Equations in One Variable

An ____________ in one variable is a statement that two _____________

______________ have the same value.

Any value that makes an equation ______ is called a ____________ of that

equation. To solve an equation means to find _______ of its ______________.

An equation that can be written in the form Ax + B = 0 where A and B are real
numbers and A  0 is called a linear equation in one variable. Notice that the
exponent on x is ___.

Eg. Linear equations in one variable:

Not linear equations in one variable:

To know whether a value is a solution to an equation, replace the variable in the

equation by the value and check whether the left-hand side (LHS) is equal to the
right-hand side (RHS).

Example: Is 4 a solution of 3x + 5 = −2 x + 1 ?

LHS: 3x + 5 =

RHS: − 2x + 1 =
Equations that have the same ___________________ are called
______________ equations.

Example: 2 x = 8 and 4 x = 16 are _________________ equations.

To solve an equation _______________ or ________________ means to solve it

using algebraic methods.

Let a, b and c be algebraic expressions.

Addition Property of Equations: If a = b , then a + c = b + c .

Multiplication Property of Equations: If a = b and c  0 , then ac = bc .

Symmetric Property of Equations: If a = b , then b = a .

Substitution Property of Equations: If a = b , then a may be replaced by b in any

equation.

An _________________is an equation that is true for every real number. Its

solution set is ________.

Eg. x + 6 = 6 + x

A __________________ equation is an equation that is true for at least one real

number but it is not true for every real number. There is at least one real number
that makes it true and at least one real number that makes it false.

Eg. 2x + 3 = 3x − 4

A __________________ is an equation that is always false, regardless of the

value of the variable. Its solution set is _____.

Eg. x + 1 = x − 4
Example: Solve 5x + 6 = 51 analytically. Check your solution.

Example: Solve 4( x + 3) − 7 = 6( x − 2) analytically. Check your solution.

1 x+2 5x − 1
Example: Solve − = 2x − We can clear the fractions by
4 6 3 multiplying through by the LCM
of 4, 6 and 3.
Example: Solve 5( x + 7) = 5( x + 2) + 10

Example: Solve x + 4 = 2x + 6 − ( x + 2)
 Applications and Literal Equations

 Clearly indicate what your variables represent.

 Always give a sentence answer and don’t forget units.

Translate the following English statements into algebraic expressions. Let x be

the “given number.”

(a) 7 less than the given number _____________

(b) 2 more than 6 times the given number _____________

(c) the cost (in cents) of x donuts if donuts cost

50 cents each _____________

(d) the age of an x - year- old person in 35 years _____________

(e) the distance you have driven if you have been

driving 5 hours at x km/h _____________

(f) 60% of the given number _____________

(g) the dollar value of x dimes _____________

(h) the area of a rectangle whose length is twice its _____________

width x

(i) the perimeter of a rectangle whose width is one- _____________

third its length x
Example: Two consecutive integers have a sum of 91. What are the two numbers?

Example: Melanie bought 85 pieces of candy for $17.45. All of the candies are
either gumdrops or jawbreakers. If gumdrops cost 15 cents each and jawbreakers
cost 25 cents each, how many jawbreakers did Melanie buy?
Example: Jake has a piece of rope that is 18 m long. He cuts the rope into three
pieces. The second piece is two metres less than three times the length of the
first piece. The third piece is one metre longer than the second piece. What is
the length of the first piece of rope?
Example: Anna’s change purse contains $2.85 in quarters, dimes and nickels. If
Anna has three times as many dimes as nickels and twice as many nickels as
quarters, how many dimes are in Anna’s change purse?
 Example: Sara leaves the house at 8:00 am and drives south at 80 km/h. Rick
leaves the same house at 8:00 am and drives north at 65 km/h. How many hours
(to one decimal place) will it take for them to be 500 km apart?

Rate Time Distance

Sara km/h hours km
Rick km/h hours km
Total 500 km

Using the variables you defined above, set up (but do not solve) an equation to
answer the following question.

If Rick and Sara both drive south, how long will it take for them to be 500 km
apart?
Example: At 3:00 pm a plane leaves an airport and flies east at 588 km/h. At 4:00
pm, a second plane leaves the same airport. It flies east at a rate of 732 km/h.
At what time does the second plane overtake the first plane?
Example: A box has a square base with side length 8 cm.
a) Determine the height of the box if its volume is 1000 cm3.

b) Determine the height of the box if its surface area is 500 cm2.
Example: A poster has a rectangular printed region 50 cm by 70 cm and a blank
strip of uniform width around it (see figure). The perimeter of the poster is 1½
times the perimeter of the printed region. What is the width of the blank strip?
 7 2
Example: Solve for x . y = x−
6 3

a+b
Example: Solve for c . =d
c+5

Example: Solve the formula for surface area of a box for h .

Example: Solve for y . ay + 5x = 2xy + by

 Solving Absolute Value Equations
Solving absolute value equations is almost the exact same as solving regular equations with one major difference. In
most cases you have 2 solutions.

Example:
|x|=5

We know that when x = 5, | 5 | will also equal 5, but it is also true that | -5 | will equal 5. So, for |x | = 5, x = {-5, 5}.
They both work.

How to solve absolute value equations

1) Isolate the absolute value.
2) Split into two separate equations, setting one to the negative and one to the positive.

Example:
| 2x + 6 | - 3 = 13

1) Isolate the absolute value:

** The steps are the same as if you were getting the x by itself. You move away all other numbers by doing the
opposite operation:**

| 2x + 6 | - 3 = 13
+3 +3
| 2x + 6 | = 16

2) Now split into two

separate equations and 2x + 6 = -16 2x + 6 = 16
solve each. -6 -6 -6 -6
2x = -22 2x = 10
2 2 2 2

x = -11 x=5

3) Check by substituting in the original equation.

Example
1) | 6x + 12 | = 24

2) | ⅔ x + 6 | = 2
3) | 4x – 12 | = -36

4) | 10 – ¾ x | = 16

5) 5| 3x – 6 | + 9 = 144

6) 5| 6x -15 | + 7 – 8 = -6
11