solve for the indicated variables

x/a + y/b + z/c = 1 for a

V=2(ab+bc+ca) for a

Question

solve for the indicated variables

x/a + y/b + z/c = 1 for a


V=2(ab+bc+ca) for a

dumbcow · Answer

ok for the first equation...combine the 2 fractions y/b+z/c  into 1 fraction with common denominator "bc"
then subtract that from both sides
change the 1 to "bc/bc"   ....combine to make right side a single fraction
then take reciprocal of both sides
then multiply both sides by x

anonymous · Answer

what do you mean by take the reciprocal?
why would we need to do that

anonymous · Answer

can i just multiply both sides by 1/x?

dumbcow · Answer

because its x/a = some fraction
a is in denominator, so to solve for a, i need to take reciprocal
you could also cross-multiply here, but its more work

anonymous · Answer

ill show you how far i have gotten

dumbcow · Answer

yes you can multiply by 1/x first, then take reciprocal as final step

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1345425200088:dw|