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Many equations, one solution

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can understand that a family of linear equations can all have the same solution.

Key learning points

  1. Starting from a single value for a variable you can write equations that are equivalent.
  2. A solution to a linear equation is a value that makes the two sides equal .
  3. All the equivalent equations will have the same solution.

Keywords

  • Solution - A solution to an equality with one variable is a value which, when substituted, maintains the equality between the expressions.

  • Equation - An equation is used to show two expressions that are equal to each other.

Common misconception

Pupils may think a value has to be added to each term in an expression.

When adding a term to an expression we can write it as a single addition and then collect like terms if necessary. Show with numbers first

Teacher tip

Give pupils a simple equation e.g. x = 9 and see how many equivalent equations they can generate in a set time. For challenge you could ask them to generate ones with 2 steps, 3 steps, a division, a fraction etc.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
This bar model represents the initial equation $$2x + 3 = 9$$. What needs to be done to the top bar to maintain equality?

An image in a quiz
Correct answer: $$+9$$
$$+2x$$
Correct answer: $$+(2x+3)$$
$$\times 1$$
Correct answer: $$\times 2$$

Q2.
Which of these calculations show '6 plus 3 all multiplied by 2'?

6 + 3 × 2
Correct answer: 2(6 + 3)
2 × 6 + 3
Correct answer: 2 × 6 + 2 × 3
6 + 3 + 6

Q3.
Lucas manipulates the equation $$2x + 8 = 6$$. Which of these equations could he obtain and maintain equality?

Correct answer: $$x + 4 = 3$$
Correct answer: $$2x + 10 = 8$$
$$10x + 8 = 30$$
$$2x = 6$$
Correct answer: $$4x + 8 = 2x + 6$$

Q4.
Which expression could fill the blank on the right hand side of this equation to maintain equality?

An image in a quiz
Correct answer: $$2x + 1$$
$$2x + 2$$
$$x + 4$$
Correct answer: $${2x + 4}\over 2$$
Correct answer: $$x + 2$$

Q5.
Which of these equations has a solution of $$x = 6$$?

$$x + 5 = −1$$
Correct answer: $$2x − 3 = 9$$
Correct answer: $$5 + 3x = 2x + 11$$
$$10 − x = 16$$
$$15 − 2x = 2x$$

Q6.
Which of these is a solution to the equation $$18 − 6x = 12 − 4x$$?

$$x = −4$$
$$x = −1$$
$$x = 0$$
$$x = 2$$
Correct answer: $$x = 3$$

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these equations are equivalent to $$x = 5$$?

Correct answer: $$2x = 10$$
$$x − 2 = 7$$
Correct answer: $$x + 3 = 8$$
Correct answer: $$2x = x + 5$$
$$x + 5 = 0$$

Q2.
If $$8x + 4 = 12$$, which of these equations has maintained equality?

$$2x + 4 = 3$$
$$2x + 1 = 12$$
Correct answer: $${1\over 4}(8x + 4) = {12\over 4}$$
$$8x + 1 = 3$$
Correct answer: $${{8x + 4}\over 4} = 3 $$

Q3.
Which of these equations are equivalent to $$12x + 2 = 8x − 6$$?

Correct answer: $$12x + 8 = 8x$$
$$12x = 8x − 4$$
Correct answer: $$6x + 1 = 4x − 3$$
Correct answer: $$10x + 2 = 6x − 6$$
$$3x + 1 = 2x + 3$$

Q4.
Which of these is a solution to the equation $$5x − 5 = 9 − 2x$$?

$$x = −2$$
$$x = −1$$
$$x = 0$$
$$x = 1$$
Correct answer: $$x = 2$$

Q5.
What operation is missing from this diagram?

An image in a quiz
$$\times 4$$
Correct answer: $$\times {1\over 4}$$
Correct answer: $$\div 4$$
$$ + (−9)$$

Q6.
What operation is missing from this diagram?

An image in a quiz
$$\times 2$$
$$+ (−3)$$
$$+ x$$
$$+ (x + 3)$$
Correct answer: $$+ (x − 3)$$

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