6(1+9x)=-20

Question

How do I solve this problem 

 

Answer 1

Another way you can solve this problem...

 

Start by getting the parenthesis on a side all by itself (dividing both sides of the equation by 6).

 

This leaves you with: (1+9x) = -20/6

 

Now you can drop the parenthesis, getting: 1+9x = -20/6

 

The next step is to isolate the variable "x". This will take two steps.  The first step involves subtracting 1 from both sides of the equation.

 

Subtracting 1 from both sides gets: 9x = -20/6 - 1

Convert 1 to 6/6 (because these numbers are both equal you are allowed to do this): 9x = -20/6 - 6/6

Solving the subtracting of fractions gives you: 9x = -26/6

 

The second step to solve for the variable "x" is to divide both sides of the equation by the multiplier attached to the x (in other words, the number 9). Remember diving by 9 is the same as multiplying by the fraction 1/9.

 

Dividing both sides by 9, get you: x = -26/6 * 1/9

 

Solving the multiplication of the fractions gets you your answer. I'll leave that to you :) Hope this helped!

Answer 2

Jessica, the first thing we need to do is distribute the 6.  

 

6(1) + 6(9x) = -20

6 + 54x = -20

We subtract 6 from both sides to get 54x = -26.

Dividing by 54, we get x = -26/54, which reduces to -13/27.

 

Does this help?