Asked by ISSC
what exactly am I subtracting 2 from on both sides?
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
I don't know which equation you're working on — can you paste it?
In general: "subtract 2 from both sides" means you subtract the number 2 (i.e. add −2) from the entire left-hand expression and from the entire right-hand expression. Symbolically, if you have A = B, then subtracting 2 from both sides gives A − 2 = B − 2.
Examples:
- x + 2 = 7 → (x + 2) − 2 = 7 − 2 → x = 5. Here the +2 on the left cancels.
- 3(x + 2) = 12 → 3(x + 2) − 2 = 12 − 2 would be a legal operation but not helpful; you would be subtracting 2 from the whole left expression (3(x+2)), not from inside the parentheses. For that equation it's better to divide by 3 first.
If you paste your specific equation I’ll show exactly what "subtract 2 from both sides" does there.
In general: "subtract 2 from both sides" means you subtract the number 2 (i.e. add −2) from the entire left-hand expression and from the entire right-hand expression. Symbolically, if you have A = B, then subtracting 2 from both sides gives A − 2 = B − 2.
Examples:
- x + 2 = 7 → (x + 2) − 2 = 7 − 2 → x = 5. Here the +2 on the left cancels.
- 3(x + 2) = 12 → 3(x + 2) − 2 = 12 − 2 would be a legal operation but not helpful; you would be subtracting 2 from the whole left expression (3(x+2)), not from inside the parentheses. For that equation it's better to divide by 3 first.
If you paste your specific equation I’ll show exactly what "subtract 2 from both sides" does there.
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