4(3x−2)=−24

Question

Part 1. What is your first step in solving this equation?  Remember, there is more than one way to solve this equation.

Part 2. How would you isolate the variable and solve for x after you have completed Part 1?

Answer 1

Part 1. The first step in solving this equation is to distribute the 4 to the terms inside the parentheses.

Part 2. After distributing, the equation becomes 12x - 8 = -24. To isolate the variable, we can add 8 to both sides of the equation:

12x - 8 + 8 = -24 + 8

This simplifies to:

12x = -16

Finally, to solve for x, we divide both sides of the equation by 12:

12x/12 = -16/12

This simplifies to:

x = -4/3 or -1.33 (rounded to two decimal places)