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.
2x + 5 + 3x + 6
In this case, we have two x-terms and two constants.
Both the x-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.
