Introduction to Solving Equations with Decimals
To calculate the difference between two swimmers' race times, you'll need to write an equation with decimals.
Kim and Alyssa are on the same high school swim team, and they're always competing for the fastest time in the 50-meter freestyle event. In the last race, the difference between Kim's time and Alyssa's time was 1.36 seconds. If Alyssa swam the race in 36.79 seconds, what was Kim's time? To solve this problem, you'll need to translate the information given to an equation and then solve it. Read on to find out more about solving equations with decimals.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this section, you will be able to:- Determine whether a decimal is a solution of an equation
- Solve equations with decimals
- Translate to an equation and solve
readiness quiz
Before you get started, take this readiness quiz.- Evaluate [latex]x+\frac{2}{3}\text{when}x=-\frac{1}{4}[/latex].If you missed this problem, review [link].
- Evaluate [latex]15-y[/latex] when [latex]y=-5[/latex].If you missed this problem, review [link].
- Solve [latex]\frac{n}{-7}=42[/latex].If you missed this problem, review [link].
Licenses & Attributions
CC licensed content, Shared previously
- Freestyle swimmer . Authored by: Mark Bonica. Located at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23119666@N03/7447357796/. License: CC BY: Attribution.
CC licensed content, Specific attribution
- Prealgebra. Provided by: OpenStax License: CC BY: Attribution. License terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected].