Answer :
Final answer:
The student's algebra problem, '1/4 + s = 18/20,' requires simplifying the equation, converting fractions to have a common denominator, and then isolating s to find that s = 13/20.
Explanation:
The student is asking to solve for the variable s in the equation 1/4 + s = 18/20. This is a problem in elementary algebra aimed at finding the value of the unknown variable. To solve for s, we must isolate it on one side of the equation.
This process involves a few simple steps:
- First, simplify the equation by ensuring that all terms are expressed in the same form. We notice that 18/20 can be reduced to 9/10 through division by the common factor of 2.
- Next, we must subtract 1/4 from both sides of the equation to isolate the variable s. However, before doing that, ensure that 1/4 is converted to an equivalent fraction with a denominator of 10 to align with the denominator of 9/10. Thus, 1/4 becomes 5/20 or 2.5/10.
- Subtracting 2.5/10 from both sides gives us s = 9/10 - 2.5/10 = 6.5/10 or 13/20 after simplification.
The solution for the variable s is 13/20, which is the mathematical reasoning used to find possible values of s.
