I am struggling to solve algebra equations. I was given the following equation to solve at school and am unsure how to approach it : 4(x + 3) = 2x + 8

4(x + 3) = 2x + 8The first step in solving this equation is to expand the brackets on the left hand side. A bracket means that the contents of the bracket should be multiplied by whatever is outside of the bracket. In this case, the equation would become 4x + 12 = 2x + 8. The next step would be to put all the xs on one side and to put the numbers on the other. When a number or an x value crosses over the equal sign, positive values become negative and negative values become positive. In this example, it would be 4x - 2x = 8 - 12. This can then be simplified by subtracting 2x from 4x on the left hand side and subtracting 12 from 8 on the right hand side. This gives 2x = -4.This gives the value of 2x. However, we need to find out what the value of x is. The number on the right is therefore divided by the number in front of the x (in this case -4/2). As a result, we can now determine that x=-2