Question

What is the solution to the proportion?

A. x = 3

B. x = 3.3

C. x = 4.8

D. x = 30

Answer 1

You want to isolate the x as with all single variable equations.

Start by getting the x alone.

Answer 2

ok.. how do i do that

Answer 3

sorry i am blonde..and dumb

Answer 4

You might be blonde but you're not dumb. just a dog. we can work through this.

Do you see that x is in the denominator? In order to isolate that we would multiply both sides by x. that cancels the x on the right so that we're left with

4x
-- = 10
12

Answer 5

This is just explaining the math behind the idea of "cross multiplication" You can just multiply on the diagonals and get:

4*x=12*10

Answer 6

Oh ok.. what next

Answer 7

multiply it out. what is 4*x? what is 12*10? what would you do after that?

Answer 8

12 * 10 = 120

Answer 9

Sorry. The site went down for me
Anyhow, 4x=120

How do you get x alone? (hint the opposite operation of multiplication = division)

Answer 10

Hey my OS went down too

Answer 11

welcome back then :p

sos we're at 4x = 120
If we want to get rid of 4, we can divide both sides by 4. This is the entire idea behind algebra. Anything we do to one side we do to the other.

Answer 12

Oh ok

Answer 13

So I divide 4 by 120??

Answer 14

the reverse. 120 by 4.

Answer 15

oh ok

Answer 16

120 divide by 4 = 30

Answer 17

exactly. You can check your work by plugging 30 into the original x

Answer 18

Ok so what next

Answer 19

you're done?
You're solving for x.
x = 30

Answer 20

Ohhh ok thank you