Question

Write an algebraic expression for the phrase: ‘Sum of 11 and k’.

Answer 1

In a question like we simply take the phrase or the statement and word by word simplify that into a mathematical expression. While doing so we shall get a better understanding of it and we shall never be confused by the ambiguous set of words, if there is any.

Complete solution step by step:
Firstly, we write down the phrase which is given in the question i.e.
“Sum of 11 and k” Now we break it up to simplify and get some mathematical elements out of it.

For that we break it into two parts like this and try to combine the two like this -
“Sum of…” - This part means that we are supposed to add the terms written after this part.
“11 and k” - This part means that two numbers 11 and an arbitrary number ‘k’ will be added.

Now we combine the two parts by putting an addition sign (+) between the two numbers 11 and k and let this expression as $A$ and then write it in this manner -
$A = 11 + k$ So we have $A$ as our algebraic expression; where $k$is an arbitrary number (so it can be any number).

Note: In real life, problems are not present in mathematical terms so we have to translate and simplify these in mathematical language to understand the phenomenon and reach a result A Statement translation into mathematical expressions is the heart and soul of problem solving in mathematics.