Question

Using the Property of Equality, what first step would you take to rearrange the formula y=mx+b using x as the quantity of interest?

Answer 1

To rearrange the formula \( y = mx + b \) to solve for \( x \), the first step would be to isolate the term \( mx \). You can do this by subtracting \( b \) from both sides of the equation using the Property of Equality.

Here’s how it looks:

1. Start with the equation:
\[ y = mx + b \]

2. Subtract \( b \) from both sides:
\[ y - b = mx \]

Now, you have \( mx \) isolated on one side. The next steps would involve dividing by \( m \) to solve for \( x \):

3. Divide both sides by \( m \):
\[ x = \frac{y - b}{m} \]

This gives you \( x \) as the quantity of interest.