How do you solve #\frac { a } { - 4} = - 14#?

1 Answer
Dec 11, 2016

The final answer is a = 56

Explanation:

We see that there is an #a/-4# on the left-hand side of the equation. To solve this equation, we must isolate the variable. So, we must get rid of the #/-4#. To "undo" this, we can perform the opposite operation (which in this case is multiplication). But of course, to keep the equality, we must multiply #-4# to both sides. So, we get

#(-4)*(a/-4) = (-14)*(-4)#

This simplifies to #a = 14*4 = 56#.