The idea here is to isolate the x. We want something that looks like this:
x = _____
So, steps:
1) Combine like terms.
We want to combine the x's with other x's, and numbers with other numbers, on separate sides of the equal sign.
2x - 6 = 22 + 4
becomes
2 x - 6 = 26
2) Combine the x terms to one side of the equation and numbers to the other side of the equation.
We can't simply move things across the equal sign (=). But what we can do is to add or subtract something from one side of the equation, and to keep things equal, do the same thing to the other side of the equation:
2x - 6 = 26
+ 6 = + 6
===========
2x = 32
3) Divide by the number in front of the x (on both sides, again).
2x = 32
2x/2 = 32/2
4) simplify
2x/2 = 32/2
x = 16
That's it. You're done! x is 16.
