Name: Susan
Who is asking: Student
Level: Secondary
Question:
I'm having a little trouble solving these equations for x. I can't seem to separate x fully from the other numbers. Please help! Here are the problems:
(2x-1)/(x-2)(x 2+3) = 0 and
y/(x+1)=z/x
Hi Susan,
If the first problem is
You can multiply bothe sides by the denominator to get
2x - 1 = 0
or
x = 1/2
When you multiply both sides of an equation by some quantity you do need to ensure that the quantity you multiply by is not zero. The denominator, (x-2)(x 2+3) is zero only is x = 2 and we found that x = 1/2, hence we did not multiply by zero.
If the first problem is
then multiply both sides by (x-2) to get
(2x - 1)(x 2 + 3) = 0
and solve for x.
For the second problem
multiply both sides by x+1 to get
Next multiply both sides by x. At this point you can simplify and isolate x from the other variables.
Penny