Question

to solve this equation, you need to get z alone on one side, and a constant on the other side. on the left, the z term is inside of parentheses. what move can you make to rewrite the left side of this equation without parentheses, so that it’s easier to work with?
12 - 5(z + 2) = 3z - 10
use the distributive property to multiply -5 and (z + 2)
divide (z + 2) by -5
subtract 12 minus 5, then multiply the result by (z + 2)

Explanation:

To remove parentheses from \(-5(z + 2)\), the distributive property ( \(a(b + c)=ab+ac\) ) is used. Here, \(a=-5\), \(b = z\), \(c = 2\), so we multiply \(-5\) with \(z\) and \(2\) to expand. Dividing \((z + 2)\) by \(-5\) or subtracting \(12-5\) first are incorrect methods for removing parentheses here.

Answer:

A. Use the distributive property to multiply -5 and (z + 2)