Question

How do you solve `9x -5 (x-12)=30`?

Answer 1

x=-7.5

Explanation:

Multiply 5 through the parentheses and we get:

9x - 5x + 60 = 30
4x = -30
x = -7.5

Answer 2

Use the distributive property, combine like terms, and use basic operations to isolate `x`.

Explanation:

Starting from `9x - 5(x-12) = 30`:

Apply the distributive property to `5(x-12)` to obtain
`9x - 5x - 5(-12) = 30`

Combining the like terms `9x` and `5x` and multiplying `-5(-12)` gives us
`4x + 60 = 30`

Subtracting `60` from both sides of the equation gives
`4x = -30`

Finally, dividing both sides of the equation by `4` gives
`x = -30/4`

Of course, we want to write the fraction in its reduced form, so
`x = -15/2`