Item 18 You and your friend gather 56 apples. You gather 29 apples. Let a be the number of apples your friend gathers. Write an equation you can use to find a. $$

56=29+a

Step-by-step explanation:

So 2 people gathered apples. That means there will be 3 numbers in the equation you are trying to make.

One number will be the amount of apples you gathered.

(as said, 29)

One number will be the amount of apples your friend gathered.

(you do not know this, so it will be a variable)

The last number will be the amount of apples you AND your friend gathered.

(as said, 56)

Since 56 is the amount of apples you and your friend gathered, its is equal to both other numbers combined.

to say that 56 is equal to both your apples and your friend's apples, you would say:

56 = 29 + a

(a is the variable)

To use this equation to find a, you would subtract 29 from both sides. It should look like:

27 = a