sorry, i posted the wrong equation in the other message

5^(x+3)-5^(x+2)=4

again, i know the answer is x = -2, but i'm not sure how to get there in steps.

ahhh, that's better

take out a common factor of 5^(x+2)
so...
5^(x+2)[5^1 - 1] = 4
5^(x+2) = 1
5^(x+2) = 5^0 , anything^0 = 1
so x+2 = 0
x = -2