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Question 71940: -4 (2x - 3) = -8x + 5
Answer by bucky(2189)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! -4 (2x - 3) = -8x + 5
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First you look inside the parentheses. There is nothing that you can do to the terms in
those parentheses. So next you look for exponents and there aren't any. So then you proceed
to do the multiplications and divisions, working from left to right.
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For this problem the first multiplication involves multiplying the -4 times each of the
two terms inside the parentheses. First, when you multiply -4 times 2x you get -8x. And
second when you multiply -4 times -3 by the rules of multiplication you get +12. With these
two multiplications the left side of the equation changes to:
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-8x + 12 = -8x +5
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Now you can notice something ... this is not an equation because the sides are not equal.
If you add +8x to both sides the equation reduces to:
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+ 12 = +5
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And this is obviously wrong. So this whole problem cannot be solved because it was not true
from the very beginning.
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Hope this helps you to understand the basic meaning of equations and what it might
mean if you find that it is impossible to solve the equation.
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