You skipped a couple of steps We started with this 3x+4 = -8 Then we wanted to get the +4 off of the left side so we add -4 to both sides like this 3x+4 = -8 -4 = -4 Then we draw a line: 3x+4 = -8 -4 = -4 ---------- Then we bring down the 3x, we don't write anything under the +4 and -4 because they cancel. We bring down the = sign and we combine -8 and -4 and get -12. 3x+4 = -8 -4 = -4 ---------- 3x = -12 You skipped that step. Next we want to get rid of the 3. That is a multiplied 3, so we will need to divide both sides by 3, to do that we put a fraction bar under each side and put a 3 as a denominator, like this 3x+4 = -8 -4 = -4 ---------- 3x = -12 3x -12 ———— = ————— 3 3 You also skipped that step. Now the 3's cancel and just leave an x on the left, and we divide the -12 by 3 and get -4 3x+4 = -8 -4 = -4 ---------- 3x = -12 3x -12 ———— = ————— 3 3 x = -4 ---------------------------------- We start with this: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 Use the distributive property to remove the parentheses on the left: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 Next we add -14 to both sides and draw a line: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 -------------- Now we bring down the 2x, the +14 and -14 cancel so we don't write anything there, then we bring down the = sign, then the 5x and we don't write anything at the end because that +14 and -14 also cancel: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 -------------- 2x = 5x Next we add -5x to both sides to get the 5x off the right side. 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 ------------- 2x = 5x -5x = -5x We draw a line 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 ------------- 2x = 5x -5x = -5x -------------- We combine the 2x and the -5x and get -3x, we bring down the = sign, now ordinarily we wouldn't write anything under the right side since 5x and -5x cancel, but we MUST NEVER LEAVE a side of the equation EMPTY! So we must put a 0 there: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 -------------- 2x = 5x -5x = -5x --------------- -3x = 0 Next we want to get rid of the -3. That is a multiplied -3, so we will need to divide both sides by -3. To do that we put a fraction bar under each side and put a -3 as a denominator, like this 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 ------------- 2x = 5x -5x = -5x -------------- -3x = 0 -3x 0 ———— = ————— -3 -3 Then the -3's cancel on the left. On the right we are simply dividing 0 by -3 and that just gives us 0. So the whole thing worked out is: 2(x+7) = 5x+14 2x+14 = 5x+14 -14 -14 ------------- 2x = 5x -5x = -5x -------------- -3x = 0 -3x 0 ———— = ————— -3 -3 x = 0 Edwin