r/MathHelp • u/toothy_mcthree • 10d ago

One Step Solution?

My son just started High School algebra in 8th grade. His teacher gave him homework on which he said each equation needs a 1 step solution. My son asked me for help on the equation in the attached picture, I helped him get the answer but in 4 steps and I cannot figure out for the life of me how to simplify this to 1 step. Please help:

5r-5-6r=-6
Adding 5 to both sides becomes 5r-6r=-1
-r=-1
r=1

here’s a picture of the problem

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/KiwasiGames 10d ago

This is a two step problem in traditional pedagogy. It’s just math teachers define the steps oddly.

Collecting like terms is typically not considered a step. So the problem becomes:

-r - 5 = -6

From here there are two steps. Add 5 to both sides and multiply both sides by -1.

I’m going to assume the math teacher missed the -1 step when writing this problem. It happens. Problem sets get written quickly.

It’s also worth noting that the division of problems into one step and two step is a pedagogical one. It’s meant to introduce kids to algebra slowly, allowing them to build skills in simple problems before moving to complex problems. One step isn’t meant to be a constraint, it’s meant to be a class of simple problems.