First you clean it up. Then you solve it with a couple of simple steps.
4x - 5 + 2x = 13 + 9x - 21
Let's re-arrange the terms on each side, so you can see what comes next:
(4x + 2x) - 5 = (13 - 21) + 9x
Now combine the terms inside the parentheses.
Just do the adding and subtracting:
(6x) - 5 = (-8) + 9x
Add 8 to each side:
6x + 3 = 9x
Subtract 6x from each side:
3 = 3x
Divide each side by 3:
1 = x
Isn't that a lot neater than that big ugly thing we started out with ?
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