From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Solving equations with variables on both sides using the distributive property

Solving equations with variables on both sides using the distributive property

From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Solving equations with variables on both sides using the distributive property

- For our last example of equations with variables on both sides, we're going to take a look at an equation that also contains the Distributive Property. Whenever you see parentheses, you always need to remove those parentheses before you begin solving. So, we're going to begin by using the Distributive Property to get rid of the parentheses. So, I'm going to begin by bringing down the 4x, and next I'm going to distribute -2, so -2 times x is -2x, and we write that as -2x. And then, -2 times -2 is +4, so we're gonna write that as + 4 On the right-hand side, we're going to distribute the 5, so this is 5 times x, which is 5x, and 5 times -1, which is -5; I'm going to write as -5. So, now that I've gotten rid of the parentheses, I can focus on getting all the variables on one side. But, actually, before I do that, notice that the left-hand side has like terms, and we can't go any farther, until we combine those like terms. So, 4x - 2x is 2x, so now we have 2x + 4 = 5x -5. Now's when I…

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