Question 18419
Hello There:

Solving the equation means isolating the variable m on one side of the equals sign.  We do this by adding the terms that contain m together, moving everything else to the other side, and dividing by any number that's multiplied by m.

-2m = -16m - 9

There are three terms; two of them contain the variable m (-2m and -16m), and the other is a constant (-9).

Let's combine the terms containing m by adding 16m to both sides.  Doing this gets rid of the -16m on the right side, and it allows us to combine the two terms with m together on the left side.

-2m + 16m = -16m + 16m - 9

14m = -9

Next, we solve for m by dividing both sides by 14.  This causes m to be all by itself on the left side.

14m/14 = -9/14

m = -9/14

Let's check this result to be sure that it's right.  To check our answer, we substitute -9/14 for m in the original equation, and then simplify both sides to see if we end up with a true statement.

-2m = -16m - 9

-2(-9/14) = -16(-9/14) - 9

18/14 = 144/14 - 9

9/7 = 72/7 - 9

9/7 = 9/7

Our answer checks out.

m = -9/14

~ Mark