What is the first step in solving this equation:

Question

1/
3x=−9

(1 point)
Responses

Divide each side by 3
Divide each side by 3

Divide each side by 1/3
Divide each side by 1/3

Multiply each side by 1/3
Multiply each side by 1/3

Multiply each side by -9

Answer 1

To solve the equation \( \frac{1}{3}x = -9 \), the first step is to eliminate the fraction.

The correct action would be to multiply each side by 3. This will clear the fraction on the left side of the equation.

So let's break it down:

1. Start with the equation: \( \frac{1}{3}x = -9 \)
2. Multiply each side by 3:

\[ 3 \cdot \left(\frac{1}{3}x\right) = 3 \cdot (-9) \]

This simplifies to:

\[ x = -27 \]

However, since the provided options do not include multiplying both sides by 3, it looks like the question might have been misinterpreted. If you still need to choose from the given options, "Multiply each side by \(1/3\)" would not be a correct choice because that is not the first step needed to simplify, and would actually give the incorrect result.

The best approach is:

None of the provided responses is exactly correct for the first step. The correct first step is to multiply each side by 3.