376,681 views
18 votes
18 votes
How do I do this x/12+1=x/3-x/4 and this is for solving linear equations.

User Jordan Silva
by
2.4k points

1 Answer

17 votes
17 votes

Answer:

no solution

Explanation:

You want to solve the equation x/12+1=x/3-x/4.

Solution

There are a couple of ways you can solve this. If you're intimidated by the fractions, you can get rid of them by multiplying the equation by a common denominator. In this case, multiplying by 12 gives ...

x +12 = 4x -3x . . . . . . original equation multiplied by 12

x +12 = x . . . . . . . . . . simplified

12 = 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . subtract x from both sides

This equation is plainly false. No value of x will make it be true.

The given equation has NO SOLUTION.

Alternate solution

You can do the arithmetic with the coefficients as they are:

x/12 +1 = x(1/3 -1/4)

x/12 +1 = x/12

1 = 0 . . . . . . . . . . subtract x/12; false

The equation has NO SOLUTION.

__

Additional comment

It is a good idea to become comfortable doing arithmetic with numbers however you find them: integers, fractions, mixed numbers, decimals, percents, scientific notation.

A decent calculator can help, if you need it. Modern graphing calculators are fully capable of working with mixed numbers, fractions, percents, and scientific notation. Any spreadsheet can do this, too.

There are very good inexpensive or free apps for phone and tablet that provide all the capability of a good graphing calculator.

User Amr Lotfy
by
2.8k points