In the equation 6x – 2 = –4x + 2, spencer claims that the first step is to add 4x to both sides. jeremiah claims that the first step is to subtract 6x from both sides. who is correct? explain.

If you would like to know who is correct, you can find this using the following step:

6x - 2 = -4x + 2

Spencer: 
6x - 2 = -4x + 2       /+4x
6x - 2 + 4x = -4x + 2 + 4x
10x - 2 = 2

Jeremiah:
6x - 2 = -4x + 2      /-6x
6x - 2 - 6x = -4x + 2 - 6x
-2 = -10x + 2

They both are correct. But in Jeremiah's version of solving the equation, we would have to multiply equation by -1 (or add 10x to both sides), which we don't have to do in the Spencer's version.