Expressions and manipulation
Lesson 1 of 13
Collecting like terms
Objective. Simplify expressions by combining terms with identical letter parts.
The key idea
Only terms with exactly the same letters and powers can be combined. 3x and 5x are like terms; 3x and 3x² are not.
Worked example
Simplify 5a + 3b − 2a + 7b.
- 1Group the a terms: 5a − 2a = 3a.
- 2Group the b terms: 3b + 7b = 10b.
Answer: 3a + 10b
Practice
Each question comes with a picture and a listen button. Try it first, then reveal the answer.
Common mistake. Combining x and x² because both contain x.
Your progress
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