so first you distribute the 5 to the x and the +2 and get 5x+10=3(x+8) then you distribute the 3 to the other x and the +8 and get 5x+10=3x+24 subtract 3x from both sides 2x+10=24 subtract 10 from both sides and get 2x=14 divide both sides by 2 and get x=7