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Therefore, the 2y on both sides can be cancelled out, leaving 3 = 6y, or y = 0.5. This is equivalent to subtracting 2y from both sides. At times, cancelling out can introduce limited changes or extra solutions to an equation. For example, given the inequality ab ≥ 3b, it looks like the b on both sides can be cancelled out to give a ≥ 3 as ...
In mathematics, separation of variables (also known as the Fourier method) is any of several methods for solving ordinary and partial differential equations, in which algebra allows one to rewrite an equation so that each of two variables occurs on a different side of the equation.
This is a common procedure in mathematics, used to reduce fractions or calculate a value for a given variable in a fraction. If we have an equation =, where x is a variable we are interested in solving for, we can use cross-multiplication to determine that =.
Engineer using a slide rule, with mechanical calculator in background, mid 20th century. A more modern form of slide rule was created in 1859 by French artillery lieutenant Amédée Mannheim, who was fortunate both in having his rule made by a firm of national reputation, and its adoption by the French Artillery. Mannheim's rule had two major ...
This counterintuitive result occurs because in the case where =, multiplying both sides by multiplies both sides by zero, and so necessarily produces a true equation just as in the first example. In general, whenever we multiply both sides of an equation by an expression involving variables, we introduce extraneous solutions wherever that ...
A similar problem, involving equating like terms rather than coefficients of like terms, arises if we wish to de-nest the nested radicals + to obtain an equivalent expression not involving a square root of an expression itself involving a square root, we can postulate the existence of rational parameters d, e such that
Change of variables is an operation that is related to substitution. However these are different operations, as can be seen when considering differentiation or integration (integration by substitution). A very simple example of a useful variable change can be seen in the problem of finding the roots of the sixth-degree polynomial:
When seeking a solution, one or more variables are designated as unknowns. A solution is an assignment of values to the unknown variables that makes the equality in the equation true. In other words, a solution is a value or a collection of values (one for each unknown) such that, when substituted for the unknowns, the equation becomes an equality.