The correct justification for the first step in solving the provided equation is that the first step should be distributive Property
Property of equality says that by performing any mathematical operation, of both sides of a expression does not change the original value of the equation.
The equation given in the problem is,
[tex]3(x - 4) + 1 = 12x[/tex]
To solve the above equation, we need to open the brackets of the equation. To do this, we need to use the distributive property of the equality.
This can be done by multiplying the number 3 inside the bracket (x-4). This operation simplify the equation, to solve it further. Therefore,
[tex]3x - 3\times4 + 1 = 12x\\3x - 12 + 1 = 12x[/tex]
Hence, the correct justification for the first step in solving the provided equation is that the first step should be distributive Property.
Learn more about the property of equality here;
https://brainly.com/question/1601404
