Need Help, Whats x? 5 (x + 7) = 42

First, we use the distribution property by opening the parenthesis around x + 7. Since 5 has to multiply both x and 7, we have 5x + 35 = 42

Then you want to isolate the variable so we subtract 35 from both sides of the equation, and we obtain 5x = 7. Dividing both sides by 5 we achieve x = 7/5 or 1.4.

 

:)