Okay, so I've been stuck on a math question for a while now, and I can't seem to figure it out for the life of me. This is kind of embarrassing, considering it looks so simple, but I keep plugging in so many different numbers with none of them making the inequality even. I'm not even necessarily asking for the answer, just some tips on how to solve this would work. A step-by-step would work too! I want to be able to understand this.

Question

Okay, so I've been stuck on a math question for a while now, and I can't seem to figure it out for the life of me. This is kind of embarrassing, considering it looks so simple, but I keep plugging in so many different numbers with none of them making the inequality even. I'm not even necessarily asking for the answer, just some tips on how to solve this would work. A step-by-step would work too! I want to be able to understand this.
Lots of other auto-generated sources are telling me that x = 2, but whenever I try to plug in 2, it still doesn't work. Please help!

12(x − 2) + 3x = 1/2(x + 6) + 2

Ms. Sue · Answer

12(x − 2) + 3x = 1/2(x + 6) + 2 12x - 24 + 3x = 1/2x + 3 + 2 Combine like terms. 15x - 1/2x = 24 + 5 14 1/2x = 29 x = 29/14 1/2 x = 2

R_scott · Answer

distribute the coefficients ... 12x - 24 + 3x = 1/2 x + 3 + 2 collect like terms ... 15x - 24 = 1/2 x + 5 solve ... 29/2 x = 29 yes , x does equal 2

oobleck · Answer

Huh? Try x=2 12(x − 2) + 3x = 1/2(x + 6) + 2 x-2=0, so 3*2 = 1/2 (2+6) + 2 6 = 4+2 seems legit to me