Solving EquationsWhat will happen if you add or subtract an
equal amount of weight on both sides of the scales?Solving
equations is like balancing scales, we must always keep the sides
equal.Solving equations is just a matter of undoing operations that
are being done to the variable.In a simple equation, this may mean
that we only have to undo one operation, as in the following
example.Example 1In an equation which has more than one operation,
we have to undo the operations in the correct order. We start with
the operation the farthest away from the variable.Example 2Example
3Example 4Example 5Example 6Example 7Suppose there are variables on
both sides of the equation. The trick now, is to get the variables
on the same side by adding or subtracting them.Example 8Just watch
what happens6n + 17 = 5 + 4n6n = 12 + 4n2n = 12 17 17 4n 4n 2 2n =
66n + 17 = 5 + 4n6n + 12 = 4n12 = 2n 5 5 6n 6n 2 2n = 66n + 17 = 5
+ 4n2n + 17 = 52n = 12 4n 4n 17 17 2 2n = 6It doesnt matter where
you start14Example 9Example 10Example 11Example 12Example 13Example
14Example 15Example 16Example 17Example 18
