The phrase is equal to divides the sentence into what should be on the left-hand side and what should be on the right-hand side of the equation.
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Practice makes perfect
Every equation has an equal sign and values or expressions on either side of it. Key phrases such as is,is equal to, and equals tell us about the placement of the equal sign.
fourteen less than three times a number = 40
On the left-hand side, we have two key phrases: less than and times. These words tell us the operations that will be used in our equation. Less than indicates subtraction, while times indicates multiplication. If we call x a number, we can write the first part of our equation.
fourteen less than three times a number
3x - 14
On the right-hand side, we are given only one value, which is 40. Putting these sides together, we have a complete equation.
3x- 14 = 40
Finally, we can solve the equation we have written. We will do this by using inverse operations and following the Properties of Equality.
