Use the distributive property first, and then combine like terms on both sides. The equation will simplify to $\displaystyle{12}+{2}{x}={2}{x}+{8}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ . Subtract $\displaystyle{2}{x}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ from both sides to get $\displaystyle{12}={8}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ . This is false, and it means that this equation has no solution.