HEART OF ALGEBRA
WARNING: Serious spoilers ahead. Do not read if you want to be surprised by
the problems in the Heart of Algebra section.
Okay, you’ve been warned. Here goes: Heart of Algebra problems are all
about algebra. That’s the surprise twist. Sorry for ruining it.
Algebra is all about equations, and the fundamental rule for equations is do
the same thing to both sides. We don’t care what it is, but do it to both sides.
That keeps everything nice and equal. So if your friend is your enemy (friend =
enemy), and you want to kill your enemy, you must kill your friend, too (kill
your friend = kill your enemy). There. Nice and equal. Well, equal, anyway.
The College Board originally called this subsection “Spleen of Algebra” but then changed the name.
—Samantha
x + 36 = 40If you want to solve for x, then do it like this. Subtract 36 from the left and
subtract 36 from the right: