Question

Consider this equation:

4(3x−2)=−24

Part 1. What is your first step in solving this equation? Remember, there is more than one way to solve this equation.

Part 2. How would you isolate the variable and solve for x after you have completed Part 1?

You do not need to solve the problem. Simply, describe your process.

**Please label Part 1 and Part 2 in your answer.**

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

Part 1: The first step in solving this equation is to distribute the 4 to both terms inside the parentheses. This can be done by multiplying 4 with each term separately:

4 * 3x = 12x
4 * -2 = -8

The equation becomes:
12x - 8 = -24

Part 2: To isolate the variable x and solve for it, we would start by adding 8 to both sides of the equation to move the constant term to the other side:

12x - 8 + 8 = -24 + 8

This simplifies to:
12x = -16

Next, we would divide both sides of the equation by 12 to isolate x:

12x/12 = -16/12

Finally, simplifying the equation further:
x = -4/3

Therefore, the solution to the equation is x = -4/3.