Step-by-Step Guide With Examples & Practice Problems
, What is a Multi-Step Equation?
● A multi-step equation is an equation that takes two or more steps to solve
● You solve it by undoing operations by using inverse or opposite operations
You might see equations like:
3x + 5 = 20
Solve it by:
- Subtracting 5 from both sides
- Dividing both sides by 3
The goal is to isolate the variable
x = 5 - In this scenario only
Multi-Step Equations are used a lot in math and even in real life
A car rental agency might use an equation like 50 + 20x = 250 to determine how many
days a customer can rent a car with a budget of $250. By solving this equation, the
customer can find out the number of days they can rent the car.
Things To Know:
Inverse - Inverse operations are pairs of operations that undo each other.
Term - A term is either a single number or variable, or numbers and variables
multiplied together.
Constant - A fixed value that does not change
Variable - A symbol for a value we don’t know yet that’s usually x or y
Coefficient - A number used to multiply a variable
Breaking down a multi-step equation:
The equation is 3x + 5 = 20
The term is 3x
The variable is x
The constant is 5 and 20
The coefficient is 3
What is a Multi-Step Equation? • How to Solve Multi-Step Equations