Basic Math Examples

$\frac{a - b}{a + b} = \frac{3}{2}$

Step 1

Multiply the numerator of the first fraction by the denominator of the second fraction. Set this equal to the product of the denominator of the first fraction and the numerator of the second fraction.

$(a - b) \cdot 2 = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2

Solve the equation for $a$ .

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Step 2.1

Simplify $(a - b) \cdot 2$ .

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Step 2.1.1

Rewrite.

$0 + 0 + (a - b) \cdot 2 = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2.1.2

Simplify by adding zeros.

$(a - b) \cdot 2 = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2.1.3

Apply the distributive property.

$a \cdot 2 - b \cdot 2 = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2.1.4

Simplify the expression.

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Step 2.1.4.1

Move $2$ to the left of $a$ .

$2 \cdot a - b \cdot 2 = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2.1.4.2

Multiply $2$ by $- 1$ .

$2 a - 2 b = (a + b) \cdot 3$

Step 2.2

Simplify $(a + b) \cdot 3$ .

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Step 2.2.1

Simplify by multiplying through.

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Step 2.2.1.1

Apply the distributive property.

$2 a - 2 b = a \cdot 3 + b \cdot 3$

Step 2.2.1.2

Reorder.

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Step 2.2.1.2.1

Move $3$ to the left of $a$ .

$2 a - 2 b = 3 \cdot a + b \cdot 3$

Step 2.2.1.2.2

Move $3$ to the left of $b$ .

$2 a - 2 b = 3 \cdot a + 3 \cdot b$

Step 2.2.2

Multiply $3$ by $b$ .

$2 a - 2 b = 3 a + 3 b$

Step 2.3

Move all terms containing $a$ to the left side of the equation.

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Step 2.3.1

Subtract $3 a$ from both sides of the equation.

$2 a - 2 b - 3 a = 3 b$

Step 2.3.2

Subtract $3 a$ from $2 a$ .

$- a - 2 b = 3 b$

Step 2.4

Move all terms not containing $a$ to the right side of the equation.

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Step 2.4.1

Add $2 b$ to both sides of the equation.

$- a = 3 b + 2 b$

Step 2.4.2

Add $3 b$ and $2 b$ .

$- a = 5 b$

Step 2.5

Divide each term in $- a = 5 b$ by $- 1$ and simplify.

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Step 2.5.1

Divide each term in $- a = 5 b$ by $- 1$ .

$\frac{- a}{- 1} = \frac{5 b}{- 1}$

Step 2.5.2

Simplify the left side.

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Step 2.5.2.1

Dividing two negative values results in a positive value.

$\frac{a}{1} = \frac{5 b}{- 1}$

Step 2.5.2.2

Divide $a$ by $1$ .

$a = \frac{5 b}{- 1}$

Step 2.5.3

Simplify the right side.

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Step 2.5.3.1

Move the negative one from the denominator of $\frac{5 b}{- 1}$ .

$a = - 1 \cdot (5 b)$

Step 2.5.3.2

Rewrite $- 1 \cdot (5 b)$ as $- (5 b)$ .

$a = - (5 b)$

Step 2.5.3.3

Multiply $5$ by $- 1$ .

$a = - 5 b$