Exercise 51 Page 491

Remember, only like terms can be combined.

14pq^6-11p^4q-p^4q^4

Practice makes perfect

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 and the same exponent — can be combined. ( 9pq^6 - 11p^4q)-( -5pq^6 + p^4q^4) In this case we have two pq^6-terms, one p^4q-term, and one p^4q^4-term. Only the pq^6-terms can be combined, so to simplify the expression we will remove parentheses, rearrange it according to the Commutative Property of Addition, and then combine like terms.

(9pq^6-11p^4q)-(-5pq^6+p^4q^4)

RemovePar

Remove parentheses

9pq^6-11p^4q-(-5pq^6+p^4q^4)

Distr

Distribute -1

9pq^6-11p^4q+5pq^6-p^4q^4

CommutativePropAdd

Commutative Property of Addition

9pq^6+5pq^6-11p^4q-p^4q^4

AddTerms

Add terms