Since a fraction is essentially the same thing as dividing one number by another, we can multiply 44 by 4, the denominator of the fraction we are finding the numerator for, and get 176. This fraction is already in negative form, so we don't need to do anything else.
They are both correct! Michael's equation is just a distributed version of Laurie's equation. Laurie's equation is solved like this: First distribute to get 2x + 1.2 + 0.8 + 0.7, then add the numbers together to get 2x + 2.7. Michael's equation also starts with distributing to get 2x + 1.2 + 0.8 + 0.7 and adding the numbers together to get the same answer: 2x + 2.7. Hope this helps!
