'Like' inversing the order.....
First you have to deal with the parentheses......you cannot do the operation in the parentheses...so distributive property helps you deal with it.....
The you cannot really divide so the + and minuses must be done next and then the final division can actually be done....
so yah...it's kinda like PEDMAS in reverse....but I wouldn't memorize that.....just learn what you can and cannot do....
There are multiple ways to solve these type of equations....you COULD divide first:
2(3x-7)+ 18 = 10 Divide both sides of the equation by 2
(3x-7) + 9 = 5 Collect 'like ' terms
3x + (-7+9) = 5
3x + 2 = 5 divide everything by 3...just makes it more diff
x + 2/3 = 5/3 Subtract 2/3 from both sides
x = 5/3 - 2/3
x = 1