## Pages

### Solving linear equations in one variable (Part 2)

Consider the following linear equation.
2x + 1 = 3
We know that solving a linear equation means isolating the variable 'x' on one side of the equation by moving all the numbers in the equation on the other side of the = sign.

First we'll move the + 1 in the LHS of the above equation to the RHS (LHS means left hand side and RHS means right hand side of the = sign). For that, we will have to subtract 1 from both sides of the linear equation because 1 - 1 = 0 and hence the + 1 in the LHS of the equation will get canceled out. Thus,
2x + 1 - 1 = 3 - 1
Simplifying,
2x = 2
Now the only number left on the side of 'x' in the equation is 2. 2 is in multiplication with 'x', and hence, to remove it, we will have to divide by 2. Going by the golden rule mentioned earlier, we will divide both sides of the equation by 2.
(2x)/2 = 2/2
We know that 2/2 = 1. Thus,
1x = 1
1x can be written as x because the product of 1 and x is x. Thus, we get
x = 1
You can clearly see that in the above step, we have isolated the variable 'x' on one side of the equation and hence we have reached the solution. Thus, the solution of this linear equation is x = 1.

The above equation is a multiple step linear equation since we had to do two steps to solve it.