Expert: Richard J. Raridon - 6/13/2008

Question
2X/3-5=7

I think i am doing it wrong...
I try to sove the 2x first by not using the 3
2x+5=7
 -5=-5
2x/2=2/2=1
and than i put 1 on top of 3
1/3-5+5=7
canceling the -5+5=0 and
1/3=7
7*3-21
so x=21 i got....but than i can't use -5? I don't know..can you please help me


Answer
2x/3 -5 = 7
you can add or subtract the same thing from both sides of an equals sign without changing the answer so add 5 to each side to get
2x/3 = 12
You can also multiply or divide both sides by the same thing so multiply each side by 3/2 to get x=18