Question

Um, im having serious problems with this question and I would gladly appreciate it if one of you could EXPLAIN to me how to solve it, it is 37= -4s - 1.

Answer 1

To solve this, you want to get s on its own.

Answer 2

ok, I'm sorry.

Answer 3

So we'll rearrange it so that the s is on the left:

-4s - 1 = 37

Answer 4

Then we think about how to get rid of that one. If we add 1 to both sides, the left side ones will turn into 0:

-4s - 1 + 1 = 37 + 1
-4s - 0 = 38
-4s = 38

Answer 5

Now we see that if we divide both sides by -4, we end up with just an s on the right, because the -4s cancel on the right:

\[\begin{align}
\frac{-4s}{-4} &= \frac{38}{-4}\\
\frac{\cancel{-4}s}{\cancel{-4}} &= -\frac{38}{4}\\
s &= -\frac{38}{4}\\
\end{align}\]

We can simplify this fraction by noticing that 4 is 2 * 2:

\[\begin{align}
s &= -\frac{38}{2\cdot 2}\\
s &= -\frac{\cancel{38} 19}{\cancel{2} \cdot 2}\\
s &= -\frac{19}{2}
\end{align}\]

We cancel the 2 out with half of the 38, leaving us with 19/2.

Answer 6

Thank you very much, sir! :3