Solving Multi-Step Equations

Front

What is a multi-step equation?

Back

A multi-step equation is an equation that requires more than one step to solve. It often involves combining like terms, using the distributive property, and isolating the variable.

Front

What is the first step to solve the equation 13 = 5m - 2?

Back

Add 2 to both sides to isolate the term with the variable: 15 = 5m.

Front

How do you isolate a variable in an equation?

Back

To isolate a variable, perform inverse operations to both sides of the equation until the variable is alone on one side.

Front

What does it mean to distribute in an equation?

Back

Distributing means to multiply a term by each term inside parentheses. For example, in 4(a - 5), you would calculate 4a - 20.

Front

Solve the equation: 2a - 4(a - 5) = 10

Back

Distribute -4 to get 2a - 4a + 20 = 10, then combine like terms to find a = 5.

Front

What is the solution to the equation (2x - 3) / 4 = 9?

Back

Multiply both sides by 4 to get 2x - 3 = 36, then add 3 to both sides and divide by 2 to find x = 19.5.

Front

What is the solution to the equation 7w - 3(4w + 8) = 11?

Back

Distribute -3 to get 7w - 12w - 24 = 11, then combine like terms to find w = -7.

Front

What does it mean to combine like terms?

Back

Combining like terms means to add or subtract terms that have the same variable raised to the same power.

Front

What is the solution to the equation -(n - 8) = -2?

Back

Distribute the negative sign to get -n + 8 = -2, then isolate n to find n = 10.

Front

What is the distributive property?

Back

The distributive property states that a(b + c) = ab + ac. It allows you to multiply a single term by two or more terms inside parentheses.