Question

Combine like terms. Then, solve for x.
9c – 6c + 5 = 23
[?]c – 6 = 23 (9c + 6c goes in the [?])
c = [?]

Answer 1

Let's combine the like terms in the equation:

1. Start with the expression \( 9c - 6c + 5 = 23 \).
2. Combine the \( c \) terms: \( 9c - 6c = 3c \). So, we have:

\[
3c + 5 = 23
\]

Now we can solve for \( c \):

1. Subtract 5 from both sides:

\[
3c = 23 - 5
\]
\[
3c = 18
\]

2. Divide both sides by 3:

\[
c = \frac{18}{3}
\]
\[
c = 6
\]

Now, putting it all together, we have:

1. In the equation \( [?]c - 6 = 23 \), where \( [?] \) is replaced by 3, since \( 3c - 6 = 23 \).
2. The value of \( c \) is 6.

So we can summarize as:

- \([?] = 3\)
- \( c = 6 \)