Remember that only like terms can be combined. An expression in simplest form has no like terms and parentheses.
- 1/2y+3
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.
2/5y - 4 + 7 - 9/10y
⇓
2/5y + ( - 4) + 7 + ( - 9/10y)
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 y-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.
