Would be appreciated! how do you know which inverse operation to perform first when an equation contains two operations?

With an equation you must isolate x or whatever the variable is. Operations are the things used to make the difference like +,-,x,/.

A great example of this is the following

4x-12=0

First add 12 to both sides making the equation go to

4x=12

now divide 4 from both sides making

x=3

with the equation 12=10-3x: you would have to get rid of 10 first because 3 has a variable next to it so you would do inverse operation witch you add 10 to 12 and will get you 22 now you divide 3 because the inverse operation of multiplying is dividing and x will equal 7.3

is only a line? i think so

question: how many people can she serve?

answer: she can serve 16.66666667 people. so she can only give 16 people a complete serving.

question: does she have enough ice cream for her guests?

answer: no. explanation: she only has enough for 16 people to have a full serving. however, she can give a 17th person a partial serving.