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Algebra · Linear equations

Chapter 1 · 4

The idea

Solving linear equations

Why an equation is a balance, why every move must be the INVERSE operation applied to both whole sides, and how brackets and unknowns on both sides fall to the same two moves.

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Algebra · Linear equations

Solving linear equations

Why an equation is a balance, why every move must be the INVERSE operation applied to both whole sides, and how brackets and unknowns on both sides fall to the same two moves.

Why it works

An equation is a balance

An equation is a balance. 3x−7=113x - 7 = 11 says: the two sides are the same number. Anything done to one whole side must be done to the other, or the balance — and the information — is destroyed. Solving is peeling the xx free one operation at a time, always by the inverse:

3x−7=11  ⇒  3x=18  ⇒  x=63x - 7 = 11 \;\Rightarrow\; 3x = 18 \;\Rightarrow\; x = 6

Divide the WHOLE side

From 3x+6=183x + 6 = 18, dividing by 3 gives x+2=6x + 2 = 6 — every term gets divided. (Cleaner: subtract 6 first.) Halving only the 3x3x breaks the balance.

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The rest of the explanation, plus 2 worked examples you step through move by move.

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