Question

How do you solve `8- \frac { 1} { 3} x = 16`?

Answer 1

Using subtraction and multiplication, you find that `x=-24`

Explanation:

To arrive at the solution, you need to get `x` all alone. The first thing to do is move all addition/subtraction terms to the opposite side of the equals sign as `x`.

For this problem, we need to first subtract 8 from both sides to 'move' the additive part to the right-hand side of the equation, away from `x`:

`8-1/3x=16`
`cancel(8)-1/3x-cancel(8)=16-8`
`-1/3x=8`

Next, we'll divide both sides by -1/3. Dividing by a fraction is the same as multiplying by its inverse. Therefore, we will achieve the same effect by multiplying both sides by -3:

`-1/3x*-3=8*-3`
`-((-3)/3)x=-24 rArr -(-1)x=-24 rArr color(red)(x=-24`