Kamila P. answered • 07/01/24
Tutor
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Columbia Engineering Grad with 10+ Years of Math Teaching Experience
In order to solve a literal equation, you need to be given which variable you are solving for. If solving for x in this equation, notice it is in both terms on the left side of the equation. If this is the case, you should factor out the x so that it only appears once (and therefore, you will be able to solve for it):
Original equation: x/p + x/q = s
Factoring out x: x(1/p + 1/q) = s
The last step to solve for x is to divide both sides of the equation by what’s inside the parentheses to get the following solution:
x = s/(1/p+1/q)
