Question

Which is a reasonable first step that can be used to solve the equation

Answer 1

Use distributive property:

2x + 12 = 3x - 12 + 5

Explanation:

This can allow for combining like terms later on, and eventually isolating x as a variable.

Answer 2

For this case we have the following equation:

`2 (x + 6) = 3 (x-4) +5`

The first step we must follow to solve the equation is to apply distributive property to the terms within the parenthesis:

`a (b + c) = ab + ac`

Then, the equation is:

`2x + 12 = 3x-12 + 5`

Answer:

The first step is to apply distributive property to the terms within parentheses.