You can put this solution on YOUR website! One of the first goals in solving first order equations (equations in which the unknown does
not have an exponent of 2 or more) is to get all the terms containing the unknown on one side
of the equal sign and all the numbers on the other side. This is already done in this equation.
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Next you combine the terms on both sides. In this problem you combine 3x and +x by adding them
to get 4x. On the other side of the equal sign you combine the 15 and the -3 to get 12.
So you have reduced the equation to:
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Solve this by dividing both sides of this equation by the multiplier of the x term. In this
case that multiplier is 4. So divide both sides of the equation by 4:
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On the left side the 4 in the denominator cancels with the 4 in the numerator and you are
left with just x. On the right side the 4 in the denominator divides into the 12 in the
numerator 3 times. So you are now left with:
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And this is the answer to the problem.
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Keep these procedures in mind. They are typical steps to follow in solving any first order
equation.
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