Question

When solving the equation −12(x+10)=−3
, identify the operation that should be done first.(1 point)
Responses

divide by −2
divide by negative 2

add 10
add 10

subtract 10
subtract 10

multiply by −2

Answer 1

To solve the equation \(-12(x + 10) = -3\), the first operation to be performed is to **divide by -12** in order to isolate the term \(x + 10\).

However, if you are considering from the given options focusing on the expression inside the parentheses, you would want to first deal with the equation as a whole.

None of the provided options is the immediate first operation, but typically, one would start with simplifying the expression.

If we go sequentially:
1. The equation can be simplified to \(x + 10\) when we divide both sides by \(-12\).
2. After that, the next step would be to isolate \(x\) by performing operations like subtracting or adding.

If just selecting from the options provided, it's misleading, but if one must pick, to isolate the terms involving \(x\), the first thing you must do is effectively divide \( -12 \) and that suggests the option related to division by negative two could be misleading here.

But correctly, no given option reflects the actual first step: which is ideally dividing by \(-12\).

If you have to use the options provided, then you'd consider **multiply** or **divide** based on context but none are technically the first operation.

For clearer steps, the preferred answer isn't listed. However, if needing to choose without understanding contexts, consider focusing on working towards isolating \(x\) properly in your workflow rather than interpreting without breaking down correctly.

Would you like more clarification or to continue solving this?