Question 364145
Solve {{{-5+x = 20}}}
When you are asked to solve a problem such as this, you are being asked to find the value of x that, when added to -5 will give the result of 20.
You can solve this equation for x this way:
{{{-5+x = 20}}} To isolate the variable, x, you must add 5 to both sides of the equation. When you do this, you are "undoing" the -5 so that you are left with the variable by itself on the left side of the equation.
{{{-5+5+x = 20+5}}} Because {{{-5+5 = 0}}}, we are left with x by itself on the left side:
{{{x = 20+5}}} ...and on the right side, you can see that {{{20+5 = 25}}} so...
{{{highlight(x = 25)}}}
To see if this is really the correct solution for x, we'll substitute {{{x = 25}}} into the original equation to see if both sides are equal.
{{{-5+x = 20}}} Substitute {{{x = 25}
{{{-5+25 = 20}}} and, since {{{-5+25 = 20}}} or {{{25-5 = 20}}} we have:
{{{20 = 20}}}