Solve for x x-xy=z Hint: reverse distribution to get x alone

Work Shown:

x - xy = z

x*1 - x*y = z

x*(1 - y) = z distributive rule in reverse

x = z/(1-y) divide both sides by (1-y)

The distributive rule is a*(b+c) = a*b+a*c. You can also say a*(b-c) = a*b-a*c. In this case, we factored out the common factor x.