Question

Jane is solving the equasion -2x + 4 = 18. She tells her partner that they should add two to both sides first since that is the inverse of -2. Did Jane start this equation correctly? Explain your reasoning

Answer 1

No

Explanation:

Given

- 2x + 4 = 18

note the inverse of - 2 is -
`(1)/(2)` not - 2

However , the first step is to isolate the term in x by subtracting 4 from both sides.

- 2x = 18 - 4 = 14 ( divide both sides by - 2 )

x = - 7