Where the difficulty arises for many students who are good at arithmetic is that they can figure out the answers to the easier algebra questions without ever using the series of steps explained by their teacher. Eg. if the question is: Solve 2x-6=10, many students can quickly figure out that the correct answer is x=8. However, being able to do these questions in your head doesn’t help when you get to more difficult questions eg: Solve 2x3+3x2 -5x-6=0. Therefore, it is vital that students learn and practice the basic steps involved in solving simple algebraic equations.