Question

Is there more than one way to solve a 2 step equation?

Answer 1

Solving two-step equations is not much more complicated than solving one-step equations; it just involves an extra step.

Usually there is more than one way to solve these. It's ok to use whatever method makes most sense to you. The general rule of thumb when isolating the variable is to undo the order of operations, PEMDAS. Start with addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division, then exponents, and finally parentheses.

Let's look at an example:`2x - 6 = 12`

Method 1

`2x-6=12`
`2x -6 +6 = 12 + 6`add 6 to each side
`2x = 18`
`(2x)/2=18/2` divide each side by 2
`x=9`

Method 2

`2x -6 = 12`
`(2x-6)/2= 12/2`divide each side by 2
`(2x)/2 - 6/2 =12/2` separate the fractions
`x - 3 = 6` simplify
`x - 3 + 3 = 6 + 3`add 3 to each side
`x=9`