Write an equation and then solve it

2 + 2 = x

4 = x

x = 4

4 - 1 = x

3 = x

x = 3

(Equation) a - 3 = - 8

Explanation: If you're asked to solve for a in the equation a - 3 = - 8, you want to try to get a by itself on one side of the equation.

If we take a look at the left side of our equation, a 3 is being subtracted from a so in order to get a by itself, we must add 3 to the left side of the equation. If we add 3 to the left side of the equation, we must also add 3 to the right side of the equation to keep our equation balanced.

On the left side of the equation, our - 3 and + 3 cancel out and we're left with a. On the right side of the equation, - 8 + 3 simplifies to - 5 so a = - 5.

To check our answer, we can substitute - 5 back in for a in the original equation and we get (-5) - 3 = - 8. (-5) - 3 can be thought of as (-5) + (-3) and you can see that this is a true statement so our answer checks.