1/2 minus what equals 5/2?

Here we will show you how to calculate "what" in this sentence: "1/2 minus what equals 5/2?" We start by making this word problem into an algebraic equation where "what" is the variable "x".

1/2 - x = 5/2

To solve this equation, we want x alone on the left side of the equation so we start by subtracting 1/2 on both sides like this:

1/2 - 1/2 - x = 5/2 - 1/2

1/2 - 1/2 - x leaves -x and 5/2 - 1/2 is 2 which means we end up with -x = 2. Then, you multiply each side by -1 to get x = -2. Therefore, the answer to "1/2 minus what equals 5/2?" is as follows:

-2

It is always good to double-check your math to make sure you did it right. When we entered -2 for x in this equation 1/2 - x = 5/2, we get the following true equation which means our math is correct.

1/2 - -2 = 5/2

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