Question

How do you solve `5(x+8) =20`?

Answer 1

`color(blue)(x = -4`

Explanation:

`color(blue)(5) * (x+8)=20`

`color(blue)(5) * (x) + color(blue)(5) *(8)=20`

`5x + 40 = 20`

`5x = 20-40`

`5x = -20`

`x = -20/5`

`color(blue)(x = -4`

Answer 2

`x=-4`

Explanation:

We can start by dividing both sides by `5` to get

`x+8=4`

To completely isolate `x`, we can subtract `8` from both sides to get

`x=-4`

There is another way of going about this, however. We could have started by distributing the `5` on the left. We would get

`5x+40=20`, and we would subtract `40` from both sides, and divide both sides by `5`. Either way, we would still get `x=-4`.

Hope this helps!