The correct solutions to the equation 3|x| + 5 = 23 are x = 6 or x = -6. The options provided do not list these solutions; therefore, the correct answer is not given in the options.
To find a solution to the equation 3|x| + 5 = 23, first subtract 5 from both sides, which gives us 3|x| = 18. Dividing both sides of the equation by 3 yields |x| = 6. Now, we can consider the two cases where x can either be positive or negative.
When x is positive, x = 6. When x is negative, x = -6. Therefore, the two solutions to the equation are x = 6 or x = -6. Looking at the given options, we have -6 as an option which is (b) -4, but since this is a mistype and should be -6, our correct choice is not listed. Hence, none of the provided options is correct.