3 |x -5| + 2 = 20
we are going to solve for |x - 5|
|x-5| = (20 - 2) / 3 = 18 / 3 = 6 then |x - 5| = 6
|x - 5| means absolute value of x - 5, so we will take the positive value of x -5 even when it is negative
x - 5 = 6 solving for x gives us x = 11
if x is negative, then -x - 5 = -6 then x = -1
So the answer would be the second option -1 and 11