How do you solve $- 4 m - 12 = 5$ $-4m-12=5$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2017-02-05T19:44:27

See the entire solution process below:

Step 1) Add $12$ $color(red)(12)$ to each side of the equation to isolate the $m$ $m$ term while keeping the equation balanced:

$- 4 m - 12 + 12 = 5 + 12$ $-4m - 12 + color(red)(12) = 5 + color(red)(12)$

$- 4 m - 0 = 17$ $-4m - 0 = 17$

$- 4 m = 17$ $-4m = 17$

Step 2) Divide each side of the equation by $- 4$ $color(red)(-4)$ to solve for $m$ $m$ while keeping the equation balanced:

$\frac{- 4 m}{- 4} = \frac{17}{- 4}$ $(-4m)/color(red)(-4) = 17/color(red)(-4)$

$(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(-4)))m)/cancel(color(red)(-4)) = -17/4$

$m = -17/4$

How do you solve -4m-12=5−4m−12=5-4m-12=5?