Question

What is the first step needed to solve 2 over 5 multiplied by x minus 6 equals negative 16?

A.) Subtract 16 from both sides
B.)Add 6 to both sides
C.) Divide both sides by 5
D.) Multiply both sides by 2

Answer 1

A) Add One-sixth to both sides.

Explanation:

Answer 2

9514 1404 393

Answer:

B.) Add 6 to both sides

Explanation:

Actually, the first step is to look at the given equation and at what is being asked. The next step is to formulate a strategy for finding what is asked.

Here, the equation is ...

`(2)/(5)x-6=-16`

As part of our assessment of this, we notice that ...

• x is multiplied by 2/5
• 6 is subtracted

We are asked for the first step to solve this equation. The usual strategy for solving such an equation is to undo the steps done to the variable, in reverse order. In the above assessment, we notice the last step is subtracting 6 from the product. So, our first step in finding the value of x is to undo that subtraction:

add 6 to both sides

__

Additional comment

We also notice as part of our assessment that the equation contains the fraction 2/5, which has a denominator of 5. If we choose to eliminate fractions as a first step in our solution strategy, we would multiply both sides by 5. Notice that this is not one of the offered choices.