Solve for :
Simplify the left side before solving. All three terms are multiples of , so they merge into one. Attempting to divide by anything first would be premature — there is nothing to divide by yet.
Read the middle coefficient correctly. The bare means ; treating it as is the classic slip that turns the answer into instead of .
Add the coefficients.
so the equation is
Divide both sides by 2.
Verify in the original equation. Substituting : ✓, which matches the right side exactly. As a second check, the simplified form gives ✓.
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