To solve the equation 5/8 * (x - 1/2) = 10 the first stop is to reverse the multiplication What number should both sides be divided by?

Answer 1

To solve the equation 5/8 * (x - 1/2) = 10, the first step is not to reverse the multiplication. Instead, we should simplify the equation by multiplying both sides by the reciprocal of 5/8, which is 8/5:

(8/5) * (5/8) * (x - 1/2) = (8/5) * 10

This simplifies to:

(x - 1/2) = (8/5) * 10

Now, we can solve for x by adding 1/2 to both sides:

(x - 1/2) + 1/2 = (8/5) * 10 + 1/2

This simplifies to:

x = 8/5 * 10 + 1/2

Now, we can evaluate the right-hand side:

x = 16 + 1/2

Thus, the solution is:

x = 16 + 1/2 = 16.5