Solve for x Worksheets
One-step, two-step and x-on-both-sides equations · Grades 5–6
Linear equations to solve on paper, each with ruled space underneath for the working. Start with one step, such as x + 7 = 15 or 3x = 21, move to two steps with brackets and division, such as 2x − 5 = 11 or 3(x + 2) = 18, then to equations with x on both sides. Every equation is built backwards from its answer, so each step is a whole number and x is a positive integer up to 10, 20 or 100. The × and ÷ signs print as the language writes them.
Skills: solving equations, inverse operations, one-step and two-step equations, balancing both sides. Format: printable, randomized on every load.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a one-step and a two-step equation?
- A one-step equation undoes a single operation: x + 7 = 15 is solved by taking 7 from both sides. A two-step equation has two operations wrapped around x, such as 2x − 5 = 11, and they are undone in reverse order, first adding 5 and then dividing by 2. Brackets and division by a number are two-step shapes too.
- Why is there empty ruling under each equation?
- Solving an equation is a sequence of steps, and each step belongs on its own line: what was done to both sides, then the new equation. The ruled rows give that working a place on the page, and there are more of them at the harder levels, where there are more steps to write.
- How is this different from the Equation Explorer?
- The Equation Explorer is an on-screen activity for seeing how an equation balances, moving terms across the equals sign and checking the answer on a number line. This sheet is the paper practice that follows: the same idea, written out by hand with no feedback until a grown-up checks it against the answer key.
- Are the answers always whole numbers?
- Yes. Every equation is built backwards from a whole-number answer between 1 and the chosen limit, so no step ever needs a fraction or a negative number. That keeps the attention on the method, undoing operations in the right order, rather than on the arithmetic.
Settings
- Level: one step, two steps, or x on both sides
- Answers: x up to 10, 20 or 100
- Sign: × ÷ or · :
- Columns: 2 or 3
- Print an answer key
Example problems
- x + 7 = 15
- 3x = 21
- 2x − 5 = 11
- 5x − 3 = 2x + 9
Other Super Awesome Math worksheets
- Add & Subtract – Addition & subtraction drills
- Column Addition & Subtraction – Vertical multi-digit addition and subtraction
- Multiplication – Times tables & grid practice
- Column Multiplication – Long multiplication practice
- Division – Division facts, with or without remainders
- Long Division – Long division practice
- Comparison – Greater than, less than, equal
- Rounding – Round to nearest 10, 100, 1000
- Factors & Primes – Prime factorization, GCD and LCM, prime or composite
- Fractions – Simplify, find equivalent fractions and compare
- Add & Subtract Fractions – Like and unlike denominators, and mixed numbers
- Decimals – Column addition and subtraction, and × ÷ by 10, 100, 1000
- Order of Operations – Which operation comes first
- Equation Explorer – Solve equations interactively
- Patterns – Number sequences & series
- Bongard Problems – Find what the left boxes share and the right ones lack