Solve 8.5/x=4.25/1.7

$$\frac { 8.5 } { x } = \frac { 4.25 } { 1.7 }$$

Solve for x

$$x=3.4$$

Steps for Solving Linear Equation

Variable x cannot be equal to 0 since division by zero is not defined. Multiply both sides of the equation by x.

$$8.5=x\times \frac{4.25}{1.7}$$

Expand \frac{4.25}{1.7} by multiplying both numerator and the denominator by 100.

$$8.5=x\times \frac{425}{170}$$

Reduce the fraction \frac{425}{170} to lowest terms by extracting and canceling out 85.

$$8.5=x\times \frac{5}{2}$$

Swap sides so that all variable terms are on the left hand side.

$$x\times \frac{5}{2}=8.5$$

Multiply both sides by \frac{2}{5}, the reciprocal of \frac{5}{2}.

$$x=8.5\times \frac{2}{5}$$

Convert decimal number 8.5 to fraction \frac{85}{10}. Reduce the fraction \frac{85}{10} to lowest terms by extracting and canceling out 5.

$$x=\frac{17}{2}\times \frac{2}{5}$$

Multiply \frac{17}{2} times \frac{2}{5} by multiplying numerator times numerator and denominator times denominator.

$$x=\frac{17\times 2}{2\times 5}$$

Cancel out 2 in both numerator and denominator.

$$x=\frac{17}{5}$$