To win the annual read-a-thon at his school, Miguel has to read more books than any of his classmates over winter break. He starts by reading a lot of sports books. Then, he reads $8$ mystery books. In all, Miguel reads $24$ books for the read-a-thon. Which equation can you use to find the number of sports books $n$ Miguel reads?

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Solve linear equations with variables on both sides: word problems

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Q. To win the annual read-a-thon at his school, Miguel has to read more books than any of his classmates over winter break. He starts by reading a lot of sports books. Then, he reads

8

mystery books. In all, Miguel reads

24

books for the read-a-thon. Which equation can you use to find the number of sports books

n

Miguel reads?

Reads $24$ books: Miguel reads $24$ books in total.
Reads $8$ mystery books: He reads $8$ mystery books.
Let $n$ be sports books: Let $n$ be the number of sports books.
Total books equation: $\text{Total books} = \text{sports books} + \text{mystery books}$
Solve for $n$ : So, $n + 8 = 24$
Final result: Solve for $n$ : $n = 24 - 8$
Final result: Solve for $n$ : $n = 24 - 8n = 16$