Solve For X: 8th Grade Algebra Problem Solving

[Sailcat]

How Do i Solve For X?

I Was gone the day we did this is class and we just took a unit test. I bombed it and the end of the quarter is in a few days ! I need to pass algebra (I skipped a grade of math) and I don't know this at all !

So if a problem is like:

14x-53-32x=73 and I need to find x, how do I do it ?

or

18-6(5x-8)=-24? how do I do them. People say you solve differently but I don't get how to do either?! Please help me. I'm gunna retake this target soon ! I need all the help I can get. Ow yeah, I'm in 8th grade, so please use words and phrases that I would understand !
Thank You So Much ! (those arn't homework, just random problems I found).

~Kyle

 

[Pengwuino]

You want to get your problem to be something like "Ax = b". For your first problem, you have numbers not multiplied by x on both sides of your equation. You want to get them all to one side. If you add 53 to both sides, you will have 14x - 53 + 53 - 32x = 73 + 53.

Now, on the left, the 53's cancel and on the right, it adds to 73 so you have 14x - 32x = 126. Simplify the left side to get -18x = 126. Now you have something that looks like "Ax = b". Simplify divide both sides by -18 and you'll get what x is. Other problems follow similarly to that idea.

 

[Sailcat]

ok I am following you, but what it its like 27x+19-39x=-65

so you subtract 19 from 19 and -65 and get
27x plus or minus? because its 27x + 19 - 39x?
if its minus then 27x-39x=-84
then do 27-39 and get -12x=-84
then do -12x/-12, and -84/-12. To get 7? am I right?

 

[Bohrok]

That's right.
To put it simply, the + goes with the 19, the - goes with 39x.

 

[Sailcat]

omg thank you guys

 

[symbolipoint]

The day when your teacher discusses additive inverses, commutataive property of addition for equality, the distrubutive property, and multiplicative inverses, is the day you do not want to miss. Usually, those will not be taught all in one single class meeting. They might be presented in one meeting as an overview, but studying them will be done through several class meetings among many homework assignments of exercises.