I am assuming that the two bars on the sides of 5x and 13 mean absolute value. Absolute value is the distance the number of value is away from 0. To solve for x, first find the absolute value.
|5x+13| = -7
5x+13= -7
Leave x alone on one side. Therefore, subtract 13 from both sides.
5x+13 = -7
-13 -13
5x = -20
Divide both sides by 5 to eliminate 5.
x = -4.
There's your answer. Hopefully that helped. :)
