The thing you are probably having trouble with is removing the fractions.

Ok, I'll show you how to do this starting with a simple problem.

x/5 = 2

Well, we know that if we do the SAME THING to both sides of an equation, the equation holds true.

so if we multiply the whole equation by 5, we can eliminate the fraction.

5(x/5) = 2(5)

x = 10

Basically, we need to get rid of the denominator, and we know that any number over itself is 1.

Let's try a harder problem.

x/3 + 2x/9 = 5

Well, now we need to find the least common multiple of both 3 and 9. That is 9. Multiply the whole equation by 9.

9(x/3) + 9(2x/9) = 5(9)

3x + 2x = 45

5x = 45

x = 9

Apply these techniques to your problems, and you should be able to get them right.

Another trick that gets you to the answer faster is if you have an equation like

8z - 4z/13 + 1/12z = 7

you can just rip z right out of all the terms on the left by the distributive property of addition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributivity) and attain:

z(8 - 4/13 + 1/12) = 7

Now just do the arithmetic within the parentheses, and divide 7 by the resulting number, to acquire z.

Snce when has there been forward slashes in algebra?????

A forward slash is understood to mean division.

I don't think that works right... The only reason it worked correctly for that equation was because of the format and not putting parentheses around the entire denominator of the third term on the left hand side of the equation, therefore the z is not in the denominator. If it was in the denominator, it would not work like that. So let me test it out as if z was in the denominator.

z(8 - 4/13 + 1/12) = 7

z(104/13 - 4/13 + 1/12) = 7

z(100/13 - 1/12) = 7

z(1200/156 - 13/156) = 7

z(1187/156) = 7

z = 1092/1187

Nasty number =P Anyway, let's plug it into the original equation and see if it works.

8z - 4z/13 + 1/12z = 7

8(1092/1187) - 4(1092/1187)/13 + 1/[12(1092/1187)] =? 7

I will round to 4 decimal places to make it easier.

7.3597 - 0.2831 + 0.0906 =? 7

7.1672 = 7

ok, so it looks like it worked out... Hmmm... It shouldn't have, though...

The reason why it shouldn't have worked is because the z in the third term is actually z^(-1), NOT z, like it was in the first two terms.

Let me try with a different equation, since that equation might have just worked out randomly...

3b/4 + 1/(2b) = 6

If you were to factor out a b...

b(3/4 + 1/2) = 6

b(3/4 + 2/4) = 6

b(5/4) = 6

b = 24/5

Plug it back in.

3(24/5)/4 + 1/(2[24/5]) =? 6

3.6 + 0.1042 =? 6

3.7 ≠ 6