What does it mean to keep an equation balanced?
The Honest Scale
What does it mean to keep an equation balanced?
Picture an old-fashioned scale: two pans hanging from a beam, and a little needle that wants nothing more than to point straight up. When both pans hold the same weight, the beam sits flat and the needle is calm. That, in a nutshell, is what an equation is — a scale that has already settled into perfect balance.
The equals sign in the middle of every equation is really a tiny picture of that flat beam. It's not saying "the answer is over here." It's saying "whatever sits on my left weighs exactly the same as whatever sits on my right." Two different-looking piles, one identical weight.
