Question

in order to figure out how much money she needs for her trip to the store, jessica has to solve this equation. $2(x + 1) + 1 = 5$ she completes the problem as seen in the steps below. $2(x + 1) + 1 = 5$ step 1: $2(x + 1) = 4$ step 2: $(x + 1) = 2$ step 3: $x = 3$ this cant be right! she checks her solution and realizes the answer is $x = 1$. in which step did jessica make an error? a step 1. b step 2. c step 3. d all the steps are correct.

Explanation:

Step1: Verify Step 1

Subtract 1 from both sides:
$2(x+1)+1-1=5-1$
$2(x+1)=4$ (this step is correct)

Step2: Verify Step 2

Divide both sides by 2:
$\frac{2(x+1)}{2}=\frac{4}{2}$
$x+1=2$ (this step is correct)

Step3: Verify Step 3

Subtract 1 from both sides:
$x+1-1=2-1$
$x=1$ (Jessica incorrectly calculated $x=3$ here)

Answer:

C. Step 3.