Question

How do I do this (Comes With Picture) if someone could help me with this that would be amazing :)

Answer 1

The error occurs in step 3. The student did not distribute the negative properly to every term inside the parenthesis. Below is one proper way to solve for y


`3 - \left(y + (1)/(2)\right) = 8`


`3-3 - \left(y + (1)/(2)\right) = 8-3`


`-\left(y + (1)/(2)\right) = 5` <--- Note the negative and the parenthesis


`-y - (1)/(2) = 5` <--- Note how we have -1/2 and not +1/2


`-y - (1)/(2)+(1)/(2) = 5+(1)/(2)`


`-y = 5(1)/(2)`


`y = -5(1)/(2)`

So the proper final answer is
`y = -5(1)/(2)`
(this is a mixed number which converts to the decimal number -5.5)