Step One Multiply both sides by 80 7/8(x - 1/2)*80 = (-49/80) * 80
Step Two 7(x - 1/2 ) * 10 = - 49 Divide both sides by 7 (x - 1/2) * 10 = -49/7 (x - 1/2) * 10 = - 7 Remove the brackets on the left. 10x - (1/2)*10 = -7 10x - 5 = - 7 Add 5 to both sides. 10x = -7 + 5 10x = -2 Divide by 10 x = -2/10 x = - 0.2
Step Three Check We better check this one. 7/8*(-0.2 - 1/2) 7/8* (-.2 - 0.5) 7/8* (-0.7) - 4.9/8 Now you can do one of two things. The easiest and simplest is to multiply top and bottom by 10
-4.9*10 / 8 * 10 -49 / 80 Which is the same as the right hand side.
