© Boardworks Ltd 20111 of 6

This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable.

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

This icon indicates teacher’s notes in the Notes field.

© Boardworks Ltd 20112 of 6

7x = 42Example 2:

Linear equations are the easiest type of equation to solve because the unknown is not raised to any power other than 1.

We can solve linear equations by rearrangement. We must do the same operation on both sides of the equals sign.

For example: x – 19 = – 8

Linear equations

x = 11 Add 19 to both sides:

x = 6 Divide both sides by 7:

© Boardworks Ltd 20113 of 6

When more than one operation is performed on the unknown we need to solve the equation in several steps.

For example, 4x + 5 = 29

4x = 24subtract 5 from both sides:

divide both sides by 4: x = 6

Check that 4 × 6 + 5 is equal to 29 in the original equation.

Linear equations

© Boardworks Ltd 20114 of 6

In some cases the unknown appears on both sides of the equals sign.

We need to work systematically to get the unknowns on the left and the numbers on the right.

For example: 8x – 2 = 2x + 1

Equations with unknowns on both sides

unknowns numbers

8x – 2 = 2x + 1add 2 to both sides: 8x = 2x + 3

6x = 3subtract 2x from both sides:

divide both sides by 6: x = 0.5

Remember to perform the same operations on both sides.

© Boardworks Ltd 20115 of 6

Equation solving 3

© Boardworks Ltd 20116 of 6

Scales