Start by writing down the question5(x+2) = 45The aim is to "free" or solve for the variable "x", we work from outside the brackets. First step is to get rid of the 5 on the left hand side. To do this we divide both sides by 5. On the left hand side 5/5 = 1 therefore our answer becomes this:x+2 = 45/5 45/5 = 9, so we can write the equation as:x+2 = 9To get rid of the +2 on the left hand side we then subtract 2 from both sides. Obtaining this:x = 7Which is our final answer.