At the carnival alana gave away 26 ride tickets ti her friends. she now has 57 tickets left. let x be the number of tickets that alana started with. write an equation describing this situation that could be used to find the value of x

X-26=57
57+26=x

Either could work because one showed the process of her giving out the tickets the other just adds what she has left and what she gave away.

The equation is x - 26 = 57

Explanation: X represents your total in the problem. Then since Alana gave away 26 ride tickets that would be -26. Which means the total (x) minus the amount given away equals how many tickets she has left. 

Solve: 
x - 26 = 57
  + 26  +26 
        x = 83 
 
Instructions:
1) You want x alone so you do the opposite of the symbol. So if it's subtracting you add, if you divide you multiply, if you multiply you divide, and if you add you subtract.
2) When you do one thing on one side you must do it to the other side.
3) So -26+26 cancel out which = 0. Add 26 with 57, 57+26=83 so on one side of the equal sign you have x and on the other side, you have 83. So x = 83.

Equation: x - 26 = 83

I hope this was understandable. :)