how do you combine like terms when the unkown is a dividend? ex: y=x/2+x

Question

I would think that you would multiply both sides by 2 to get 2y=x+x, but this doesn't seem to be working for me and I keep coming to an answer that doesn't work when plugged into the original equation.

Answer 1

Hi Nick,

Before multiplying both sides of the equation you need to combine both x terms on the right side of the equation. This is first a question of adding fractions.

 

So if we have:

y=(x/2)+x
We can rewrite it as:
y=(1/2)x+(2/2)x

Add the fractions to combine the x terms and we get:

y=(3/2)x        or         y = 3x/2

 

Now to solve it, multiply both sides by 2

2y=3x

And then divide each side by 3

 

(2y)/3=x