Part 1: The first step in solving this equation is to distribute the 4 to the terms inside the parentheses. This can be done by multiplying 4 with each term inside the parentheses.
Part 2: After completing Part 1, the equation can be rewritten as 12x - 8 = -24. To isolate the variable x, the next step would be to move the constant term (-8) to the other side of the equation by adding 8 to both sides. This gives us 12x = -24 + 8, which simplifies to 12x = -16. Finally, to solve for x, we would divide both sides of the equation by 12, resulting in x = -16/12, or x = -4/3.