- Riley
- Ok.
- Devyn
- On the first, I scored 74/100, and on the second I scored 84/100.
- Riley
- Not bad! What’s the question, though?
- Devyn
- What do I need to get on the third exam to average an 82% overall?
- Riley
- To find the average of three numbers, you add them and divide the sum by three.
- Devyn
- Yes, but how do I figure out how to get an 82%?
Let’s call Devyn’s score on midterm 3 as . According to Riley, Devyn’s exam average would be
In order to determine what score Devyn needs on his last exam,they will need to setup and solve an equation involving this expression.