Equation
mathematical statement that asserts the equality of two expressions / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For a chemical type of equation, see Chemical equation.
A mathematical equation is an expression containing two mathematical objects connected by an equals sign (=) .[1][2][3][4] The equals sign says that both sides are exactly equal, or of the same value. An equation can be as simple as , or as complex as or harder.
There are two kinds of mathematical equations:
- The kind of equation that is either true or false; these are also called identities. For example:
- The kind of equation that is only true for certain values of the variable(s). The equation is only true if the variable(s) have that value. For example:
The second kind is often used to solve problems in which finding the value of some variables is involved. For example, if
- ,
The second kind of equation is used in algebra. For example, to solve the equation for , one would follow an algebraic rule to find that .