Find x

How to play

1. Read the equation.
2. Undo what has been done to x, one step at a time, doing the same to both sides.
3. Tap the value of x. Check by putting it back into the equation.

Choose Relaxed for ten questions with no clock, or Race to answer as many as you can in sixty seconds. After a wrong answer the game shows the right one and the reason. At the end it lists the questions you missed and keeps your best score for each level on this device.

Levels

• Level 1: One step: add or take away
• Level 2: One step: multiply or divide
• Level 3: Two steps
• Level 4: x on both sides

Start at the level where about eight answers in ten are right, and move up when it feels easy.

What this game practises

Solving an equation means undoing: if 7 was added, take 7 away, and do it to both sides so that the balance holds. This game gives a great deal of practice in that one idea, from one-step equations up to those with x on both sides. The explanation shown after a wrong answer sets out the steps.

Tips for parents and teachers

• Always check the answer by putting it back in. It takes five seconds and catches most slips.
• Picture a balance: whatever you do to one pan you must do to the other.
• On level 4, collect the x terms on one side first.

Play it without a screen

Think of a number, do two things to it, and tell the result: "I doubled my number and added 3, and got 17." The other player works backwards to find it.

More games for classes 7 and 8

• Percent MatchWhich fraction is the same as 25%? What is 20% of 150? Choose the match.Classes 5 to 8
• Squares and RootsSquares, square roots, cubes and powers. Type the answer.Classes 6 to 8
• Hit the TargetUse every number once, with any of the signs, to make the target number.Classes 3 to 8
• Magic SquareA three-by-three square with gaps. Fill it so that every row, column and diagonal has the same total.Classes 4 to 8

All games Games for classes 7 and 8