When solving -1/8 (x + 35) = −7, what is the correct sequence of operations? a. multiply each side by -1/8, add 35 to each side b. multiply each side by -1/8, subtract 35 from each side c. multiply each side by −8, subtract 35 from each side d. multiply each side by −8, add 35 to each side

Gonna repost a post I made on a similar question:

For an analogy, imagine you're locking a valuable item away in a chest, then burying that chest in the ground. The steps you'd take to bury it might be:

- Put the item in the chest
- Close the chest
- Put the chest in the hole, and
- Cover the chest with dirt

Then in order to get the item back out, you'd need to:

- Uncover the chest
- Pull the chest out of the hole
- Open the chest
- Take the item out of the chest.

Notice what we did there. To pull the item back out, we went in reverse order and did the opposite of everything we did to bury it. The same thing applies to solving for an unknown.

Let's take a look at what's being done to the x here:

- First, 35 is being added to it, making x+35
- Then, that value is multiplied by -1/8, giving you -1/8(x+35) on the left side.

To undo it, we'll have to do all of that in reverse order, making sure we do the opposite of every operation we performed to get x "wrapped up" like that.

(Keep in mind that dividing by -1/8 is the same thing as multiplying by -8)