Question 294642
yAlgebra is all about unknown quantities.

They can be expressed as alphabets,  x  , y , a, b . They are called variables.

If i say I have x apples. Then i may have 1 or 2 or 3 or 10 . You cannot define how many i have in numbers.

Suppose you have x nuggets. I give you 20 nuggets. Then you have x+20 nuggets.

If i say x= 10 . Then you have 10+20 nuggets.


Suppose I have y cherries and I give you 10 of them. Then I have y-10 cherries balance with me.

But if I say y=100. Then I have 100-10 cherries balance with me. I have 90 cherries.


Now your problem


the rose bush costs x dollars

the lilac bush costs $ 2.50 less than the rose bush.

So the lilac bush costs x-2.50 dollars.

( if x= 7.50 then the liliac bush costs 7.50-2.50 = 5 dollars.)


A troop has to plant x bushes. They have already planted 8 of them.

So the remaining bushes they have to plant will be x-8.


Hope I was of some help. Always ready