From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Solving multistep equations with the double distributive property

Solving multistep equations with the double distributive property

From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Solving multistep equations with the double distributive property

- We're going to walk through one last example of an equation with the Distributive Property. In this example, we're going to solve for c, and the first thing that I hope you notice in this equation is that it's written backwards. So, I'm going to begin by transferring this to the left-hand side, so we have 2(2c - 4) - (3c +1) = 20. Now, the next thing that you should notice is that we actually have two sets of parentheses. Since we have two sets of parentheses, we have to use the Distributive Property twice. For the first set of parentheses, I'm going to distribute the 2 throughout the parenthesis, so 2 times 2c is 4c, and 2 times -4 is -8, so I'm going to write that as -8. Now, it becomes a little trickier, because, again, I need to remember that if I don't have a number right beside the parenthesis, it's actually a 1, so I need to distribute -1 throughout the parenthesis. So, -1 times 3c is -3c, and I'm going to write that as -3c, and then -1 times +1 is -1, or minus 1. So, now…

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