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Next: Some Advanced Techniques Up: Symbol Motion Previous: Summary: The Rules of

Exercises

Do the following with each equation below:

  1. On paper, solve the equation for x using the normal methods, writing down the intermediate steps.
  2. Next, also on paper, solve the equation using symbol motion. Outline the chunks, and use arrows to point out what is moving and where. Write (draw) each step in which a symbol is moved.
  3. Solve the equation using symbol motion, with your visual imagination - in other words, without writing it down. If you at first need to write down some of the intermediate steps, or use what you wrote in steps 1 and 2 as a guide, you can do so. Just make sure to use that to support your learning, not to ``cheat''. Repeat the process until you are able to solve the equation mentally without those aids.
Here are the equations:

  1. 2x + 3 = 7
  2. $\frac{3x-5}{2}=5$
  3. $x+\frac{1}{2}=2x-4$
  4. $\frac{3}{x-1}=2$
  5. $2=\frac{2x-4}{1-x}$