Objective 22 Solve one-step equations, multiply and divide ©2002 by R. Villar All Rights Reserved

Solve one-step equations, multiply and divide In the last section we used addition to undo subtraction and we used subtraction to undo addition. Addition and subtraction are called inverse operations of each other. In this section we will use multiplication and division to undo each other since they are inverse operations of each other. Example: Solve 112 = –14n To “undo” multiplication, we will use division... The opposite of multiplying by –14 is dividing by –14. –14 –14 The –14’s will cancel leaving n by itself... –8 = n Check the original problem = –14(–8) √

Example: Solve 3 = z 9.5 To undo division, we will use multiplication = z = z Check: 3 = 28.5 √ 9.5

Example: Solve To undo multiplication of fractions, we can use the reciprocal. We will first convert the mixed number into an improper fraction... x = – Check: √ Now, multiply both sides by the reciprocal of 2/3... The reciprocals will cancel leaving x on the left side... Multiply the right side to solve for x...