Question

How do you solve `7x + ( - 2x ) + 12= 2x + ( - 2x ) - 4`?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

First, remove the terms from parenthesis being careful to manage the signs of individual terms correctly:

`7x - 2x + 12 = 2x - 2x - 4`

Next, combine like terms:

`(7 - 2)x + 12 = (2 - 2)x - 4`

`5x + 12 = 0x - 4`

`5x + 12 = -4`

Then, subtract `color(red)(12)` from each side of the equation to isolate the `x` term:

`5x + 12 - color(red)(12) = -4 - color(red)(12)`

`5x + 0 = -16`

`5x = -16`

Now, divide each side of the equation by `color(red)(5)` to solve for `x`:

`(5x)/color(red)(5) = -16/color(red)(5)`

`(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(5)))x)/cancel(color(red)(5)) = -16/5`

`x = -16/5`

Answer 2

`x=-16/5`

Explanation:

In this instance, the parenthesis are unnecessary, thus we have

`7x-2x+12=2x-2x-4`

We can combine the constants on the left and right, respectively to get

`5x+12=-4`

Next, we can subtract `12` from both sides to get

`5x=-16`

Lastly, we can divide both sides by `5` to get

`x=-16/5`

Hope this helps!