5-7 Solving Equations by Adding or Subtracting with Fractions

Well guys, home stretch. I am SO CRAZY PROUD of all you've accomplished this year. It's time to put what we learned near the beginning of the year and what you've just recently learned together. 

*cue Star Wars theme music*

This section is taking us back to solving equations. Remember those days? A few things I want you to recall:

1) Solving an equation means finding out what the variable is.  
2) In order to do this, we need to get the variable all alone. 
3) We get the variable by itself by doing the OPPOSITE of what's happening to it TO BOTH SIDES.

A quick example just to jog your memory:

3 + y = 10 --- What's the value of y?

To find out, we do the opposite of what's happening to y to both sides. Since the equation is ADDING 3 to y, we now must do the opposite - SUBTRACT 3. (And make sure you do this to both sides!) It's like balancing a scale.

3 + y - 3 = 10 - 3  ---- Now we solve both sides .

y = 7

Equations with fractions work exactly the same way. You just need to remember to apply what you know about fractions when you solve. 

Read through the section as a class and pay close attention to the examples. Notice how the first step is to do the opposite; THEN, your "fractions stuff" comes into play. In Example 1, for instance, in order to subtract 1/4 from 1/3, we need to first convert the fractions into the same "family" (same denominator) and then solve. 

Stop @ the end of each example and try the Quick Checks together as a class. The last example may look tricky but you can always transform the mixed numbers into improper fractions. If you go through the section and are ready to move on to practice, try  pg. 270, 8 - 19.