Question

the brown family has many pairs of athletic shoes. they counted p pairs altogether. they decided to give away 6 pairs, because they had outgrown them. after giving 6 pairs away, the brown family still has 11 pairs of athletic shoes remaining. write an equation to describe this situation. how many pairs of shoes did the brown family start with?

Explanation:

Step1: Define the initial number

Let the initial number of pairs of shoes be \( p \).

Step2: Set up the equation

They gave away 6 pairs, so the number of pairs remaining is \( p - 6 \). And we know the remaining pairs are 11. So the equation is \( p - 6 = 11 \).

Step3: Solve for \( p \)

To find \( p \), we add 6 to both sides of the equation: \( p = 11 + 6 \).

Step4: Calculate the result

\( 11 + 6 = 17 \), so \( p = 17 \).

Answer:

The equation is \( p - 6 = 11 \), and the Brown family started with 17 pairs of shoes.