homeschool mom

We are working through literal equations. Your site has helped me teach in a way that is understood. However, one problem has me stumped:
x-a=y-6 solve for a

We end up with a -a and the answer key has a positive. What am I not doing correctly?

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homeschool mom

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Dec 09, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Solving Literal Equations
by: Karin

Since the direction says to solve for a, your end result must be positive a. Since you end up with -a, you only need to take it one step further and make a positive by multiplying every term by -1.

Take a look at the steps.

x - a = y - 6

Step 1: Subtract x from both sides.
x -x -a = y - 6- x

-a = -x + y - 6 (I just wrote the terms in a different order)

Step 2: We must make a positive by multiplying by -1.

(-1) -a = -1(-x + y -6)
a = x - y + 6

You can always make a negative variable positive by multiplying by -1, but you must remember to multiply all terms by -1 in order to keep the equation balanced.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck,

Karin

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