What do you do with algebra?

Answer 1

Algebra is such a vast topic that it is impossible to explain in a simple manner what you can do with it. However, in its simplest form, you can manipulate instances where one thing is equal to another, and, given what you know, find what you don't know.

An example of VERY basic algebra:

"A" is a letter representing a number, the value of which you don't know. But, you do know that A + 2 = 6

therefore, if A + 2 = 6, then we know that subtracting 2 from both sides, both sides of the equation will remain equal.

A + 2 - 2 = 6 - 2

2-2 is zero, and 6- 2 is four.

Therefore, A + 0 = 4

A + 0 is A, so we know that A = 4.

To check, we plug the number back into the equation in the variable's place.

if A + 2 = 6, then 4 + 2 = 6. It does, so we have now used basic algebra to solve an equation for variable A. Good luck.