4. The Distributive Property
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The Distributive Property states that to multiply a sum or a difference by a number, multiply each term inside the parentheses by the number outside the parentheses.
7b(x+y)
\[0.3em] {\color{#0000FF}{p}}( {\color{#009600}{q}}-{\color{#FD9000}{r}}) = {\color{#0000FF}{p}}{\color{#009600}{q}} - {\color{#0000FF}{p}}{\color{#FD9000}{r}}} Notice that the given expression is a sum of two terms with the common factor 7b. We can use the Distributive Property to write the expression as the product of 7b and the sum ( x+ y). 7b x + 7b y = 7b( x+ y) We found that 7b(x+y) is one of the equivalent expressions for the given expression.