Variables are letters that stand for numbers
x=5
y=3
j=4
J+X = 9
You use variables to stand for numbers in algebra
a variable is a letter that stand for another number
Sometimes... some variables can only stand for one thing, like m= slope, but "x" is a variable that can stand for just about anything; slope, axis, and equations.
X and Y do not stand for anything. They are merely letters that represent a variable in an algebraic equation. X is generally used as the first variable, and Y is used as the second variable, to differentiate the difference between two variables so one letter does not need to be used for two variables. In GRAPHS, they stand for the axis line. X is the horizontal axis, and Y is the vertical axis.
Since the Pythagorean Theorem deals with the relationship among the lengths of the sides of a right triangle, it is altogether fitting and proper, and a fortuitous coincidence, that the variables in the algebraic statement of the Theorem stand for the lengths of the sides of a right triangle.
The unknowns or variables
The variables stand for an unknown number that has not yet been identified which has been kept as a variable for the purpose of finding the value of.
You use variables to stand for numbers in algebra
a variable is a letter that stand for another number
Sometimes... some variables can only stand for one thing, like m= slope, but "x" is a variable that can stand for just about anything; slope, axis, and equations.
X and Y do not stand for anything. They are merely letters that represent a variable in an algebraic equation. X is generally used as the first variable, and Y is used as the second variable, to differentiate the difference between two variables so one letter does not need to be used for two variables. In GRAPHS, they stand for the axis line. X is the horizontal axis, and Y is the vertical axis.
Coefficients don't 'stand' for anything. They are numbers which multiply variables. For instance, in the expression 3 x + 2, three is the coefficient of x.
Since the Pythagorean Theorem deals with the relationship among the lengths of the sides of a right triangle, it is altogether fitting and proper, and a fortuitous coincidence, that the variables in the algebraic statement of the Theorem stand for the lengths of the sides of a right triangle.
"Solve an equation" means "find out, for which values of the variable or variables is the equation true".
It is one of two variables, conventionally plotted on the vertical axis in the coordinate plane.
The variables of this equation are your letters: a, b, and c. Variables merely stand in an equation to represent values that we don't know. "Solving" an equation is the process by which we uncover those values. In this particular case, since there are three variables, we cannot discover their values unless we have two other equivalent equations (a system of equations).
Variables stand in the place of unknown numbers. For example, in the following equation, one number is unknown: 2+x=5. The x takes the place of the number that is unknown.