How to multiply x to get y
It seems like a simple question, but how do we answer it?
Well, we need to multiply 17 by some number, let's call that number x.
So, we can think of it as 17 multiplied by x equals 36
17x = 36
Ah, it's a basic algebra problem.
How do we solve it? Our goal is to find the value of 1 x, but we have 17 x's.
How can we change our 17 x's to 1 x?
Divide.
17x divided by 17 is 1x.
Whatever we do to one side of an equation we must do the other side.
1x = 36/17
Key Takeaways
We always want to frame a problem to our advantage. In this case, when we see that it is a simple algebra problem the problem becomes easy.
We can think about solving this problem by multiplying in our target number and dividing out our original number.
Another way of thinking about it is, we divide the original number by itself, which gives us one. Then we multiply that one (x/x) by our target number. Any number multiplied by one stays the same, so we end up with our target number.
Conclusion
Solving simple problems gives us tools that help us solve difficult problems. Most difficult problems are sets of easier problems.
We need to develop the skill of restructuring problems to our advantage. One of the keys to this is decomposing problems into smaller pieces so that we can if there is an easier way to put them back together.
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