Translate this statement into an equation: M has five times as many quarters as s.

M has 5 times as many quarters as
S.

To convert thi above  statement into an equation  we
proceed as follows:

First we pressume  M have  x quarters
and S have y quarters.

By the information that M has 5
times as many quarters as S has, we get a relation between x and
y:

x = 5y .

Here x and y are
two variables.

The equation is also called the linear
equation, as the varibles are in degree 1.

The other
equivalent relations (or equation) are:

x-y = 0 , or y-x =
0 , or  0 = x-y.

To solve  x and y we need two indepedent
equations.