ALGEBRA WITH ROMAN NUMERALS

Aren’t you glad you don’t have to do algebra with Roman numerals?

The problem is: Xx + X = CX.

This translates to 10x + 10 = 110.

Subtract X from both sides: Xx = CX – X = C.

Translation from Roman numerals: 10x = 110 – 10 = 100.

Now divide both sides by the coefficient: x = C/X = X.

Not expressed in Roman numerals, it looks like this: x = 100/10 = 10.

CHRIS MCMULLEN, PH.D.

Copyright © 2015 Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of math workbooks