Martin is solving the following linear equation.

His final two steps are:

Select the statement that correctly interprets Martin’s solution.
The solution is .
There are infinitely many solutions since is a false statement.
There is no solution since is a false statement.
The solution is .

The statement that correctly interprets Martin’s solution is: There is no solution since is a false statement. When simplifying the equation, Martin ended up with a contradiction, indicating that there are no values of that would satisfy the original equation.

Now, to explore this further: linear equations can sometimes lead to unexpected results! When you reduce your equations and end up with something like , it means that the lines represented by the equations are parallel. Therefore, they never intersect, meaning no solutions exist. This can be a surprising and crucial learning point in algebra!