The first step in simplifying this expression is to identify which, if any, terms can be combined. Remember, only like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable — can be combined.
2.1x^2 + 3 - 0.5x^2 - 1
In this case, we have two x^2-terms and two constants.
Both the x^2-terms and the constants can be combined. To simplify the expression we will rearrange it according to the Distributive Property to combine the like terms.
