Solving Equations Made Simple
The secret to solving equations is remembering one golden rule: change side, change sign. When you move a number from one side of the equals sign to the other, you flip its operation to the opposite.
Here's how the opposites work: addition becomes subtraction, subtraction becomes addition, multiplication becomes division, and division becomes multiplication. It's like the operations are best mates who always do the opposite of each other!
Let's see this in action with some examples. If you have x + 3 = 20, move the +3 to the other side and it becomes -3, giving you x = 20 - 3 = 17. Similarly, x - 7 = 11 becomes x = 11 + 7 = 18.
For trickier equations like 2x - 7 = 11, work step by step. First, deal with the -7 by changing it to +7 on the other side: 2x = 11 + 7 = 18. Then tackle the multiplication by dividing both sides by 2: x = 18 ÷ 2 = 9.
Top Tip: Always work through equations step by step - deal with addition and subtraction first, then handle multiplication and division. This keeps everything neat and prevents silly mistakes!