Question

How do you solve `63-x=2x+3`?

Answer 1

We can solve this by remembering to always to the same thing to both sides of the equation leading to `x=20`

Explanation:

We can solve this by remembering to always do the same thing to both sides of the equation. Lets start by adding `x` to both sides, since it is easy to see that this will eliminate the `x` from the left-hand side:

`63 - x + x = 2x + 3 +x`

which gives

`63 = 3x +3`

now we can subtract `3` from both sides giving

`63-3 = 3x+3-3`

`60=3x`

Let's divide both sides by 3 this time:

`60/3 = (3x)/3`

`20 = x`

We are also allowed to write the equation in the opposite order giving

`x=20`

We can check our answer by substituting it into the original:

`63-x=2x+3`

`63 - 20 = 2*20+3`

`43 = 43` Correct!