Math

Equations with variables on both sides.

Definition

These are equations where the variable appears on both the left and right sides. To solve, collect all variable terms on one side and all constants on the other by using inverse operations.

How it works · 5 phases

Step by step.

  1. Use the distributive property if needed to clear parentheses
  2. Move all variable terms to one side by adding or subtracting
  3. Move all constant terms to the other side
  4. Combine like terms and solve for the variable
  5. Check your solution by substituting back
Examples

Real-world.

  • 1 5x + 3 = 2x + 12 → 3x = 9 → x = 3
  • 2 4(x - 1) = 2x + 6 → 4x - 4 = 2x + 6 → x = 5
  • 3 Comparing two phone plans: 30 + 0.10m = 50 + 0.05m
Related terms

Tangled up with.

Multi-step equations → Combining like terms → Distributive property →
Studied in

1 unit use this concept.

Algebra 1 Solving Linear Equations →