Solving Basic Equations

Most teachers do a pretty good job of teaching this chapter because this is one of the few skills that every student I've ever met does EXACTLY the same way. Because it works! Not surprisingly, I'll stick close to the script on this one, even writing down the steps in order.

Solving Equations With Addition & Subtraction Only

Often called "The Addition Property of Equality", the rule for these problems is this: "You can add or subtract anything from one side of an algebra equation, as long as you do the same thing to the other side." This is the key to solving equations like "x+3=6" and "x-2=9", and also causes a few sticky situations that I'll cover in this video as well.

Solving Equations With Multiplication & Division

Naturally, this one involves a rule with a catchy name as well: "The Multiplication Rule of Equality". Equality just means "equals sign", so once again we've got a way to solve algebra equations, this time being allowed to multiply or divide by anything we want as long as we do it to both sides. This will allow us to get rid of numbers in front of the x, such as in the problems "2x-3=5" and "2x/3=6".

Solving Two Step Equations

In this video we'll solve harder equations which require both of the methods covered in the previous videos: addition/subtraction and multiplication/division. Problems such as 3x-5=2 and 12-2x=2. We'll list out the steps you can follow (arithmetic before multiplication), and we'll also address common trick questions and pitfalls for this type of problem.

Solving Messy Equations: Combining Like Terms

This video covers the messiest-looking equations where x shows up in more than one place, such as this doozy: 2x-2+6x=-x+12. The key is to combine all the x terms together first, at which point it becomes like the two-step problems of the previous video. I will point out a few trick questions that teachers sometimes throw in to keep you on your toes/take away points.