Question

How do you simplify `x-\frac{5}{4}+\frac{1}{2}x=\frac{13}{4}`?

Answer 1

x = 3

Explanation:

The easiest way to go about this is to use Fraction Busters to avoid all the fractions entirely. Looking at all the denominators of the equation, we have 1, 4, 2, and 4. The least common multiple of those numbers is 4 so we should multiply every term in the equation by 4.

`4*x=4x, 4*5/4=5, 4*1/2x=2x, and 4*13/4=13`

So our new equation is:

`4x-5+2x=13`
`6x-5=13` combine like terms
`6x=18` add 5 on both sides
`x = 3` divide both sides by 6