How do you solve 3x plus 5 equals 23?

Answer 1

3x + 5 = 23

The object of solving this algebraic equation is to get x by itself, meaning to get everything that isn't x on x's side on the other side with 23.

So first let's deal with 5. 5 is easier to get rid of, so let's do that first and worry about the 3x after. To bring a number to the other side of the equation, the rule is to use the sign that is opposite of the sign used for the number on both sides of the equation. This might sound hard, but it's very simple- subtract 5 from 5 and from 23. (If the sign was minus, then you would have added 5 to both sides.) By subtracting 5 from both sides, the 5s cancel out because 5-5 is 0. 23-5 is 18. So now our equation looks like this:

3x = 18

Now for the 3x. Remember the rule for bringing the number to the other side- but first you need to know what operation is being used for 3x. Anytime you see a number attached to a variable, (x, y, z, etc.) they are being multiplied together. So 3x is using multiplication, meaning we need to use division to get rid of the 3 on it's originial side and bring it to 18's side. So divide by 3 on both sides- 3x divided by 3 leaves us with just x, because the threes cancel out. 18 divided by 3 is 6.

So now that x is by itself, we have solved the equation. The answer is x = 6.