What does it mean when it says Evaluate the equation: 17 + 3y = 38

Question

what does it mean when your asked this question ?

Answer 1

It means they want you to find the solution to the equation.  i.e. they want you to find out what 'y' equals.

 

So if the equation is,

17 + 3y = 38

We can subtract 17 from both sides of the equation:

17 + 3y = 38

17 - 17 + 3y = 38 - 17

3y = 21

Now we can divide both sides of the equation by 3 to get 'y' on it's own:

(3y)/3 = 21/3

y = 7