Question

4(x - 8) = 12
4x - 8 = 12
+8 +8
-------
4x 20
--- = ---
4 4

x = 5

Explanation:

Step1: Correctly expand the left side

$4(x-8)=4x-32$, so the equation becomes $4x-32=12$

Step2: Add 32 to both sides

$4x-32+32=12+32$
$4x=44$

Step3: Divide both sides by 4

$\frac{4x}{4}=\frac{44}{4}$

Answer:

$x=11$

Note on the original error:

The initial expansion incorrectly calculated $4(x-8)$ as $4x-8$ instead of $4x-32$, which led to the wrong final answer. The corrected steps fix this distributive property mistake.