Question

What can you do to bring the variables to the same side in the equation 12x+5=2x−15?

Two of these are correct.

You can subtract 12x from both sides.

You can subtract 2x from both sides.

You can add 2x to both sides.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To bring the variables to the same side in the equation \(12x + 5 = 2x - 15\), you can use the following methods:

1. **Subtract \(2x\) from both sides**:
\[
12x + 5 - 2x = 2x - 15 - 2x
\]
This simplifies to:
\[
10x + 5 = -15
\]

2. **Subtract \(12x\) from both sides**:
\[
12x + 5 - 12x = 2x - 15 - 12x
\]
This simplifies to:
\[
5 = -10x - 15
\]

Both methods are correct for bringing the variables to the same side.

3. **Add \(2x\) to both sides**:
\[
12x + 5 + 2x = 2x - 15 + 2x
\]
This simplifies to:
\[
14x + 5 = -15
\]

So, from the options given, you can **subtract \(12x\) from both sides** and **subtract \(2x\) from both sides**. Adding \(2x\) to both sides is also a valid operation.

Thus, the correct operations from your options are:

- Subtract \(12x\) from both sides
- Subtract \(2x\) from both sides

However, note that adding \(2x\) is also a valid option but not a direct way to bring all variables to one side since it moves the equation in a slightly different direction.