Question

Tony is solving the equation 4x = 12x + 20 for x. Tony uses the multiplicative property of equality to rewrite the equation as x = 3x + 20. Which statement correctly explains whether

A Tony used the property correctly? Tony used the property correctly because he multiplied one term on each side of the equals sign by 1/4
B Tony did not use the property correctly because he should have multiplied both sides of the equals sign by 1/12 not 1/4
C Tony did not use the property correctly because he did not multiply every term on both sides of the equals sign by 1/4
D Tony used the property correctly because he multiplied every term containing x by 1/4​

Answer 1

C)

Explanation:

The correct answer is C: Tony did not use the property correctly because he did not multiply every term on both sides of the equals sign by 1/4.

To solve the equation 4x = 12x + 20, Tony used the multiplicative property of equality but made an error in the application. The correct approach would be to multiply every term on both sides of the equals sign by the reciprocal of the coefficient of x, which is 1/4 in this case.

However, Tony only multiplied one term on each side by 1/4, resulting in equation x = 3x + 20. This action is incorrect because it does not apply the property to every term containing x. To solve the equation correctly, Tony should have multiplied both sides by 1/4, resulting in x/4 = (3x + 20)/4.