Geometry

2.4 Algebraic Reasoning

Lesson Objective: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use the Algebraic Properties of
Equality and the Distributive Property to justify the steps in solving an equation. You will also be
able to use properties of equality involving segment lengths and angle measures.

There are _______________ different algebraic properties of equality that include addition,

subtraction, multiplication, division, and substitution. For each of these properties the variables

__________________ are assumed to be ________________ numbers. When you

___________ an __________________, you use ___________________ of real numbers.

Addition Property of Equality

𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 + 𝑐𝑐 = 𝑏𝑏 + 𝑐𝑐

This means you can ________________ the _____________ quantity to ______________ sides
of an equation.

Example:
a. 𝑥𝑥 − 3 = 1

b. − 3𝑥𝑥 = −4𝑥𝑥 + 1
 Subtraction Property of Equality
𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 − 𝑐𝑐 = 𝑏𝑏 − 𝑐𝑐

This means you can _______________ the ______________ quantity to _______________

sides of an equation.

Example:
a. 𝑥𝑥 + 6 = 8

b. 7𝑥𝑥 = 6𝑥𝑥 + 3

Multiplication Property of Equality

𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 ∙ 𝑐𝑐 = 𝑏𝑏 ∙ 𝑐𝑐, 𝑐𝑐 ≠ 0
This means you can __________________ the ______________ quantity to _____________

sides of an equation if the number you are _____________ is not ______________.

Example:

𝑥𝑥
a. = 12
2

𝑥𝑥
b. =5
−4
 Division Property of Equality

𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = , 𝑐𝑐 ≠ 0
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐

This means you can ______________ the _______________ quantity to _______________

sides of an equation if the number you are _____________ is not ______________.

Example:
a. 3𝑥𝑥 = 27

b. 21𝑥𝑥 = 63

Substitution Property of Equality

𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑏𝑏 (𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎)𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒

Example:

a. 𝑥𝑥 = 3 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 + 1 = 4

b. 𝑥𝑥 = 5𝑦𝑦 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 3𝑥𝑥 + 2 = 7

 c. 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑥𝑥 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 3𝑎𝑎 + 17 = 39

Example: Solve 3𝑥𝑥 + 2 = 23 − 4𝑥𝑥. Justify each step.

Example: Solve 6𝑥𝑥 − 11 = −35. Justify each step.

Example: Solve −2𝑝𝑝 − 9 = 10𝑝𝑝 − 17. Justify each step.

 Distributive Property
𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺: 𝑎𝑎(𝑏𝑏 + 𝑐𝑐 ) = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫: 𝑎𝑎(𝑏𝑏 − 𝑐𝑐 ) = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 − 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
Example:
a. Solve −5(7𝑤𝑤 + 8) = 30. Justify each step.

b. Solve 3(3𝑛𝑛 + 14) = −3. Justify each step.

Other Properties of Equality

The following properties of equality are true for ________________ numbers.
_______________ _______________ and _____________ ___________________ are real
numbers, so these properties of equality are ___________ for both.
 Property Real Numbers Segment Lengths Angle Measures

Reflexive Property 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎

Symmetric Property 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 = 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎

𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
Transitive Property
= 𝑐𝑐, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑐𝑐

Example: Name the property of equality for the below statements.

a. 34° = 34°

b. 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑚𝑚∠1 = 𝑚𝑚∠2, 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚∠2 = 𝑚𝑚∠1.

c. 𝑚𝑚∠1 = 𝑚𝑚∠2 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑚𝑚∠2 = 𝑚𝑚∠4. 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑚𝑚∠1 = 𝑚𝑚∠4.

d. You reflect the beam of a spotlight off a mirror lying flat on a stage, as shown in the
diagram below. Determine whether 𝑚𝑚∠𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 = 𝑚𝑚∠𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸.