Question

In the equation, 4x + 17 = -3 do you divide by the coefficient or subtract the 17 first? How do you know? *
Your answer

Answer 1

subtract the 17 then you would get -3-17 which equals -20. the you get 4x=-20. You would then divide both 4x and -20 by 4 which lastly gives you the answer of -5.