Solve the equation. Choose the method you prefer to use. Check your answer.

b/13 - 9b/13 = 48/13

1 answer

To solve the equation b/13 - 9b/13 = 48/13, we can combine the like terms on the left side of the equation.

b/13 - 9b/13 can be simplified to (1 - 9b)/13.

So now, our equation becomes (1 - 9b)/13 = 48/13.

To isolate the variable, we can multiply both sides of the equation by 13:

13 * (1 - 9b)/13 = 13 * (48/13).

This simplifies to (1 - 9b) = 48.

Next, let's isolate the variable term by subtracting 1 from both sides of the equation:

(1 - 9b) - 1 = 48 - 1.

This simplifies to 1 - 9b - 1 = 47.

Simplifying further, we have -9b = 47.

To solve for b, we can divide both sides of the equation by -9:

-9b/-9 = 47/-9.

This simplifies to b = -47/9.

So the solution to the equation is b = -47/9.

To check our answer, we can substitute b = -47/9 back into the original equation:

(-47/9)/13 - 9(-47/9)/13 = 48/13.

(-47/9)*(1/13) - 9*(-47/9)*(1/13) = 48/13.

-47/117 - 9*(-47/117) = 48/13.

-47/117 + 423/117 = 48/13.

(-47 + 423)/117 = 48/13.

376/117 = 48/13.

We can see that both sides of the equation are equal, so our solution b = -47/9 is correct.