Question 341768
To solve this it is important to remember order of operations.
5x-4(x+9) = 2x-3

Step 1: Distribute the  multiplication in the middle -4(x+9)to get
5x-4x-36 = 2x-3

Step 2: Combine like terms where you can to get
x-36 = 2x-3

Step 3: Now we want all the x's on one side. I like to keep it positive when I can so we are going to subtract the x from both sides to get
-36 = x - 3

Step 4: We want the x alone on one side so now we need to add 3 to both sides to get that done and we end up with

-33 = x   or x = -33


You also could have done this another way.
1) distribute to get 5x-4x-36 = 2x-3
2) combine like terms x-36 = 2x -3
3) instead of subtracting the x like we did above, subtract the 2x from both sides and get -x - 36 = -3
4) now add 36 to each side to get the x alone and you have  -x = 33
 if you went this way, which is fine you now need to divide by -1 so that x is positive and -x divided by -1 is x and 33 divided by -1 is -33

either way x = -33

check by plugging -33 in where x is in the equation 5x-4(x+9) = 2x -3 becomes
5(-33) -4(-33 +9) = 2(-33) -3  don't forget distribute the middle here as well.
-165 +132 - 36 = -66 - 3
-69 = -69
since that statement is true the answer checks.
Hope this helps. Good Luck!