Question

17=x/-5+3 what is x

Answer 1

Is that \[17 = \frac{x}{-5}+3\]or something else?

Answer 2

yes its that exactly

Answer 3

What do you get if you subtract 3 from both sides?

Answer 4

so subract 3 from 17? its 14

Answer 5

Yes, and the other side becomes?

Answer 6

0

Answer 7

No!

\[\frac{x}{-5} + 3 -3 = \]

Answer 8

im confused what about the 14?

Answer 9

I was just referring to the right hand side, which you said became 0.

\[17-3 = \frac{x}{-5}+3-3\]
What is the simplified version of that?

Answer 10

\[17-6=\frac{ x }{ -5 }-3\]

Answer 11

What?!?

Answer 12

im not very good at this as you see

Answer 13

Simplify. What is 17-3? Write that down on the left side of the equals sign.

What is \[\frac{x}{-5}+3-3\]Write that down on the right side of the equals sign.

Answer 14

If you can combine two numbers on the same side of the equals sign, do so.

Answer 15

ok so yea im confused

Answer 16

\[17-3 = \frac{x}{-5}+3-3\]\[14 = \frac{x}{-5}+3-3\]\[14 = \frac{x}{-5}\]
Right?

Answer 17

We subtracted 3 from both sides of the equation. That removed the "+3" from the right hand side.

Answer 18

yes then dont you devide -5 from from 14

Answer 19

Now, we want to get \(x\) all by itself on one side of the equals sign. Right now, it is being divided by \(-5\). How can we get rid of that division by \(-5\)? Again, we'll have to do whatever it is we do to both sides.

Answer 20

divide*

Answer 21

If I tell you that I'm thinking of a number, and the number divided by 3 is 7, how do you figure out what my number is?

Answer 22

you do 7 time 3 and its 21

Answer 23

which you do the opposite of divide

Answer 24

is the answer to my problem -2.8

Answer 25

So here what will we do about that -5?

Answer 26

We multiply both sides by -5 to undo the division by -5.

\[14*(-5) = \frac{x}{-5} * (-5)\]\[-70 = \frac{x}{\cancel{-5}}*\cancel{-5}\]\[-70 = x\]

Now we test our answer by putting it in the original equation:

\[17 = \frac{-70}{-5} +3\]\[17 = 14 + 3\]\[17 = 17\checkmark\]