Question

How do you solve? 2z - 2z(1 + 3) = 48

Answer 1

First, we want to distribute the 2z to what's in the parentheses:

$2z-(2z+6z)=48$

Then we need to distribute the negative sign outside of the parentheses in order to make it easier to solve and combine like terms:

$2z-2z-6z=48$

Now we combine like terms. The '2z' and '-2z' cancel each other out, so:

$-6z=48$

Then we solve for z by dividing by -6 on both sides:

$z=-8$

So now we know that z = -8.