a Isolate the variable on one side of the equation.
B
b Gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side.
C
c Gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side.
D
d Gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side.
E
e Check your solutions by substituting them into the original equations.
A
a x=4
B
b x=4
C
c x=4
D
d x=4
E
e See solution.
Practice makes perfect
a To solve an equation we should first gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side by using the Properties of Equality. In this case the variable term is already on the left-hand side of the equation, so we just need to isolate it.
b To solve an equation we should first gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side by using the Properties of Equality.
c To solve an equation we should first gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side by using the Properties of Equality.
d To solve an equation, we should first gather all of the variable terms on one side of the equation and all of the constant terms on the other side by using the Properties of Equality.
In this case, we need to start with the Distributive Property to simplify the left-hand side of the equation.
Since the left-hand side is equal to the right-hand side, our solution is correct.
Coclusion
Observing our solutions, we notice that all of our answers are the same. Why is that? Notice that from Part A to Part D we are solving the same equation! It looks different because it is transformed using the Properties of Equality and the Real Numbers Properties. Let's see how it's done!
