Question

morgans work: -2(6a + 5)-2 = 4(2 - 4a) -12a-10 - 2=8 - 16a -12a - 12=8 - 16a +16a +16a 4a - 12=8 +8 +8 4a = 16 4a/4 = 16/4 a = 4 morgans work solving an equation is shown here. do you agree with her work and her final answer? morgan made a mistake when distributing on the left. she should have gotten +10 instead of -10. morgan made a mistake when combining like terms. -10 - 2 should make -12, not -8. i agree with morgans work and her final answer is correct. morgan made a mistake when solving. she should have added 12a to both sides instead of 16a.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the left - hand side distribution

The original equation starts with \(-2(6a + 5)-2\). When distributing \(-2\) to \(6a+5\), we get \(-12a-10 - 2=-12a - 12\), not \(-12a-10 - 2=-12a - 8\) as Morgan did. So Morgan made a mistake when distributing on the left - hand side.

Answer:

Morgan made a mistake when distributing on the left. She should have gotten \(-12\) instead of \(-8\) after combining the constant terms from the distribution.