Question 687232: I have no clue how algebra works... Help!
Answer by josmiceli(19441)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! You have learned about the basic operations on
numbers like addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and divisions,.
All algebra does is apply these operations to
symbols like  and  which stand for
numbers, but which number is usually unknown.
If I say  , then every time I see ,
I can replace it with  .
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The other thing to understand is the " = " sign
Think of the " = " sign as a balance point, and if you do
something to one side, you have to do the exact same thing
to the other side.
For instance, I said
If that's true, I can say
What if I subtract  from the right side?
 But I don't want to change, so what
should I do ? I have to subtract from BOTH sides
like this:
Is this OK ? I'll find out by replacing with
because I know I can.
I'm still OK
This is the very basics of algebra
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