Question

Can I get some help with this and can someone tell me where I went wrong? I need to solve for X.
17-x/4=-10

First I multiply both sides by 4

68-4x=-40

Then I subtract 68 from both sides

-4x = -108

then I divide both by negative 4

X=27 Then when I take 17 minus 27 divided by four I get -2.5=-10 Thank you <3

Answer 1

First I multiply both sides by 4.
you did the right side ok, and got -10*4 = -40
but the left side is
4* top/4 which simplifies to top
(top is short for (17-x)

Answer 2

Wait what would I do for the left side?

Answer 3

I am trying to get rid of the division on the left so, thats why I did the opposite function of division and did multiplication.

Answer 4

if you have for example
\[ 4 \cdot \frac{a}{4} = \frac{4}{4} a = 1 \cdot a= a\]

Answer 5

it works the same for
\[ 4 \cdot \frac{17-x}{4} \]

Answer 6

4/4 is 1 and you are left with 17-x (not 68-4x)

Answer 7

Ah ok... So I would not multiply the top?

Answer 8

when you multiply by 4, it "gets used up" by the 4 in the bottom

Answer 9

Ah ok, thank you so much for the help <3