Read the following prompt and type your response in the space provided.
Jennifer's teacher has marked this problem as one to recheck, but Jennifer cannot determine what she has done incorrectly. Identify Jennifer's error and write a correct solution.
Eight less than 2 times a number is 40. What is the number?
2x – 8 = 40 (line 1)
2x – 8 – 8 = 40 – 8 (line 2)
2x = 32 (line 3)
2x ÷ 2 = 32 ÷ 2 (line 4)
x = 16 (line 5)
Jennifer's error is in line 2. She subtracted 8 from both sides of the equation instead of just subtracting 8 from the right side.
The correct solution would be:
2x - 8 = 40 (line 1)
2x - 8 + 8 = 40 + 8 (line 2)
2x = 48 (line 3)
2x / 2 = 48 / 2 (line 4)
x = 24 (line 5)