Consider the equation x 15 = 40.

a. Describe how to solve the equation. What is the solution?
b. Does x + ( 15) = 40 have the same solution? How do you know?

Does x 15 = 40

mean x * 15 = 40?
If so, how do you get x by itself?
You divide by 15, so

x = 40/15 = 8/3

now, unwind the + the same way.

On the other hand,
x+15 = 40
is exactly like
x+(15) = 40

Answers please

To solve the equation x + 15 = 40, we can follow these steps:

a. Steps to solve the equation x + 15 = 40:
1. Begin by isolating the variable x by subtracting 15 from both sides of the equation.
x + 15 - 15 = 40 - 15
x = 25
Here, we have found that the solution to the equation x + 15 = 40 is x = 25.

b. To determine if x + (15) = 40 has the same solution, we can substitute the value we obtained for x in the given equation and check its validity:
Substitute x = 25 into the equation:
25 + 15 = 40
40 = 40

Since the equation 25 + 15 = 40 is true, we can conclude that x + (15) = 40 has the same solution, which is x = 25.