she could show that there were probably no solutions to the equation: Germain's work on Fermat's Last Theorem was to be her greatest contribution to mathematics, but initially she was not credited ...

This means equations are not always true. In the example above, \(3x + 5 = 11\), the only correct solution for \(x\) is 2. An identity is an equation which is always true, no matter what values ...

This means equations are not always true. In the example above, \(3x + 5 = 11\), the only correct solution for \(x\) is 2. An identity is an equation which is always true, no matter what values ...