How do you solve 17= - 2x - 3+ 7x17=2x3+7x?

3 Answers
May 16, 2018

Combine like terms, rearrange, and then solve for xx to find x=4x=4

Explanation:

First, lets combine like terms on the Right-Hand Side (RHS). We have two numbers that are both multiplied by xx, so we can group them like so:

17=-2x-3+7x17=2x3+7x

17=-3+7x-2x17=3+7x2x

17=-3+x(7-2)17=3+x(72)

17=-3+5x17=3+5x

Next, we'll re-arrange the equation to get xx and its coefficient by itself, on the RHS. We'll achieve this by adding 3 to both sides, which will eliminate the -3 on the RHS, and effectively moving it to the Left-Hand Side (LHS):

17color(red)(+3)=cancel(-3)+5xcolor(red)(cancel(+3))

20=5x

Finally, we'll divide both sides by the coefficient that x is multiplied by, which should give us our answer:

20/color(red)(5)=(cancel(5)x)/color(red)(cancel(5))

color(green)(x=4)

May 16, 2018

x=4

Explanation:

17=-2x-3+7x

can also be written as

17=5x-3

To solve this, you want all of the x's on one side of the equation: Therefore, you can add 3 to both sides to make;

20=5x

To get x on its own, you then divide both sides by 5 to get:

4=x

May 16, 2018

X = 4

Explanation:

Given:

17 = -2x-3+7x

Adding 3 to both sides,
17+3 = cancel(3)-cancel(3)+ 5x
20 = 5x

Dividing both sides with 5, we get,
cancel(20)/cancel(5) = cancel(5)/cancel(5)x
:.x = color(red)(4)