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.