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Title slide

To solve for x undo all the operations around it by doing opposite operations.

Whatever you do to one side you have to do to the other side.

Multiplication and division are inverse or opposite operations.

633183

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=

x

x

invisible1

x is being multiplied by 3 so we do the opposite divide by 3.

6 makes the equation true.

3 • 6 = 183 divided by 3 is 1 which becomes invisible.

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One-step multiplication

Dividing by 3 is the same as multiplying by 1/3.

633183

=

=

x

x

invisible1

Multiplying by the reciprocal is the same as dividing by the number.

Any number multiplied by its multiplicative inverse or reciprocal is 1.

1 1x x

6 makes the equation true.

3 • 6 = 18

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To solve for x we divide both sides by 3

Using the reciprocal (1)

Instead of dividing by ¾ we can multiply by the reciprocal, 4/3 to get 1.

Multiplying a number by its reciprocal equals1.

2434

183

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=

x

x

invisible1Any number multiplied by its multiplicative inverse or reciprocal is 1.

4 4x x

24 makes the equation true.

3/4 • 24 = 18

3Whatever you do to one side you have to do to the other side.

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Using the reciprocal (2)

To solve for x undo all the operations around it by doing opposite operations.

32

44 84

=

=

x

x

invisible1

x is being divided by 4 so we do the opposite multiply by 4

x x

32 makes the equation true.

32/4 = 8

Whatever you do to one side you have to do to the other side.

Any number divided by itself is 1.

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One-step division