Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Stealing the Same

March 28, 2017

A letter from the two sides of an equation, forgiving a student for subtracting 17 from both sides.

Use this cartoon

Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.

Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2017-03-28-stealing-the-same/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Transcript

"Dear Student, We're sorry for getting so angry that you stole $17 from us. We didn't realize you'd stolen the same from each of us; that's actually perfectly fair. Yours, The Sides of 7x = 77 (previously 7x + 17 = 94)"

Student: "Equation culture is weird."

Topics
Algebra › Solving EquationsAlgebra › Linear EquationsNumber & Arithmetic › Subtraction
Level
Middle SchoolHigh School
Themes
Student LifeVisual ExplanationsLanguage & Wordplay