In order to find 'x', one must be able to isolate x on one side of the equation. This would be achieved firstly by adding +8x to both side of the equation:The left hand side would thus look like this: 40x + 43The right hand side would look like this: -17 (as -8x + 8x = 0)Now that we have x on one side of the equation, we can solve it to find the value of x.Our equation now looks like this: 40x + 43 = -17We next would subtract 43 from both sides.This leaves the left hand side of the equation as: 40x (as 43 - 43 = 0)It would also leave the right hand side as: -60 (-17 - 43 = -60)Now we have all the x's on one side, with a value on the other: 40x = -60From here, we can divide both sides by 40, leaving the equation as follows: x = -1.5 or x = -3/2.