Distributive Property

Distributive Property

When we use the distributive property we can either

• distribute the multiplication

• find the Greatest Common Factor and divide

Distributing multiplication is easy. Let's look at an example.

• 10(6x + 5) becomes

• 60x + 50

• We just multiplied 10 x 6x and 10 x 5

It doesn't matter how many terms are in the parentheses. It doesn't matter of the multiplier is after the parentheses.

• 3(7 - 2y + 4t)

• (7 - 2y + 4t) x 3

Factoring has more steps

Let's look at an example.

Multiple Choice

Factor 15x+40

What do you do first?

• divide 40 by 15

• list the factors of 15 and 40

Factor 15x+40

That is right find the factors of 15 and 40.

Factor 15x+40

Factors are the numbers you multiply together to get a product.

• Factors of 15 are: 1, 3, 5, 15

• Factors of 40 are: 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 20, 40

• WHAT IS THE LARGEST FACTOR THAT THEY SHARE IN COMMON?

Multiple Choice

Factors of 15 are: 1, 3, 5, 15

Factors of 40 are: 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 20, 40

What is the Greatest Common Factor that they share?

• 15

• 5

That's right, 5.

• 5 x 3 = 15

• 5 x 8 = 40

That's right, 5.

• 5 x 3 = 15

• 5 x 8 = 40

Multiple Choice

How do we use this to show the distributive property?

• 5(3 + 8)

• 5(3x + 8)