document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=557361>Question 557361</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> If 3x+c=4, then x equals what?<BR>\n" );
document.write( "How do you do the above problem?  </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #362598 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=bucky><B>bucky(2189)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=bucky><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/nopicture.jpg><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=362598\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> You are asked to solve for x in the given equation:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=+3x+%2B+c+=+4 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"+3x+%2B+c+=+4\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The first thing to recognize is that the equation has two unknowns, x and c. You cannot solve this single equation to determine a numerical value for x. In order to get a numerical value for x you need to know a numerical value for c, and to solve for two unknowns (x and c) you need to be given two independent equations.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "So in this problem, when you solve for x, you will do so knowing that the c will still be involved in determining x.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Here's what is involved in answering this problem:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "First, you need to get the term involving x to be the only term on the left side, meaning that all other terms need to be on the right side. <BR>\n" );
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document.write( "So you need to move the + c to the right side of the equation. You can do this by subtracting c from both sides. This is done as follows:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=3x+%2B+c+-+c+=+4+-+c ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"3x+%2B+c+-+c+=+4+-+c\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "On the left side the + c and the - c cancel each other and that makes the + c disappear from the left side. The equation that remains after this subtraction is:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=3x+=+4+-+c ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"3x+=+4+-+c\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Finally, you solve for x by dividing both sides of this equation (all terms) by 3. On the left side, when you divide 3x by 3 you are left with just x. On the right side the division by 3 can be written as shown:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=x+=+%284+-+c%29%2F3 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"x+=+%284+-+c%29%2F3\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "This answer can also be written as:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=x+=+4%2F3+-+c%2F3 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"x+=+4%2F3+-+c%2F3\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Both answers are the same, just in different forms.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "This tells you that in order to get a numerical answer for x, you have to be given the numerical value of c. For example, if you were told that c equals 1, you would substitute 1 for c and get:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=x+=+4%2F3+-+1%2F3 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"x+=+4%2F3+-+1%2F3\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Subtracting the two terms on the right side will result in an answer of <IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=3%2F3 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"3%2F3\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" > which simplifies to 1. So when c equals 1 you can say that x also equals 1.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the problem.<BR>\n" );
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