Subtract 14 from 17: Using Base-10 Blocks to Find Remaining Quantity

Question

If we have 17 blocks in total and we remove 14 of those blocks, how many blocks remain? Remember you can break down a row of 10 blocks into single units.

Step-by-Step Solution

We need to determine how many blocks are left after removing a certain number from a total.

First, let's identify the given figures:

  • Initial number of blocks: 17 17
  • Number of blocks removed: 14 14

The formula for finding out how many blocks remain is subtraction:

Remaining Blocks = Total Blocks - Blocks Removed

Substituting the given numbers into this formula:

Remaining Blocks = 1714 17 - 14

We perform the subtraction:

1714=3 17 - 14 = 3

Therefore, after removing 14 blocks from the total of 17, we find that the number of blocks remaining is 3\mathbf{3}.

Answer

3 3