Question

Solve 2|5x − 2| + 4 = 18 for x. Show your work to receive full credit.

Answer 1

I'm fine with partial credit, so I'll have you do the work for me:

Think about your order of operations here, first. Remember, when solving equations, you use the reverse order of operations, so you'll subtract 4 from both sides first.

That leaves you with:

2|5x - 2| = 14

You can now divide both sides by two:

|5x - 2| = 7

Now, to deal with the absolute value: the inside of the absolute value must be either negative or positive 7.

So we now have two equations:

5x - 2 = 7
5x - 2 = -7

Now, simply solve for "x" in both equations! Remember your order of operations, and show full work to receive credit. ;)