Tips

Whatever you do on one side of the equation, you must do on the other side as well!

This is to "balance" the equation.

Examples:

• If you add 2 on one side, you must do on the other.
• If you divide on one side, you must divide ALL TERMS on the other side.

Draw a "separating" line through the equals sign.

Whenever we want to move a term to the other side of the line, we must do the opposite math operation.

• Addition is the opposite of subtraction
• Multiplication is the opposite of division
• "Power of 2" or "squared" is the opposite of "square root"

Take one step at a time!

At each line, make sure to bring every other term down, including the equals sign.

Oftentimes, students might make a mistake because they're not clearly writing their steps down. It helps to pinpoint where mistakes might have happened if we write down each step.

If we have x variables on BOTH sides of the equation and they have the same degree, then combine them.

This means that one of the x-terms will need to be moved across the line.

Isolate x. Always start with the "farthest" term/operation.

Start "moving" terms and operations to the other side to make x alone.

This means that everything that's on the same side as the variable x needs to be moved to the other side.