Can someone explain this to me

[Ryuk1990]

Say you have an equation like this.

Xcos17 + Xsin17 = 600

If I want to solve for X, I know that I can divide by cos17 + sin17.

So it ends up being X = 600/(cos17 + sin17).

However, why is it that it becomes just one X on the left side? There are two X's and dividing by cos17 + sin17 does not cancel the other X so why is it that only one X stays?

 

[Gunthi]

Say you have an equation like this.

Xcos17 + Xsin17 = 600

If I want to solve for X, I know that I can divide by cos17 + sin17.

So it ends up being X = 600/(cos17 + sin17).

However, why is it that it becomes just one X on the left side? There are two X's and dividing by cos17 + sin17 does not cancel the other X so why is it that only one X stays?

You can treat those two as only one, remember distributivity?

 

[Ryuk1990]

You can treat those two as only one, remember distributivity?

hahaha!

I can't believe I didn't even realize that. Thanks for the help.

 

[Gunthi]

hahaha!

I can't believe I didn't even realize that. Thanks for the help.

You're welcome.