Algebra/Solving Equations

Solving Equations

Solving equations is very easy. Take any ordinary equation, such as:

2x+7=13

It may look tough, but when broken down, it is very simple. All you have to do is take it step-by-step, and perform opposite operations on each side. Opposite operations are operations that cancel each other out, such as addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division. So, the first step would be to get rid of that annoying "+7", so you subtract seven from both sides, like so:

2x+7-7=13-7
2x=6

(You may leave out the first step shown in the gap above as you get better, but beginners may want to add that step in.) Now you have a fairly simple equation. What number multiplied by two will give you six? Why, three, of course! If you didn't get that, you may want to go backward a few years. But how did you get that? Think. You divided six by two. And that's what you do:

2x/2=6/2
x=3

The goal of solving one equation is leave the variable alone. Solving equation is possible by using 1 step (+, - *, /) or 2 step ( a math operation combination) or more than 2 steps.

Once you get good at some basic equations, you may want to tackle equations with variables on both sides, like this:

7x+3=5x+7

To do that, simply bring all the x's over to one side and solve like a normal equation.

7x-5x+3=5x-5x+7
2x+3=7
2x+3-3=7-3
2x=4
2x/2=4/2
x=2

Well, good luck!