Worksheet 2.
2 Solving Equations in One Variable
Section 1 Simple Examples
You are on your way to Brisbane from Sydney, and you know that the trip is 1100 km. You
pass a sign that says that Brisbane is now 200 km away. How far have you travelled? We can
see the answer quickly, but we shall write the information down in the form of a mathematical
expression. Let x be the distance travelled so far. Then
x + 200 = 1100
This is the information that we are given. To find the answer we are to solve an equation in
one variable, x.
x + 200 = 1100
x + 200 − 200 = 1100 − 200 subtract 200 from both sides
x = 900
The middle step emphasizes what we do in the calculation. We wanted x by itself on one side
of the equation, so we subtracted 200 from each side of the equation. An equation is like a
balancing beam in the sense that if you do anything to one side of the equation, you must also
do it to the other.
Example 1 : If x + 2 = 3, what is x? Clearly, x = 1, but again we follow through
the calculation.
x+2 = 3
x+ 6 2− 6 2 = 3 − 2
x = 1
Example 2 : If x − 5 = −12, what is x?
x− 6 5+ 6 5 = −12 + 5 adding 5 to both sides
x = −7
Example 3 : Solve for x in −8 = −10 + x.
−8 = −10 + x
−8 + 10 = −10 + x + 10
x = 2
In each of the above calculations, we worked on the equation by trying to get x on one side and
all the rest of the expression on the other side. This is a basic method for solving equations
in one variable. To simplify the expression involving x we simply undid whatever was done to
x by applying the opposite arithmetic operation to leave us with just an x on one side. Most
importantly, we need to remember that whatever we do to one side of the equation, we must
do to the other. For example, if we subtract 5 from one side of the equation, we must subtract
5 from the other.
Exercises:
1. Solve the following equations:
(a) x + 9 = 20 (f) m + 6 = −4
(b) x − 8 = 10 (g) m − 7.1 = −8.4
(c) x + 1.6 = 2.4 (h) t − 2.4 = −1
3
(d) x − 4
= 1 12 (i) x + 1 21 = 2
(e) y − 2 = −8 (j) y + 80 = 120
Section 2 Equations Involving Multiplication
In a similar way to the above we can deal with solving equations such as
5x = 2
The arithmetic operation is now multiplication, whose inverse is division. The inverse of
multiplying by 5 is dividing by 5.
5x = 2 becomes
65 2
x = dividing both sides by 5
65 5
2
1x =
5
2
x =
5
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Example 1 :
x
= 2 becomes
3
x
× 6 3 = 2 × 3 multiplying both sides by 3
63
x = 6
Example 2 :
2
x = 4
7
2
67× x = 4×7 (multiplying both sides by 7)
7
2x = 28
6 2x 28
= (dividing both sides by 2)
62 2
x = 14
Exercises:
1. Solve the following equations:
(a) 4x = 20 (f) 3x = −24
x
(b) 6x = 24 (g) 2
= −7
x 3x
(c) 3
=5 (h) 4
= −12
x 2
(d) 5
= 1.2 (i) 5
m = 10
3m
(e) 2x = 11 (j) 4
= −6
Section 3 Multiple Terms
The puzzle page in the newspapers sometimes has puzzles like this example:
Example 1 : Jean is 7 years older than half of Tom’s age. If Jean is 35, how old is
Tom? We now write the information that we are given in the form of an algebraic
expression. Let Jean’s age be J and Tom’s T . Then
1
J = T +7
2
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Putting in J as 35, we get
1
35 = T + 7
2
What is T ? Notice that we now have a combination of arithmetic operations to
deal with. It doesn’t matter what order you do them in so long as you remember
to include the whole of each side of the equation in the undoing, and whatever you
do to one side you must do the same to the other side. We will solve for T in two
ways.
Solution 1
1
35 = T +7
2
1
35 − 7 = T + 7 − 7 (subtract 7 from both sides)
2
1
28 = T
2
1
2 × 28 = 2 × T (multiply both sides by 2)
2
56 = T
Solution 2
1
35 = T +7
2
1
2 × 35 = 2 × ( T + 7) (multiply both sides by 2)
2
70 = T + 2 × 7 (multiply out the brackets)
70 = T + 14
70 − 14 = T + 14 − 14
56 = T
Note: When multiplying through by a number it is important to multiply every term on both
sides of the equation. On the whole, it is probably easier to undo addition and subtraction
first.
Example 2 :
3x − 5 = 16
3x − 5 + 5 = 16 + 5 (add 5 to both sides)
3x = 21
3x 21
=
3 3
x = 7
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Occasionally you may be asked to solve an equation in one variable where the variable appears
on both sides of the equation.
Example 3 : Solve
3x + 5 = 2x + 1 for x
We will undo the operations in a way that puts all the x parts of the expression on
one side of the equation.
3x + 5 = 2x + 1
3x + 5 − 2x = 2x + 1 − 2x (subtract 2x from both sides)
x+5 = 1
x+5−5 = 1−5 (subtract 5 from both sides)
x = −4
Sometimes the expressions will be more complex and could involve brackets. In these cases we
expand out the brackets and proceed.
Example 4 :
3(5 − x) − 2(5 + x) = 3(x + 1)
15 − 3x − 10 − 2x = 3x + 3 (collect like terms)
5 − 5x = 3x + 3
5 − 5x + 5x = 3x + 3 + 5x (add 5x to both sides)
5 = 8x + 3
5−3 = 8x + 3 − 3 (subtract 3 from both sides)
2 = 8x
2 8x
= (divide both sides by 8)
8 8
1
= x
4
Once you feel confident in these processes there is no need to put in the intermediate steps
illustrated in these examples.
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Exercises:
1. Solve the following equations:
(a) 2x − 1 = 9 (f) 5(2 − x) − 3(4 − 2x) = 20
y
(b) 3
+ 4 = 12 (g) 2m + 4 − 3m = 8(m − 1)
(c) 2(x + 1) − 7 = 5 (h) 3m + 12 = 2(m − 3) + 4
x+1
(d) 4(y + 3) − 2y = 7 (i) 4
=5
x
(e) 5(y + 2) − 4(y − 1) = 6 (j) 5
+ x3 = 10
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