When solving 20x + 5y = 40 for y which statement below describes the purpose of Step 1?
Steps for Solving the Literal Equation 20x + 5y = 40 for y

Your answer is B. Isolate the y-term.

This is because by subtracting 20x from each side, we remove it from the left hand side of the equation and are left only with 5y, and we can simply divide this by 5 to find y.

You can also find this by eliminating the other options:

A. Subtracting 20x from both sides doesn't distribute the x-term because we are removing it from one side of the equation.

C. We aren't simplifying the equation because that implies we're collecting like-terms or dividing by a common factor to make the equation easier, which we're not doing.

D. Eliminating the x-term would mean that there would be no x-term anywhere in the equation, but by subtracting 20x on both sides we end up with -20x on the right hand side, so this isn't true.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions :)

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step-by-step explanation: