Algebra problem

Date: 6/10/96 at 10:42:59
From: Brana
Subject: Algebra problem

How do you solve 27x + 123 = 177?

Date: 6/15/96 at 9:55:53
From: Doctor Ethan
Subject: Re: Algebra problem

Hey Brana,

This is a pretty neat question.  Fortunately, there is a pretty 
standard way to deal with questions like that.

The first step is called:  Isolate the Variable.
That just means to put the x on one side and everything else on the 
other.

To do that we have to subtract 123 from both sides.

27x + 123       = 177
27x + 123 - 123 = 177 - 123

and 123 -123 = 0 so we have

27x = 177 - 123

Now we need to find 177 - 123.  I get 54, so we have 

27x = 54

Now we can go to step two:  Clear the Coefficient. That means 
to get rid of the 27 by dividing both sides by 27.

27x    54
--- = ----
27     27

but    27x
      ---- = x
       27

So we have

x = 54/27
x = 2

Hey, we got it!

Hope that helps.

-Doctor Ethan,  The Math Forum
 Check out our web site!  http://mathforum.org/dr.math/