Expert: Scott A Wilson - 11/16/2010

Question
How do I solve the equation:

8x - 12 = -16 ?

Answer
To solve this equation, the first thing that must be done is to isolate the x term by itself.

Since there is a -12 on the left side, add 12 to both sides.  On the left side of the equation, this will leave 8x by itself.  On the right of the equation, there is a -16 and when 12 is added to it,
the result is -4.

Now that we have the equation in the from 8x = -4, we're almost done.
Note that the x term is on the left and the constant is on the right.
The only thing left to do is to divide by the coefficient in front of x, which is 8.

When each side of 8x = -4 is divided by 8, the result is 8x/8 = -4/8.
On the left, 8/8 is 1, so cancelling the 8's leaves only x.  On the right side of the equation, -4/8 can have the top and bottom divided by -4.  This makes the top -1 and the bottom 2, so the answer looks like -1/2.