Question

Solve.
| 3x + 1 | = 2

Answer 1

Hey there!

The absolute value makes negative numbers positive. If they are already positive, then leave it. So it would be 3x+1=2. You need to isolate x. So subtract one from each side to get 3x=1. Divide each side by 3. You get x=1/3. Since x is by itself, you have the answer of x=1/3.

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Since this is an absolute value equation, it will have two answers. For the first answer, take away the absolute value bars and solve 3x + 1 = 2. Subtract 1 from both sides to get 3x = 1 and divide each side by 3 to get x = 1/3. Now onto the second solution. This time, take away the absolute value bars and make the other side of the equation, the 2, negative, to get 3x + 1 = -2. Now solve this by subtracting 1 from each side to get 3x = -3 and divide each side to get the other answer which is x = -1. The answer is x = -1 or 1/3, hope this helps!