Question 93479
Gunther paid for 6 cds at a special 2for1 sale. The cd's that he got at the sale brought the total number of cd's in his collection to 42. How many cd's did he have before the sale? 
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Let "x" be the number of cd's he had before he bought 6 more.
EQUATION:
x + 6 = 42
x = 36
Before the sale he had 36 cds.
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Now, if you think he paid for 6 cds and actually received 12 because of the
2 for 1 sale the equation would be different:
EQUATION in that case
x + 12 = 42
x = 30 cds

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Take your choice on those two interpretations of the wording of the problem.
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Cheers,
Stan H.