You may have tried to divide both sides of the inequality by 3 while ignoring the $\displaystyle-{9}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ term. This would result in the incorrect inequality $\displaystyle{\left|{m}+{7}\right|}-{9}<{10}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ . Instead, you should add 9 to both sides as your first step, and then divide by 3. This will give you $\displaystyle{\left|{m}+{7}\right|}<{13}\usepackage{cmbright}\Huge\$ . Rewrite this without absolute value and solve the compound inequality.