John read the first 114 pages of a novel, which was 3 pages less than 31 of the novel. If p is the total number of pages in the novel, which of the following equations best describes the situation?
Q. John read the first 114 pages of a novel, which was 3 pages less than 31 of the novel. If p is the total number of pages in the novel, which of the following equations best describes the situation?
Define Total Pages: Let's denote the total number of pages in the novel as p. According to the problem, John read 114 pages, which is 3 pages less than one-third of the total number of pages. To express this situation mathematically, we can write the equation:31×p−3=114
Equation Setup: To find the equation that represents p, we need to isolate p on one side of the equation. First, we can add 3 to both sides of the equation to get rid of the subtraction of 3 from one-third of p:31×p−3+3=114+3
Addition to Eliminate Subtraction: Simplifying both sides of the equation gives us: 31×p=117
Simplify Equation: Now, to solve for p, we need to multiply both sides of the equation by 3 to cancel out the division by 3 on the left side:3×(31×p)=117×3
Isolate p to Find Total Pages: This simplifies to: p=351