Step-by-step explanation: To solve for <em>x</em> in the equation you see here, our goal is to get <em>x</em> by itself.
Our first step will be to isolate the
term containing <em>x</em> which in this case is 7x.
To isolate 7x, we have to get rid of the +2 by subtracting 2 from both sides of the equation. On the left, +2 and -2 cancel out and we're simply left with 7x. On the right, 16 - 2 simplifies to 14.
So we have 7x = 14.
Now divide both sides by 7 and we find that <em>x = 2</em>.