Question

Maria does 500 Newton-meters of work moving books from one table to another. The total force is 100 Newtons. How far were the books moved?
100 meters

500 meters

5 meters

unknown

Answer 1

Work is calculated using the formula:
$W=Fd$

Where:
W=Work
F = Force
d = distance

Now your problem gives you the following:
W=500 Newton-meters
F=100 Newtons

The trick with problem solving is you put in what you know and solve for the unknown.
So using the formula, you can solve for your missing distance:

$W=Fd$
$500 Newton-meters=(100 Newtons)d$

To get d, you need to isolate it on one side of the equation. It is beside force, so you need to move the to the other side. Transpose it and use the  opposite operation.

$500 Newton-meters=(100 Newtons)d$
$\frac{500 Newton-meters}{100 Newtons}=d$
$5 meters=d$

The books were moved 5 meters.