Remember that only like terms can be combined. An expression in simplest form has no like terms and parentheses.
14.2-5a
Practice makes perfect
An expression in simplest form has no like terms and parentheses. Let's first rewrite this expression as a sum to identify all like terms.
8 + 4a + 6.2 - 9a
⇓
8 + 4a + 6.2 + ( - 9a)
Remember that like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable and the same exponent — can be combined. In this case, we have two a-terms and two constants. We will rearrange the expression according to the Commutative Property of Addition. Then, we will combine like terms to simplify the expression.
