Post 10: Equations with Variables on Both Sides

The next room feels very cold. Something is wrong. Chills run down everyone's spines. Another scale sits in front of the team. Sage cautiously steps forward in a crouch, not sure what to expect. As Sage approaches, two ghosts appear, pulling on the scale from either side as it teeters back and forth. The tile on the left side reads "4x - 22" and the tile on the right side reads "8 - x".

While these ghosts don't seem too scary, and they seem intent on one another, Sage and the kids are all a little nervous about approaching this one. They certainly don't want to get the ghosts' attention.

One of the kids whispers, "What's going on here? Why are there expressions with variables on both sides of the equation?" They think for a minute. They remember that variables can be on both sides of an equation. They understand combining constants and using addition and subtraction to pull them from one side of the equation to the other. "Does it work the same for variables?" another kid whispers. "I think so," replies the first kid. They seem to recall this from last year's lessons. "Let's give it a shot!" they quietly exclaim.

Sage approaches and bravely replaces the tiles on the scale. The ghosts looked shocked as a huge grin appears on both their mouths. With the equation solved, the look happy. They fly over to one another and hug spinning as they hover in the air. Then both ghosts dissolve and the door to the next room opens.

Now that you've got the hang of this, try it yourself. Click on a line below and start typing to write your math steps below. Press control/cmd and enter to add more math lines.

Sage and the kids have solved the problem and the entrance to the next room opens.

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