18-4x=-2
The idea is to get the x by itself (isolate it) on one side of the equation. Start by adding 4x to both sides to get rid of the - sign in front of the 4x. We could also multiply both sides by -1 instead:
18 - 4x + 4x = 4x - 2 [-4x+4x=0]
18 = 4x - 2
Add 2 to both sides:
18 + 2 = 4x - 2 + 2 [-2+2=0]
20 = 4x
Now divide both sides by 4 to get the answer.
