Question

Solve this equation for x: 5(2x + 3) = 7x - 3

Answer 1

To solve the equation \( 5(2x + 3) = 7x - 3 \), we first distribute the \( 5 \) on the left side:

\[
5 \cdot 2x + 5 \cdot 3 = 10x + 15
\]

So the equation becomes:

\[
10x + 15 = 7x - 3
\]

Next, we want to isolate \( x \) by getting all the \( x \) terms on one side of the equation. We can subtract \( 7x \) from both sides:

\[
10x - 7x + 15 = -3
\]

This simplifies to:

\[
3x + 15 = -3
\]

Now we subtract \( 15 \) from both sides to further isolate the \( x \) term:

\[
3x = -3 - 15
\]

This simplifies to:

\[
3x = -18
\]

Next, we solve for \( x \) by dividing both sides by \( 3 \):

\[
x = \frac{-18}{3}
\]

This simplifies to:

\[
x = -6
\]

Thus, the solution to the equation is:

\[
\boxed{-6}
\]