Can you help solve 16=4w + 2w - 2
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Can you help solve 16=4w + 2w - 2

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 11-05-11] [Hit: ]
Lets look first at the ws. The ws just represent...something. We dont know what that something yet,......
and can you help solve

2x - 8 + 3x = 7

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Since you are asking for help with these questions, I'm going to assume that you're struggling with some of the basic concepts of Algebra. Which is fine. Algebra is weird when you first start, etc.

Let's look first at the w's.

The w's just represent..."something". We don't know what that something yet, but that's ok, it's still something. When we solve in Algebra, we're just finding what that "something" must be. You have two w's in your equation, but they are still the same w, they are each that same "something".

When your equation says '4w', what that represents is just 4 of those w's. It's like when you do 2*3. 2*3 really means that you have two 3's, which together make 6. That's all multiplication is. So, 4w means there are 4 w's. The 2w means the same sort of thing. 2w just means that there are 2 w's there.

So, if you have 4 w's and 2 w's, then how many w's do you have total? 6! so, 4w + 2w = 6w.

That's "collecting like terms". You're just bringing the things that are the same sort of things together.
Now, we can rewrite our equation 16 = 4w + 2w -2 as 16 = 6w - 2. All we did was add our 4w and our 2w together to get 6w. Everything else has so far stayed the same.

Now, the goal is to find out what w actually is. We do that by isolating. We use basic math operations to get the w by itself. Generally speaking, you'll start from the outside and work in.

So, if we have 16 = 6w - 2, then the first thing we have to get rid of is the " - 2". That's like the first layer we are peeling off. Right now, our 6w is have 2 subtracted from it. We can't just take the 2 away from the 6w, because they aren't the same sort of thing and we don't know what the w actually is. So, in order to get rid of the " - 2", we cancel it out by doing the opposite of it. What's the opposite of minus 2? Plus 2. Adding 2 to " - 2" cancels it out. Of course, this is an equation with rules, and we can't just do whatever we want to one side. We have to keep the two sides balanced. So, if we are adding 2 to one side, we have to add it to the other as well.
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