Maths: Solving Equations - part 1

Solving equations is something you will never escape from in school or any area of the stem field, except maybe psychology. It seems such a chore and soooo difficult. Well, that’s because most teachers tend to teach the rules and not the thinking or the fun.

Thus, I am going to attempt to walk you through a thought process to find your x (I mean the one on the paper, not the one that got away).

First get into your jedi mindset. You are here to keep the mathematical equation balanced.

Next step is to realize you are searching for information.

Welcome, young padawan, to your first missions.

The target: get x by itself while keeping the balance of the equation.

-*cue Star Wars Intro music*-

Let’s see level stormtrooper.

X + 3      =           12

We want x by itself. So, what do we need to do?

ing to keep the balance - we notice that what affects one side, affects the other. Therefore, we need to subtract three from both sides.

x + 3      =            12

-3                      -3

X            =            9

Boom! You hit the target. If you have a subtraction equation (ie. X – 3 = 12), you add the subtracted to both sides.

Moving on to level Droid. These equations contain multiplication or division.

3 x         =            9

Now, you being a smart cookie and realizing that so far we have been using the opposite operative to get x alone, can probably guess what we’ll be doing now. That’s right! Division. We’re going to take our lightsaber and divide the above equation by three.

3 x         =            12

÷3                        ÷3

X            =            4

Droids finished. If you encounter a droid with a division equation, use the opposite swing (multiply by the divisor).

Roger roger. That floor is cleared.

The doors to the next level slide open.

Oh no. You happen to be facing down both adversaries. What a tragedy.

X is caught up in the droids.

Introduce yourself with a quick and cheery “Hello there!” and let’s go!

So, because you’re still a padawan, you need to separate your opponents. Taking on the stormtroopers first is the logical step. There’s less of a chance they’ll hit you.

The problem is:  2x + 4 =10

Like you planned, you take care of the storm troopers first.

2x +4     =            10

-4                    -4

2 x         =              6

Now you can separate x from the droids without some buckethead blocking your view.

2 x         =            6

÷2                        ÷2

X            =            3

-*cue Binary Sunset music*-

You have completed your first three missions. Congratulations my young padawans. Have a snack and drink some water. Your next task awaits!

But… the shuttle got lost on the way so you’ll have to sit tight for a while. We’ll be there to pick you up soon. Use the waiting time to check your answers by inserting the values you got for x in place of the letter. We’ll use the time to fix our shuttle.

Here's some more x-es you can find if you happen to be in the area.

a) 4x + 12 = 24

b) 6 - 3x = - 6

c) 7x - 2 = 47

d) 4x = 24

e) 5x = 455

f) x ÷ 3 =14

g) x+ 67 = - 3

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#equations