A hard problem

L

linkdx

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Joined
Jul 14, 2005
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Ok, I went over this problem about 20 times(literaly) on a test I just had. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to balance out. I was wondering if anyone could help me out.

3-2(4x-1)=2x-6-4

If you could go over the steps, so I can see what I did wrong, I would apreciate it.
 
linkdx said:
Ok, I went over this problem about 20 times(literaly) on a test I just had. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to balance out. I was wondering if anyone could help me out.
3-2(4x-1)=2x-6-4
If you could go over the steps, so I can see what I did wrong, I would apreciate it.
Click to expand...
Really? It's actually quite easy;
left side: 3 - 8x + 2 : -2 * -1 = +2
right side: 2x - 10 : -6-4 = -10
SO:
2x - 10 = 3 - 8x + 2
2x - 10 = 5 - 8x
10x = 15
x = 15/10 = 3/2

Why were you having a problem?
 
thanks. I just had so much math to do the day before, that when it came to the test, I was over-stressed and making careless mistakes. I know at one point I was adding instead of multiplying. I also see that I was getting the positive and negatives messed up.
 
What is it you don't understand, VB?
What grade are you in?
 
Wow, I feel even more like an idiot. I was just looking over the question from the test, And I posted it wrong. It was 3-2(4x-1)=2x-6-4x. That compleatly changes everything from the problem, but for the most part I did get it right. So I figure I should put it up, so if someone needs help, they can see how it was done.

3-2(4x-1)=5-8x
2x-6-4x=-2x-6
5-8x=-2x-6
+2x +2x
5-6x=-6
-5 -5
-6x=-11
-6x/6=-11/-6
x=11/6
 
Not bad, linkdx, but I would change a couple of things.

Your first two lines are very confusing. If you are going to extract part of the problem and work on it separately, you should tell us. It was a puzzle how '2x - 6 - 4x' magically turned into '5 - 8x'? I finally figured out that it didn't. You were just working on the left side of the original problem statement.

Did you check your result in the original problem statement? If you did, you didn't show us.

Good work. Yes, writing down the right problem statement is a very important step. No worries. It happens to everyone.
 
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