PAIBOTLearn
Sign inSign up

Equations with parentheses

Linear equations

Japanese school year: Junior high 1

What you learn

You will learn the procedure for solving linear equations with parentheses by applying the distributive property before rearranging terms. This skill is useful when working with equations derived from real-world word problems. Prior mastery of the distributive property and basic transposition is recommended for smooth learning.

Go to practice

Key points

This distributive property removes parentheses when solving equations. Multiply the outside factor aa by each term, xx and bb, inside the parentheses.

a(x+b)=ax+aba(x + b) = ax + ab

This rule applies when parentheses are preceded by a minus sign. When expanding, reverse the sign of every term inside the parentheses.

−(ax+b)=−ax−b-(ax + b) = -ax - b

This describes the workflow after removing parentheses. Group terms containing xx on the left and constant numbers on the right, simplify, and solve.

Choose a set to practice.