Equivalent Equations and Equations with No Solution

• Solve equations by finding simpler equivalent equations.
• Not all equations have solutions.
• Changing an equation in even a small way can change the solution.

Solving an equation is the process of discovering what

value(s) can be used for x to produce a true statement.

Remember: Our goal is to complete the statement:

x = ___.

The desired values are discovered in steps, each one changing

both sides of the equation in the same way.

Notice: values that are adding or subtracting are addressed

first. Then values that are multiplying or dividing are
addressed to leave x isolated.

Expect some equations to have no solution. This happens

when there is no value for x that can be used to produce a
true statement.

If working through the steps designed to isolate x produces

a false sentence, then the equation has no solution.

These statements are called contradictions.

However, two equations can be almost identical and one will

have a solution while the other may not. This example uses
the same example that had no solution above with one change
– in this equation one coefficient for x is different.

Working through the steps, this example produces a value

for x.

Remember: Check each answer by substituting it into the

original equation for x and doing the arithmetic to verify that
it does produce a true statement.

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