Sarah and Jose were trying to solve the problem below. Which one was INCORRECT and why?
Jose's Answer Sarah's Answer
5x+3+9x-33=180 5x+3 = 9x-33
14x-30=180 3 = 4x-33
14x=210 36 = 4x
x=15 9 = x
Sarah's answer is incorrect because she simplified the equation incorrectly. The correct simplification of 5x+3+9x-33=180 is 14x-30=180, not 5x+3=9x-33.
Sarah's answer is incorrect.
In Sarah's equation, 3 = 4x - 33, she incorrectly combines the constants -33 and 3 on one side of the equation, which leads to the wrong solution. The equation should be 4x - 33 = 3.
Therefore, Jose's answer is correct.
The incorrect answer is Sarah's answer: 3 = 4x-33.
To solve the given equation, 5x+3+9x-33=180, both Sarah and Jose attempted to isolate the variable x on one side of the equation.
Jose's solution:
1. Combine like terms: 5x + 9x + 3 - 33 = 14x - 30.
2. Simplify: 14x - 30 = 180.
3. Add 30 to both sides: 14x = 210.
4. Divide both sides by 14: x = 15.
Sarah's solution:
1. Combining like terms: 5x + 3 = 9x - 33.
2. Next, Sarah's error occurred while trying to isolate x. She subtracted 9x from both sides correctly. However, when subtracting 3 from both sides, she made an error and wrote 3 = 4x - 33, which is incorrect.
Therefore, the incorrect step was subtracting 3 from both sides of the equation, leading to Sarah's incorrect answer: 3 = 4x-33.