Chapter 2 - Solving Equations - 2-1 Solving One-Step Equations - Practice and Problem-Solving Exercises - Page 86: 68

b=1.7

In order to solve this algebraic expression, we must isolate the variable. A variable is the letter in the problem (for instance, in the equation 2x=10, x is the variable). Because multiplication and division are inverse operations (they cancel each other out), we know we must divide when a number is being multiplied by the variable and multiply when the variable is being divided by a number. In the equation 5b=8.5, we must get rid of the 5, which the variable is being multiplied by, in order to solve. Thus, we divide both sides by 5 to find that b=1.7. We substitute 1.7 for b to check the solution. When we do this, we obtain 5*(1.7)=8.5. Because this is true, the solution is correct.