he equality symbol (<span class="inline_math">\( = \)</span>) means that all that is to the left of <span class="inline_math">\( = \)</span>
is equal to
all that is to the right of <span class="inline_math">\( = \)</span>.<span class="intersentencespace"></span> To keep this equality statement true,
<strong>for every change you apply to the left side of the equation,
you must apply the same change to the right side of the equation</strong>.</p>
<p>To find <span class="inline_math">\( x \)</span>,
we need to