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Solving Subtraction Equations

• Inverse operations are those that undo each other. Addition and subtraction are inverse operations. Multiplication and Division are inverse operations.
• You can use addition to solve a subtraction equation. Since addition is the inverse operation to subtraction, it will undo the subtraction and isolate the variable; for example, x − 8 = 11. If you add 8 to both sides, it will cancel the minus 8 leaving you with zero and the x all alone. Then you will see that x = 19.
• The Subtraction Property of Equality says that if you subtract the same number from each side of an equation, the two sides remain equal.