Question 696940
2(p + 4) = 7p + 2  <---- original problem

2p + 8 = 7p + 2  <---- distributed the 2 to "p" and to "4"
-7p .....     -7p <---- subtracted 7p from both sides of the equation
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-5p + 8 = 2  
  .....   -8 ....  -8  <---- subtracted 8 from both sides of the equation
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-5p = -6

{{{(-5p)/-5)}}} = {{{(-6)/-5)}}}  <----divide both sides by -5 to isolate the 'p'

p = {{{(6/5)}}}

Does this work?  We can plug in the answer into "p" in the original problem.

2(p + 4) = 7p + 2
2({{{(6)/(5) + 4)}}}) = 7{{{(6/5)}}} + 2
{{{(12/5)}}} + 8 = {{{(42/5)}}} + 2
{{{(12/5)}}} +{{{(40/5)}}} = {{{(42/5)}}} + {{{(10/5)}}}

{{{(52/5)}}} = {{{(52/5)}}}

Now we can see that yes, the solution works. :-)