Question

In the solution of the equation 5 + 3x = -2x + 9, 2x is added to the equation first. Which of the following should be done next?

add -9
add -5
add -3x

Answer 1

add 5 I believe !!!!!

Answer 2

Adding 2x to both sides of 5 + 3x = -2x + 9 results in 5 + 5x = 9.  We want to isolate 5x.  The proper next step is to subtract 5 from both sides, to obtain:

5x = 4.