text: 4 (8x-1) = 16  solve? explain.?   follow the steps 4(8x-1) = 16  1)divide both sides by 4 4/4 * (8x-1) = 16/4 (8x-1) = 4  2)remove the parenthesis 8x - 1 = 4  3)add 1 to both sides 8x - 1 + 1 = 4 + 1 8x = 5  4)divide both sides by 8 8x/8 = 5/8 x = 5/8  in the end, all you are doing is attempting to get the x alone on one side while keeping both sides of the equation balanced(i.e. doing the same thing to both sides of the equation).