Basic Arithmetic : Linear Equations with Whole Numbers

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Basic Arithmetic

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Example Questions

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Example Question #11 : Linear Equations With Whole Numbers

Solve for .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Start by adding 10 to both sides of the equation.

Then, divide both sides by .

Example Question #1 : Solving Equations With Whole Numbers

Solve for :

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, add  to both sides of the equation:

Then, divide both sides by :

Example Question #1 : Solving Equations With Whole Numbers

If , what is  equal to?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When solving an equation, we need to find a value of x which makes each side equal each other. We need to remember that  is equal to and the same as . When we solve an equation, if we make a change on one side, we therefore need to make the exact same change on the other side, so that the equation stays equal and true. To illustrate, let's take a numerical equation:

If we subtract  from each side, the equation still remains equal:

If we now divide each side by , the equation still remains equal:

This still holds true even if we have variables in our equation. We can perform the inverse operations to isolate the variable on one side and find out what number it's equal to. To solve our problem then, we need to isolate our  term. We can do that by subtracting  from each side, the inverse operation of adding :

We now want there to be one  on the left side.  is the same thing as , so we can get rid of the 6 by performing the inverse operation on both sides, i.e. dividing each side by :

 is therefore our final answer.

 

Example Question #1 : Solving Equations With Whole Numbers

Solve:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The answer is . The goal is to isolate the variable, , on one side of the equation sign and have all numerical values on the other side of the equation.

Since  is a negative number, you must add  to both sides.

Then, divide both sides of the equation by :

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