Lesson: Basic Algebra - 05

Some Rules for Simplifying Equations

Sometimes parentheses make equations look more complicated than they actually are. (See how much more complicated this sentence seems?) If you simplify the expressions on each side of the equation before solving it, your life will be much easier.div>

You can multiply both sides of an equation or an inequality by any number except zero.

Multiplying by zero yields a result of 0 = 0, which won’t help you to find a solution.

Avoid multiplying both sides of an equation by a variable. A variable could be equal to zero (which would yield that useless 0 = 0 result).

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