Question

Below are the steps to solve an equation:

Step 1: |x − 4| + 1 = 8
Step 2: |x − 4| = 8 − 1
Step 3: |x − 4| = 7

Which of the following is a correct next step to solve the equation? x − 4 = −7 x + 4 = −7 −x − 4 = 7 x + 4 = 7

Answer 1

|x - 4| + 1 = 8
- 1 - 1
|x - 4| = 7
|x - 4| = ±7
|x - 4| = 7 or |x - 4| = -7
x - 4 = 7 or x - 4 = -7
+ 4 + 4 + 4 + 4
x = 11 or x = -3

The answer would be equal to x - 4 = -7.

Answer 2

Since l x - 4 l means absolute value, so we need to make sure we do not include any negative signs.

x + 4 = 7 would be the next step because it does not include any negative signs.