5/2 minus what equals 1/2?

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

5/2 - x = 1/2

To solve this equation, we want x alone on the left side of the equation so we start by subtracting 5/2 on both sides like this:

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

5/2 - 5/2 - x leaves -x and 1/2 - 5/2 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 "5/2 minus what equals 1/2?" 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 5/2 - x = 1/2, we get the following true equation which means our math is correct.

5/2 - 2 = 1/2

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