Originally posted by Daisuke-kun:
1) What are we doing when we "solve" and equation?
2) How Do you check if your answers are correct?
3) How Do you teach a friend to solve the equation 4x^2-18x=10?
help boost rating.
1) You either expand, solve, factorise, simplify or some other methods. Read the questions carefully.
2) With the answer you get, sub it back in to see if it satisfy the original question and check your workings for careless mistakes.
3) At secondary school level, ask yourself whether this is a linear or quadratic question. If its quadratic, you usually bring everything to one side and solve by X-factorisation method which darknesshacker mentioned.