Question

2) Thomas wants to find the difference

1/2 (6x - 2) - (2x + 1)

He does the following:

1/2 (6x - 2) - (2x + 1)
3x - 1 - x + 1/2 =
3x + x - 1 + 1/2 =
4x - 1/2

Is this correct? If not, show the correct procedure and explain where Thomas made his mistake.​

Answer 1

Thomas is not correct, x-2 is the correct answer

Explanation:

Thomas made his mistake by multiplying the 1/2 by both (6x-2) and -(2x+1). Thomas should have multiplied the 1/2 by just the (6x-2).

Correct procedure:

1/2 (6x-2)-(2x+1)

(3x-1)-(2x+1)

3x-1-2x-1

x-2

Answer 2

He is not correct, his mistake was multiplying 1/2 to 2x and 1, when you should have multiplied the negative to them.