When you are solving equations like this, you simply need to remember to combine like terms and isolate the variable to one side or the other.
1. 2x-17=4 (Add 17 to both sides....the left cancels out the -17)
2x= 21 (divide both sides by 2)
x = 10.5
2. (10x+5) + (6x-1) = 180 (combine like terms....the parentheses are there to just group them into different terms)
16x+4 = 180 (subtract 4 from both sides)
16x = 176 (divide each side by 16)
x = 11
3. 3x + 4 = 2x - 1 (isolate the variable to one side, let's go with the left and subtract 2x from both sides)
x + 4 = -1 (subtract 4 from both sides)
x = -5
4. 2(x + 4) = x + 13 (apply the distributive property to the parentheses)
2x + 8 = x + 13 (isolate the variable to the left side and subtract x)
x + 8 = 13 (subtract 8 from both sides)
x = 5
5. 14x = 2(5x + 14) (apply distributive property to the right side)
14x = 10x + 28 (isolate the variable to the left, subtract 10x)
4x = 28 (divide both sides by 4)
x = 7
Hope all the steps are clear and you can see why each step was taken. Good luck!