Question

How do you evaluate `1/2[(3x+1) - (2-x)]`?

Answer 1

`2x - 1/2`

Explanation:

Use brackets hierarchy: the innermost brackets are `3x+1` and `2-x`, but they don't involve similar terms, so we have nothing to do.

Then, the square brackets: we need to subtract the two quantities above, obtaining

`(3x+1)-(2-x) = 3x+1-2+x = 4x-1`

Finally, we divide everythin by two, as the outer `1/2` suggests:

`(4x)/2 - 1/2 = 2x - 1/2`