How do you do 5y=35?

Question

can you help me answer my question? I have to explain how to do it.

Answer 1

Hi, Sabrina.

Many students can look at this equation and already know that 5*7=35, so it's hard to apply the steps to solving an equation. The steps are really important though, because the equations get a lot harder!

To solve an equation, we undo what is done to the variable, and we have to do the same thing to both sides of the equation.

To review, 5y is a way to write multiplication, the 5 and y are multiplied together. (When it is a number and variable together, you do not need an operation sign, and it is always multiplication.) To undo multiplication, we use division. We are going to divide by 5, and we have to divide both sides of the equation by 5 to keep it balanced. A way to write division is using fraction notation, and that is an easy notation to use when solving equations:

5y=35
5    5

1y = 7

1y is the same as y, so we can write:

y=7

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

in 5y=35 you want to isolate the Y variable. So depending on how you were taught alegbra you will either divide both sides by 5 or just take 5 across the equal sign and divde 35 by it.

 

like this:

 

5y=35

(5y)/5 = 35/5                  OR              y=35/5

y=7

 

hope that helps you explain how to do it.