Your friend says the solution to 4 x plus 24 x minus 2 equals 7 left parenthesis 4 x plus 2 right parenthesis is xequals16. Solve 4 x plus 24 x minus 2 equals 7 left parenthesis 4 x plus 2 right parenthesis. What was your friend's likely error?

Step-by-step explanation:

The given equation is

4x + 24x - 2 = 7 (4x + 2)

First step is to expand the parenthesis on the left hand side by multiplying each term inside the parenthesis by the term outside the parenthesis. It becomes

4x + 24x - 2 = 28x + 14

Collecting like terms such that the terms containing x will be on the lefthand side and constant terms will be on the right hand side, it becomes

28x - 28x = 14 + 2

0 = 16

0 cannot be equal to 16. Therefore, there is no solution.

The likely error of my friend was

28x - 28x = x