Please explain how to solve:

1/3 = p-2/p+8

Jane,

when you posted this same question earlier I pointed out the problems with your lack of brackets.
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1325816262
You did not reply even though
you appear to have fixed up the P and p variation.

So I will solve it the way you typed it, even though I think that is not the way the question was meant to be.

multiply each term by 3p
p = 3p^2 - 6 + 24p
3p^2 + 23p - 6 = 0

p = (-23 ± √601)/6

To solve the equation 1/3 = (p - 2) / (p + 8), you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Multiply both sides by (p + 8) to eliminate the fraction:

1/3 * (p + 8) = (p - 2) / (p + 8) * (p + 8)

Simplifying this expression, we get:

(p + 8) / 3 = p - 2

Step 2: Distribute the factor of 1/3 on the left side:

p/3 + 8/3 = p - 2

Step 3: Move all the terms containing the variable p to one side:

p/3 - p = -2 - 8/3

To add or subtract fractions, we need to find a common denominator. The common denominator is 3:

(p - 3p)/3 = (-6 - 8)/3

Simplifying the expression on the left side gives:

-2p/3 = -22/3

Step 4: Solve for p by multiplying both sides by 3 to eliminate the fraction:

-2p/3 * 3 = -22/3 * 3

Simplifying this expression, we get:

-2p = -22

Step 5: Solve for p by dividing both sides by -2:

-2p / -2 = -22 / -2

Simplifying this expression, we get:

p = 11

Therefore, the solution to the equation 1/3 = (p - 2) / (p + 8) is p = 11.

To solve the equation 1/3 = (p-2)/(p+8), we can start by cross-multiplying.

Cross-multiplying involves multiplying the numerator of one fraction by the denominator of the other fraction, and vice versa. In this case, we have:

(p+8) * 1 = (p-2) * 3

Now, we can simplify the equation by distributing the multiplication:

p + 8 = 3(p - 2)

Next, we can apply the distributive property by multiplying 3 to both terms inside the parentheses:

p + 8 = 3p - 6

Let's isolate the variable "p" on one side of the equation. To do this, we can start by subtracting "p" from both sides of the equation:

8 = 2p - 6

Then, let's add 6 to both sides of the equation to further isolate "p":

14 = 2p

Finally, we can solve for "p" by dividing both sides of the equation by 2:

p = 14/2

Simplifying the division gives us the final answer:

p = 7