Kaplan Nursing Entrance Practice Exam

The phrase "9 less than the number of volunteers last month" can be represented as what?

1. v + 9

2. v - 9

3. 9 - v

4. v/9

The correct answer is: v - 9

The phrase "9 less than the number of volunteers last month" describes a mathematical operation where you take the total number of volunteers, represented by 'v', and subtract 9 from it. In this expression, "less than" indicates that the number of volunteers is being reduced by 9. Thus, you start with the value of 'v' and perform the operation of subtraction. This aligns directly with the expression 'v - 9,' which effectively captures the original phrase. The other options do not appropriately represent the phrase as they either add 9 or manipulate the number in a way that does not reflect the instruction to decrease by 9. Therefore, 'v - 9' is the accurate representation of the original statement.