Really depends on what you mean by “basic” and “algebraic”. If I take “algebraic” to mean polynomial, and “basic” to mean having one variable and a solution that you can find with standard techniques, then it’s “simple” — for a suitably generous definition of the word.
First, get all your stuff on one side so that you have P(x)=0
P
(
x
)
=
0
for some polynomial P
P
. This is done by subtracting both sides by everything on the right hand side, and combining terms that have the same power of x
x
. For convenience, order your terms so that the biggest powers of x
x
come first, and they get smaller as you go, so that the last term is one without an x
x
, if you have one. If this isn’t a polynomial, then this equations isn’t algebraic, so stop following this guide.
Possible mid-step, if you don’t have a term without an x
x
, then x=0
x
=
0
is a solution, and you can divide by the smallest power of x
x
so that now you should have a term without an x
x
. If there’s no smallest power of x
x
, you started with 0=0
0
=
0
which is always true. If the term without an x
x
is the only one, your equation looks like a=0
a
=
0
for some nonzero a
a
, so you’re out of solutions and can stop here.
Next, figure out the degree of P
P
. This is super easy if you did everything correct up until now, because it will be the power of x
x
on the very first term, which should be the biggest power of x
x
you have, and should be at least 1
1
.
Another possible mid-step, if your degree is more than 4
4
, check if the least common multiple of all the powers of x
x
is greater than 1
1
, and check that the degree divided by the least common multiple is 4
4
or less. If this is the case, make the substitution z=xm
z
=
x
m
where m
m
is the least common multiple. Then continue on to solve the equation for z
z
, and then turn those into solutions for x
x
with x=z√m
x
=
z
m
. If you don’t have a degree 4
4
equation, then you might be out of luck. At this point, I think we can no longer call the equation “basic”, as it might not even have a closed-form solution.
Lastly, at this step you should have a polynomial of degree between 1
1
and 4
4
, in which case you will use the corresponding formula: linear, quadratic, cubic, or quartic. The term “linear formula” isn’t really in wide use, but it simply states that the equation
. The other three can be found easily via the internet. The quadratic formula is fairly manageable, the cubic formula is a bit unwieldy but not too bad, and the quartic formula is a bit of a nightmare but if you’re at this point it’s probably the only way.
So there you go, a more or less complete tutorial on how to solve any “basic” “algebraic” equation (for the definitions given above). There are a couple of heuristic techniques you can also try before giving up, such as factoring by grouping, the rational root theorem, and Descartes rule of signs, but none of these techniques are guaranteed to be of any help. Most polynomials of degree 5 or greater don’t have closed-form solutions, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t find them. At that point, if you really need those solutions, you can try numerical methods, but I’ll leave that out of this answer.