Question 18968
Hello There:

Since there is only one equation, this is not a system of equations.  I've moved your post to the linear equation section.

n - 4*(1 + 5*n) = -2

The goal is to isolate n on one side of the equals sign.  Since the variable appears inside parentheses, we need to get rid of them.  Use the distributive property to do this.  Multiply both the 1 and the 5*n by -4.

n - 4 - 20*n = -2

Now we can combine the two terms containing the variable.

-19*n - 4 = - 2

Add 4 to both sides to isolate the term -19*n.

-19*n = 2

The last step is to divide both sides by -19.  This solves the equation for n.

n = -2/19

~ Mark