<PRE><B>Question 4946</B>
First use the distributive property to remove the parentheses.  Be careful of the negative in front of the 5.


2x - 5x - 15 = 81


Combine like terms on the left side:
-3x - 15 = 81


Get all the non-x terms on the right side, so add +15 to each side:
-3x - 15 + 15 = 81 + 15
-3x = 96


Last step is to divide both sides by -3:
{{{(-3x)/(-3) = 96/(-3) }}}
{{{x = -32}}}


R^2 at SCC</PRE>