Combining Like Terms & Distributive Property

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What are terms in an expression?

Back

Terms are the individual parts of an expression that are separated by addition or subtraction. For example, in the expression 3x + 4y - 5, the terms are 3x, 4y, and -5.

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What is a coefficient?

Back

A coefficient is a numerical factor that multiplies a variable in an expression. For example, in the term 5x, 5 is the coefficient.

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What is a constant?

Back

A constant is a fixed value that does not change. In the expression 2x + 3, the number 3 is a constant.

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What is a variable?

Back

A variable is a symbol, often a letter, that represents an unknown value in an expression or equation. For example, in the expression 4x + 2, x is a variable.

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What does it mean to combine like terms?

Back

Combining like terms means to simplify an expression by adding or subtracting terms that have the same variable raised to the same power. For example, 3x + 4x = 7x.

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What is the distributive property?

Back

The distributive property states that a(b + c) = ab + ac. It allows you to multiply a single term by each term inside a parentheses.

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How do you apply the distributive property?

Back

To apply the distributive property, multiply the term outside the parentheses by each term inside the parentheses. For example, 2(3 + 4) = 2*3 + 2*4 = 6 + 8 = 14.

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What is an example of combining like terms?

Back

In the expression 5x + 3x - 2, you can combine the like terms 5x and 3x to get 8x - 2.

Front

What is the result of 4(2x + 3)?

Back

Using the distributive property, 4(2x + 3) = 4*2x + 4*3 = 8x + 12.

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What are like terms?

Back

Like terms are terms that have the same variable raised to the same power. For example, 2x and 5x are like terms, but 2x and 3y are not.