Test 6 Section 4 #32

This question is built to nail you if you forget to distribute. The first step is the most important.

    \begin{align*}2(5x-20)-(15+8x)&=7\\10x-40-15-8x&=7\end{align*}

You need to remember to both distribute the 2 across the 5x and the –20 and also distribute the negative across the 15 and the 8x. Once you’ve done that, the rest is just plain-old vanilla solving for x. Here are my steps:

    \begin{align*}2(5x-20)-(15+8x)&=7\\10x-40-15-8x&=7\\2x-55&=7\\2x&=62\\x&=31\end{align*}

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