To solve the equation 44 = 14 - 2a, we need to get a by itself, on one side of the equation. We can do this by first getting terms with a on one side and terms without it on the other side.
44 = 14 - 2a
To get a on one side, we need to eliminate 14 from the side with the -2a. We can do this by subtracting 14 from each side.
44 - 14 = 14 - 14 - 2a
-2a = 30
Now we want to get a single a, which can be accomplished by dividing both sides by -2.