document.write( "Question 86056: A common mistake when solving equations is the following:
\n" ); document.write( "The equation: 2(x - 2) = x + 3
\n" ); document.write( "First step in solving: 2x - 2 = x + 3
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Algebra.Com's Answer #62215 by bucky(2189) $\"\"$ $\"About$

You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Given the equation:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"2%28x+-+2%29+=+x+%2B+3\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "Your first step results in:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"2x+-+2+=+x+%2B+3\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "You have made a mistake in the distributive multiplication on the left side. You must multiply
\n" ); document.write( "the 2 times both quantities in the parentheses. You only multiplied the 2 times the 2x and
\n" ); document.write( "you forgot to multiply it times the -2 also. If you had done that you would have gotten:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"2x+-+4+=+x+%2B+3\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "Subtracting x from both sides you would then get:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"x+-+4+=+3\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "and then adding 4 to both sides would result in:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"x+=+7\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the problem and where the mistake was made. \n" ); document.write( "

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