SOLUTION: The difference between 8 times and number of 5

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Question 1182872: The difference between 8 times and number of 5
Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, greenestamps:
Answer by ikleyn(52790) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

It is not a complete English statement.

We can not consider it as a meaningful text.



Answer by greenestamps(13200) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


I will assume the statement is supposed to be "the difference between 8 times a number and 5",

The important part of this problem is to note the formal mathematical definition of "difference".

In everyday English, the difference between 5 and 10 is 5, and the difference between 10 and 5 is 5. That's because the usage does not distinguish between the larger and smaller number; the "difference" is taken to be a positive number.

That can't be the case in formal mathematics. In mathematical language, the "difference between A and B" is A-B. So in mathematical language, the difference between 5 and 10 is 5-10 = -5, while the difference between 10 and 5 is 10-5=5.

So your (corrected) statement is the difference between 8n and 5, which is

ANSWER: 8n-5