Question

If 5x - 4 = 26, what does x equal?

Answer 1

add 4 to each side first

Answer 2

what you're trying to do is isolate x by doing inverse operations. What is done to one side must be done to another. To "undo" the -4 on the left, which helps us isolate x, we'd have to add 4 to both sides. Once you do that, would you know how to "undo" 5 times x?