Question

When solving negative one over five (x − 25) = 7, what is the correct sequence of operations?

Multiply each side by negative one over five , add 25 to each side
Multiply each side by 5, subtract 25 from each side
Multiply each side by negative one over five , subtract 25 from each side
Multiply each side by −5, add 25 to each side

Answer 1

@iGreen

Answer 2

Hi julia... when solving these kinds of problems you want to work in reverse order of operations.... for instance we can't start by adding 25 to each side, right?

Answer 3

yes.

Answer 4

So, if we are looking at:

\[\frac{ -1 }{ 5(x-25) } = 7\]

Look at each answer and which step makes sense to you considering operations?

Answer 5

multiply each side by -1/5

Answer 6

Not quite. Remember that you need to inverse most operations. On the left *there is* a -1/5. So we need to multiply by it's inverse (-5).

Answer 7

Once that is done we could then add 25 to each side to isolate the x variable.

Answer 8

So, which answer do you think is correct?

Answer 9

the answer is D