Kevin C. answered 03/30/14
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Successful Math Tutor -- Recently retired high school math teacher
First: Note that |2x - 4| - 3 = 3
What needs to be done to isolate the variable?
Add 3
That gives: |2x - 4| = 6.
There are two answers at this point: +6 and -6.
Therefore: 2x - 4 = 6, 2x = 10, x = 5.
and: 2x - 4 = -6, 2x = -2, x = -1.
But wait ..... were are not done: Check: |2(5)-4| -3 = |10-4| -3 = 6-3 =3, |2(-1)-4| = |-2-4|-3 = 6-3 = 3.
I hope this explains the problem. Remember, each absolute value problem has two answers, at most .