Justin and Sabrina at Pine Grove Elementary have 50 pencils combined. Justin has 8 more than twice as many pencils as Sabrina. How many pencils does Sabrina have? Think carefully first, then make a decision:
Let's say Sabrina has p number of pencils. If Justin has 8 more than twice as many pencils as Sabrina, he has 2 * p + 8 = 2p + 8. Together, Justin and Sabrina has p + (2p + 8) = 50. This is equal to 3p = 50 - 8. 3p = 42. The number of pencils that Sabrina has is p = 42 / 3. Sabrina has p = 14 pencils. So, the answer is 14.