5 Effective Strategies for Improving Your Math Warm Up Activities ... - Free Printable

This is a fun math puzzle where we need to assign numerical values to different fruits and solve for the unknown value represented by "?". Let's break it down step by step.

Step 1: Analyze the given equations

We are given four equations involving different fruits. Let's define variables for each fruit:
- Let \( C \) represent the coconut.
- Let \( W \) represent the watermelon.
- Let \( S \) represent the strawberry.
- Let \( O \) represent the orange.

The equations are:
1. \( C + W + C = 21 \)
2. \( 10 = S + 4 + S \)
3. \( S + O = 8 \)
4. \( 14 = C + O \)

We need to find the value of \( ? \) in the final equation:
\[ S + C + W + O = ? \]

Step 2: Solve each equation one by one

#### Equation 1: \( C + W + C = 21 \)
This simplifies to:
\[ 2C + W = 21 \tag{1} \]

#### Equation 2: \( 10 = S + 4 + S \)
This simplifies to:
\[ 10 = 2S + 4 \]
Subtract 4 from both sides:
\[ 6 = 2S \]
Divide by 2:
\[ S = 3 \tag{2} \]

#### Equation 3: \( S + O = 8 \)
Substitute \( S = 3 \) into this equation:
\[ 3 + O = 8 \]
Subtract 3 from both sides:
\[ O = 5 \tag{3} \]

#### Equation 4: \( 14 = C + O \)
Substitute \( O = 5 \) into this equation:
\[ 14 = C + 5 \]
Subtract 5 from both sides:
\[ C = 9 \tag{4} \]

Step 3: Solve for \( W \) using Equation 1

From Equation 1:
\[ 2C + W = 21 \]
Substitute \( C = 9 \):
\[ 2(9) + W = 21 \]
\[ 18 + W = 21 \]
Subtract 18 from both sides:
\[ W = 3 \tag{5} \]

Step 4: Find the value of "?"

Now we know the values of all the fruits:
- \( C = 9 \)
- \( W = 3 \)
- \( S = 3 \)
- \( O = 5 \)

The final equation is:
\[ S + C + W + O = ? \]
Substitute the known values:
\[ 3 + 9 + 3 + 5 = ? \]
Add the numbers:
\[ 3 + 9 = 12 \]
\[ 12 + 3 = 15 \]
\[ 15 + 5 = 20 \]

Thus, the value of "?" is:
\[
\boxed{20}
\]