Answer
$a = 26$
Work Step by Step
$-5 + a = 21$
In order to solve this algebraic expression, we will need to isolate the variable $a$ in the L.H.S by adding $5$ to both sides to eliminate constants from the L.H.S. This is done as below:
$-5 + a + 5 = 21 + 5$
Simplifying, we have:
$a = 26$
This shows that the equation has a possible solution at $a = 26$
Testing:
To test whether $a = 26$, we replace for $a$ with $26$ in the original equation as shown below:
$-5 + a = 21$
$-5 + 26 = 21$
Simplifying, we have:
$21 = 21$
This is a proof that the statement $a = 26$ is true.
