Step by step
The question
Question: solve 2x/5 = 6.
Let's find x.
Is x alone now?
Not yet: x is still divided by 5.
How do we remove it?
1 Remove the fraction
The bottom number is 5.
A fraction means divide: 2x/5 is 2x divided by 5.
To remove divided by 5, we multiply by 5.
We do it on both sides.
Why both sides?
The = sign means both sides are the same amount.
If we change only one side, they are not the same any more.
5 divided by 5 is 1.
The bottom is gone.
We write it again, without the crossed-out parts.
5 times 6 is 30.
No more fractions!
So after step 1: we multiplied by 5, and now we have 2x = 30.
Is x alone now?
Not yet: 2x means 2 times x.
2 Remove the 2
To remove times 2, we divide by 2.
We do it on both sides, so they stay equal.
2 divided by 2 is 1.
They cancel each other.
So just x is left.
30 divided by 2 is 15.
So x = 15!
3 Check
Let's check: put 15 in place of x.
We get 6, the same as the right side.
So x = 15 is right!
4 Type it in
The answer box takes 5 characters.
15 has 2.
It fits.
We type 15.
Let's look back.
First: remove the fraction.
Then: remove the 2.
Then: check.
Last: type it in.