I know fractions are difficult, but with these easy step-by step instructions you'll be solving equations with fractions in no time.
Do you start to get nervous when you see fractions? Do you have to stop and review all the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions?
If so, you are just like almost every other math student out there! But... I am going to make your life so much easier when it comes to solving equations with fractions!
Our first step when solving these equations is to get rid of the fractions because they are not easy to work with!
Let see what happens with a typical two-step equation with the distributive property.
In this problem, we would typically distribute the 3/4 throughout the parenthesis and then solve. Let's see what happens:
Equations with Fractions
Yuck! That just made this problem worse! Now we have two fractions to contend with and that means subtracting fractions and multiplying fractions.
So... let's stop here and say,
We DO NOT want to do this! DO NOT distribute fractions.
We are going to learn how to get rid of the fractions and make this much more simple!
So... what do we do? We are going to get rid of just the denominator in the fraction, so we will be left with the numerator, or just an integer!
I know, easier said than done! It's really not hard, but before I get into it, I want to go over one algebra definition.
We need to discuss the word term.
In Algebra, each term within an equation is separated by a plus (+) sign, minus (-) sign or an equals sign (=). Variable or quantities that are multiplied or divided are considered the same term.
Identifying terms within an equation