In this scenario:

• Initially, let $x$ represent the total number of students in the club.

Given that:

• The students are divided into 5 groups, meaning there were $x$ students at the start of the activity.
• After 7 students left, only 3 students remained to finish the activity.

The relationship can be set up as follows:

$x - 7 = 3$

Solving for $x$ will give us the total number of students that were originally present before 7 students left. So here, $x$ represents the initial total number of students in the club before anyone left early.

Would you like me to go through the solution in detail or answer any related questions?

Related Questions

1. How would we calculate the original number of students in the club?
2. What if the number of groups was different—how would that affect the value of $x$?
3. If more students left, how would we represent that mathematically?
4. Can you explain why we set up the equation as $x - 7 = 3$?
5. How can we verify our solution after finding $x$?

Tip: When interpreting word problems, identifying what each variable represents is crucial for setting up the equation accurately.