Consider this equation:
4(3x−2)=−24
Part 1. What is your first step in solving this equation? Remember, there is more than one way to solve this equation.
Part 2. How would you isolate the variable and solve for x after you have completed Part 1?
You do not need to solve the problem. Simply, describe your process.
**Please label Part 1 and Part 2 in your answer.**
Part 1: The first step in solving this equation is to distribute the 4 to each term inside the parentheses. This can be done by multiplying 4 with each term inside the parentheses.
Part 2: After distributing the 4, we can simplify the equation by combining like terms. Then, we can isolate the variable by performing inverse operations to both sides of the equation. In this case, we can start by adding 8 to both sides of the equation to eliminate the -2 term. This results in a simpler equation with only the variable on one side. Finally, we can solve for x by dividing both sides of the equation by 12, which will give us the value of x.
Part 1:
The first step in solving this equation is to distribute the 4 to the terms inside the parentheses. This means multiplying 4 with both 3x and -2. By doing this, the equation becomes:
12x - 8 = -24
Part 2:
To isolate the variable x, we need to get rid of the -8 term on the left side of the equation. We can do this by adding 8 to both sides of the equation:
12x - 8 + 8 = -24 + 8
Simplifying this gives us:
12x = -16
Now, to solve for x, we divide both sides of the equation by 12:
12x/12 = -16/12
This simplifies to:
x = -4/3
So the solution to the equation is x = -4/3.