Multi-step equations please help!

how do i do
a + 5 = -5a + 5?
the answer is supposed to be zero, but i have no idea how to get that answer
i end up doing
a + 5 = -5a + 5
- 5 - 5
a = -5a
divide a by -5a
a = -5
???
i don't understand! please help me and list the steps

first you need to get all the variable on one side of the equation and all the constants on the other side.
so subtract 5 from both sides and get
a=-5a+5-5
then add 5a to each side to get the variable by itself.
a+5a = 0, combine like terms
6a = 0
then just to finish this out divide both sides by 6 to get your "a"
a=0/6
so
a=0
just remember, whtatever you do to one side of the equation you MUST do to the other.

You made a mistake in your last step. a = -5a dividing both sides by -5a implies -1/5 = 1. Since this is not possible, this just means you can't solve this problem that way (there are certain special cases for operations in alegbra that can yield incorrect identities, which means that you can't make those operations). A better approach after you get a = -5a is to move the a's all too one side as in 0 = -5a - a = -6a. If you divide both sides by -6 you get 0/-6 = a = 0.

a + 5a = 5 - 5 (you keep the variables in one side and the constants on the other side)
6a = 0
a = 0/6
a = 0

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