Coach ramirez bought 8 cases of bottled water for a road race there are 24 bottles in each case after the race 34 bottles of water were left how many bottles were used at the race

(24 x 8 ) -34 = 192 -34 = 158 
158 bottles of water were used at the race

It's like discovering the answer to a puzzle. the purpose in solving an equation is to find the value or values of the variable that makes it a true statement. any value of the variable that makes the equation true is called a solution to the equation.