Chapter 4

Equations and
Formulas

Section 1
Solving Equations

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 Objectives
1. Learn the basic terminology of equations.
2. Use basic rules to solve equations.
3. Solve equations requiring more than one
operation.
4. Combine like terms in equations.
5. Use the distributive property to simplify
equations.

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 Learn the Basic Terminology
of Equations (1 of 4)
A variable is a letter used to represent an
unknown value. Any letter can be used for a
variable.
x, t, s, z, R, y, or A
A term is a number, a variable, or the product or
quotient of a number and a variable.

4 s
53, y, 6x, 9.5z, y,
5 3
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 Learn the Basic Terminology
of Equations (2 of 4)
An expression can be a single term, but it is
often the sum or difference of two or more
terms. An expression does not contain an equal
sign.
1
7b, 6x  9, z  y, 19.4t  5
2

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 Learn the Basic Terminology
of Equations (3 of 4)
An equation is two expressions that are equal to
one another.
x + 5 = 9
Each equation has a left side
and a right side.

x5 9

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 Learn the Basic Terminology
of Equations (4 of 4)
A solution to an equation is the number that can
be substituted in place of a variable that makes
the equation true.

x = 4 is a solution to the
equation
x + 5 = 9
To see that x = 4 is a solution,
substitute 4 in place of x and
find that the resulting equation
is true.
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Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Use Basic Rules to Solve Equations

To solve a basic equation for the unknown,

change it so that:
1. all terms with a variable are on one side of the
equation and
2. all terms with only numbers are on the other
side of the equation.

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Use Basic Rules to Solve Equations
Rules for Solving Equations
Addition Rule
The same number (or term) may be added or
subtracted on both sides of an equation.
Multiplication Rule
Both sides of an equation may be multiplied or
divided by the same nonzero number (or term).

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 Example 1 (1 of 2)
Solve x – 9 = 15 for the unknown.

The number 9 is being subtracted from the x on

the left side. Undo this operation and move 9 to
the other side of the equation by adding 9 to both
sides. x  9  15
x  9  9  15  9
x  0  24
x  24

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 Example 1 (2 of 2)
To confirm that the value of the unknown is 24,
substitute 24 for x in the original equation.
x  9  15
24  9  15
15  15
x = 24 is the solution to the equation.

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 Example 2
Solve k + 7 = 18.
To isolate k on the left side, do the opposite of
adding 7, which is subtracting 7 from both sides.

k  7  18
k  7  7  18  7
k  11

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 Example 3
Solve 5p = 60.
The term 5p indicates the multiplication of 5 and
p. Since division is the inverse of multiplication,
solve the equation by dividing both sides by 5.
5 p  60
5 p 60

5 5
p  12
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 Example 4
y
Solve  9.
3
The bar in y/3 means to divide. Since
multiplication is the opposite of division,
multiply both sides by 3. y
9
3
y
3  9 3
3
y  27
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 Example 5
3
Solve z  9.
4
Solve this equation by multiplying both sides by
4/3, the reciprocal of 3/4. This process will give
1z, or just z, on the left. 3
z 9
4
4 3 4
 z  9
3 4 3
z  12
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 Example 6
Solve 2m + 5 = 17.
2m  5  17
2m  5  5  17  5
2m  12
2m 12

2 2
m6

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 Example 7
Solve 3y – 12 = 52.
3 y  12  12  52  12
3 y  64
3 y 64

3 3
1
y  21
3
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 Combine Like Terms in Equations
Some equations have more than one term with the
same variable.
Terms with the same variables are called like terms.
They can be combined by adding or subtracting the
coefficients just as 5 apples + 2 apples can be
combined to be 7 apples.
For example, 5y + 2y = (5 + 2)y = 7y

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 Unlike Terms in Equations
Terms with different variables in them cannot be
combined into a single term just as 5 apples + 2
bananas cannot be combined to be either 7
apples or 7 bananas.
These are called unlike terms.
For example, 12y + 5x cannot be combined to
make one term, since y and x are different
variables and may have different values.

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 Example 8
Solve 8y – 6y + 4y = 24.
8 y  6 y  4 y  24
 8  6  4  y  24
6 y  24
6 y 24

6 6
y4
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 Use the Distributive Property
to Simplify Equations
According to the distributive property, a
number on the outside of the parentheses can be
multiplied by each term inside the parentheses,
as shown here.

a  b  c   ab  ac

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 Solving an Equation (1 of 2)
Step 1 Remove all parentheses on both sides of
the equation using the distributive
property.
Step 2 Combine all like terms on both sides of
the equation.
Step 3 Place all terms containing a variable on
the same side of the equation and all
terms not containing a variable on the
other side of the equation.

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 Solving an Equation (2 of 2)

Step 4 Multiply or divide the variable term by

numbers as needed to produce a term with
a coefficient of 1 in front of the variable.

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 Example 11
Solve 5r – 2 = 2(r + 5).
5r  2  2r  10
5r  2  2  2r  10  2
5r  2r  12
5r  2r  2r  12  2r
3r  12
3r 12

3 3
r4
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