$$ \begin{aligned} \frac{1}{2}a+8 &= \frac{1}{4}a+1&& \text{multiply ALL terms by } \color{blue}{ 4 }. \\[1 em]4 \cdot \frac{1}{2}a+4\cdot8 &= 4 \cdot \frac{1}{4}a+4\cdot1&& \text{cancel out the denominators} \\[1 em]2a+32 &= a+4&& \text{move the $ \color{blue}{ a } $ to the left side and $ \color{blue}{ 32 }$ to the right} \\[1 em]2a-a &= 4-32&& \text{simplify left and right hand side} \\[1 em]a &= -28&& \\[1 em]a &= -28&& \\[1 em] \end{aligned} $$

This page was created using