x/5=-7 ????

Question

i hate equations i truly dont understand math

Answer 1

Hi, Grace.

The idea in solving equations is to get the variable by itself on one side of the equation. We do this by "undoing" what is done to x, or doing the opposite.

This problem is x divided by 5 equals negative 7. The x is divided by 5, and we have to do the opposite, that is, we have to multiply by 5. And whatever we do to one side of the equation, we have to do the other side of the equation. I always think of a balance scale, and we have to keep it in balance by doing the same thing to both sides.

So we multiply by 5 on both sides of the equation:

(5) x/5 = -7 (5)

To multiply on the left, you can rewrite 5 as 5/1, then multiply the two fractions. (I'm using an asterisk as a multiplication sign.)

5    _*   x    =    5x   
1        5           5            5x/5 simplifies to 1x, or just x.

We now have:

1x = -7 * 5

x = -35

 

To check it, we can plug -35 back into the orginal equation:

-35/5 = -7

-35 divided by 5 is indeed -7, so it works.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

So, in the end we need x = something. In order to get x by itself we need to do something first to make things clearer. x/5 is just like saying 1/5*x. That is important becasue to get rid of the number attached to x we need to multiply by the reciprocal (same numbers upside down). so we need to multiply both sides by 5/1 which is the same as 5. so:

x/5=-7

1/5x=-7

5 * 1/5x=-7 * 5      this step eliminates the 1/5

x=-7*5

x=-35 

Answer 3

You have a problem with one unknown variable (x), so you want to solve for this variable by isolating it to one side of the equation.

         x/5 = -7  

Multiplying both sides of the equation by 5 will solve for x.

      (5) * (x/5) = (5) * (-7)        ==>        x = -35

Answer 4

Hi Grace,

Let's begin by writing out our equation:  x/5 = -7

This will be an easy one step operation to solve for x.

We will get rid of the fraction on the left side by multiplying both sides by the denominator of the fraction (5):

(5)(x/5) = (5)(-7)

After multiplying both sides by 5 (the 5's cancel out on the left side) and we have our answer for x:

x = -35

I trust the above explanation will help you.

Thanks for submitting your question.

Regards, Jordan.

Answer 5

1- x/5 = -7 or x * 1/5 = -7 (your equation) 

2- isolate x by multiplying both sides by 5 ==> x * 1/5 * 5 = (-7) * 5

3- you get x * 1 = -35 or x = -35