Exercise 1 Page 8

Inverse operations are operations that undo each other. They are used in solving equations to isolate a variable.

Adding and subtracting

Addition and subtraction are inverse operations. Consider the equation below. On the left-hand side we have x plus 2. Subtracting 2 from both sides undoes the addition of 2 to x. x+2&=4 x+2 - 2 &= 4 - 2 x &= 2

Multiplication and division

Similarly, multiplication and division are inverse operations. Consider the equation below. On the left-hand side we have x multiplied by 4. Dividing by 4 on both sides undoes the multiplication of x by 4. 4x &= 12 [0.8em] 4x/4 &= 12/4 [0.8em] x& =3