5. Simplify Algebraic Expressions
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Chapter 4
5.
Simplify Algebraic Expressions
| Student Learning Objectives: |
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Why
This lesson focuses on simplifying algebraic expressions, a fundamental skill in algebra. It teaches how to identify like terms in an expression and combine them to make the expression simpler. This skill is particularly useful in various real-world scenarios, such as calculating total costs or distances. For example, if someone is trying to figure out the total distance for a multi-leg journey, they can use these techniques to combine the distances into a single, simpler expression. Understanding how to simplify algebraic expressions can make problem-solving quicker and more efficient, whether you're a student or a professional dealing with data analysis.
Lesson Settings & Tools
| | 9 Theory slides |
| | 10 Exercises - Grade E - A |
| | Each lesson is meant to take 1-2 classroom sessions |
Simplify Algebraic Expressions
Slide of 9
There are many ways to write the same mathematical idea. Some forms are more complex than others, but in general, simpler expressions express ideas more efficiently and are easier to evaluate. This lesson will show how to write an expression as simply as possible.
Catch-Up and Review
Here are a few recommended readings before getting started with this lesson.
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Explore
How Can These Terms Be Grouped?
The applet shows some terms in a table. Try to group the terms in the table correctly.
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Discussion
Like Terms
Two or more terms in an algebraic expression are like terms if they have the same variable(s) with the same exponent(s). 7xy+2x-3xy-2x^2+x+5x^2 In this expression, there are three sets of like terms — namely, xy-terms, x-terms, and x^2-terms.
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Pop Quiz
Identifying Like Terms
Determine whether the terms are like terms.
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Discussion
Reducing the Number of Terms
Once like terms are identified, it is possible to combine them using addition or subtraction.
Method
Combining Like Terms
In an expression, groups of like terms can be combined to write an equivalent expression with the least possible number of terms. As an example, consider the following expression. 7xy+2x-3xy-2x^2+x+5x^2 There are three steps to follow to combine like terms.
1
Identify Like Terms
expand_more 
2
Grouping Like Terms
expand_more Now that the like terms are identified, use the Commutative Property of Addition to rearrange the expression so that the like terms are grouped together.
3
Add and Subtract the Coefficients
expand_more Finally, combine the like terms by adding or subtracting the coefficients of the variables as well as adding or subtracting the constants.
Now that all like terms have been combined, the initial expression has been reduced to its simplest form. 7xy+2x-3xy-2x^2+x+5x^2 ⇕ 4xy+3x+3x^2
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Example
Heichi's Path to the Museum
Heichi got a part-time summer job at a local history museum. He asked his sister for directions from home to the museum. She drew a map for him. She also knows that Heichi is studying algebraic expressions, so she used algebraic expressions to show the relevant distances.
Write an expression in its simplest form for the total distance from Heichi's house to the museum.
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Hint
Solution
Heichi is trying to determine the overall distance from his house to the museum along the route his sister marked for him. The route is broken into three separate sections. Each section has a unique length represented by a unique algebraic expression.
| Section | Expression |
|---|---|
| First Leg | x |
| Second Leg | 3x+7 |
| Third Leg | 4x-6 |
These expressions can be added together to find the total distance. x+ 3x+7+ 4x-6 Notice that there are two different terms — x-terms and constant terms. These are the like terms. x+ 3x+ 7+ 4x - 6 Now that the like terms have been identified, they can be combined. Use the Commutative Property of Addition to group the like terms together, then add or subtract them.
x+ 3x+ 7+ 4x - 6
CommutativePropAdd
Commutative Property of Addition
x+ 3x+ 4x+ 7 - 6
AddTerms
Add terms
8x+7-6
SubTerm
Subtract term
8x+1
The simplified expression is 8x+1.
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Example
Weekend Visitors to the Museum
On weekends, the museum has special admission prices before noon.
Children pay x dollars and adults pay x^2 dollars before noon. After noon, the prices go up to y and y^2 dollars for children and adults, respectively. Heichi kept track of the number of visitors on both Saturday and Sunday in separate tables. The following table shows the number of visitors on Saturday.
| Saturday's Visitors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Children | Adults | |
| Before Noon | 7 | 12 |
| After Noon | 12 | 20 |
The table below shows the number of visitors on Sunday.
| Sunday's Visitors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Children | Adults | |
| Before Noon | 8 | 15 |
| After Noon | 3 | 4 |
Help Heichi figure out how much money the museum took in from admissions on Saturday and Sunday in terms of x and y. Then simplify the total amount.
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Hint
Remember that the tickets have different prices depending on the time of day.
Solution
The total amount can be written by adding the revenues from Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's Revenue + Sunday's Revenue
The ticket revenue from Saturday can be found by multiplying the number of people that entered by the amount that they have to pay. However, since the prices change depending on the hour, this is better done in two sections. This can be written in a table.
| Saturday's Visitors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Children ($) | Adults ($) | Total ($) | |
| Before Noon | 7x | 12x^2 | 7x+ 12x^2 |
| After Noon | 12y | 20y^2 | 12y+ 20y^2 |
The expression for Saturday's revenue can be written by adding the expressions for each part of the day. Saturday's Revenue ($) 7x + 12x^2 + 12y + 20y^2 The same steps can be followed for Sunday's visitors.
| Sunday's Visitors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Children ($) | Adults ($) | Total ($) | |
| Before Noon | 8x | 15x^2 | 8x+ 15x^2 |
| After Noon | 3y | 4y^2 | 3y+ 4y^2 |
Similar to Saturday, the expression for Sunday's revenue can be found by adding the expressions for each part of the day. Sunday's Revenue ($) 8x + 15x^2 + 3y + 4y^2 Now that the expressions for Saturday and Sunday are written, it is time to add them together. The like terms can be grouped by the Commutative Property of Addition to combine them easily.
7x + 12x^2 + 12y + 20y^2 + 8x + 15x^2 + 3y + 4y^2
CommutativePropAdd
Commutative Property of Addition
7x+ 8x + 12y + 3y + 12x^2 + 15x^2 + 20y^2 + 4y^2
AddTerms
Add terms
15x+15y + 27x^2 + 24y^2
This expression represents how much money was made from admissions over the weekend.
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Example
A Curious Occurrence in the Souvenir Shop
Heichi's friend Magdalena works at the souvenir shop in the museum. There are three large items that are sold in the shop.
Magdalena told Heichi that three groups of people visited the shop on Saturday.
- The first group bought three vases, four plush toys, and five paintings.
- The second group bought six plush toys, returned two vases, and bought one painting.
- The third group returned one painting and bought one vase.
The curious thing, Magdalena explained, is that the exact same thing happened on Sunday. Suppose that the items returned are fully refunded. Write and simplify an expression for how much money the shop made from these groups of people over the weekend.
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Hint
Start by writing an expression for Saturday. Then, multiply that expression by 2.
Solution
Start by writing an expression to find the amount of money made by the store on Saturday. Consider each group separately.
- The first group bought three vases, four plush toys, and five paintings.
- The second group bought six plush toys, returned two vases, and bought one painting.
- The third group returned one painting and bought one vase.
The money exchanged for each set of items is the product of the number of items sold and its corresponding price. Note that when an item is returned, the prices are negative because money is being taken from the shop and returned to the customer.
| Vases ($) | Plush Toys ($) | Paintings ($) | Total ($) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Group | 3a | 4b | 5c | 3a+ 4b+ 5c |
| Second Group | - 2a | 6b | 1c | - 2a+ 6b+ 1c |
| Third Group | 1a | 0 | - 1c | 1a- 1c |
The expression for the money made on Saturday is the sum of these expressions. Saturday's Revenue ($) 3a + 4b + 5c+ 6b - 2a + 1c - 1c + 1a Magdalena mentioned that the same thing happened on Sunday. This means that the whole expression has to be multiplied by 2 to find the expression for the money made from both days. Weekend Revenue ($) 2( 3a + 4b + 5c+ 6b - 2a + 1c - 1c + 1a) This expression can be simplified by combining like terms first and then distributing the 2 or by distributing first. Either process will result in the simplified expression. Here, the terms will be combined first.
2( 3a + 4b + 5c+ 6b - 2a + 1c - 1c + 1a)
CommutativePropAdd
Commutative Property of Addition
2( 3a - 2a + 1a + 4b + 6b + 5c + 1c - 1c)
AddTerms
Add terms
2(4a -2a + 10b + 6c - 1c)
SubTerms
Subtract terms
2(2a+10b+5c)
Distr
Distribute 2
2*2a + 2*10b + 2*5c
Multiply
Multiply
4a+20b+10c
This expression represents the total revenue from these groups on both Saturday and Sunday.
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Closure
Grouping Like Terms
The beginning of this lesson presented a table to group like terms.
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Simplify Algebraic Expressions
Exercises
Simplify the given expression. x+31+5x-2
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We will begin by identifying the like terms to simplify the expression. Remember that only like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable — can be combined. x + 31 + 5x - 2 In this case, we have two x-terms and two constants. Let's use the Commutative Property of Addition to rearrange the terms. Then we can combine them more easily.
Now the expression has one x-term and one constant. Since these terms cannot be combined further, the expression is simplified. We did it!
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Solution
Simplify the given expression. 3.5c^2 + 8.5 + 14c - 0.5 - 12c - 13.5c^2
{"type":"text","form":{"type":"math","options":{"comparison":"1","nofractofloat":false,"keypad":{"simple":false,"useShortLog":false,"variables":["c"],"constants":[]},"rendered":false},"text":""},"formTextBefore":null,"formTextAfter":null,"answer":{"text":["8+2c-10c^2"]}}
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We will begin by identifying the like terms to simplify the expression. Remember, only like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable — can be combined. 3.5c^2 + 8.5 + 14c - 0.5 - 12c - 13.5c^2 In this case, we have two c^2-terms, two c-terms, and two constants. Let's use the Commutative Property of Addition to rearrange the terms. Then we can combine them more easily.
Now the expression has one c^2-term, one c-term, and one constant. Since these terms cannot be combined further, the expression is simplified. We did it!
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Solution
Consider the following expressions. Expression I: & 7a+10 -3a Expression II: & xa+10 What value of x makes these expressions equivalent?
{"type":"text","form":{"type":"math","options":{"comparison":"1","nofractofloat":false,"keypad":{"simple":true,"useShortLog":false,"variables":["x"],"constants":["PI"]},"rendered":false},"text":""},"formTextBefore":"x=","formTextAfter":null,"answer":{"text":["4"]}}
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We want to know what value of x makes these expressions equivalent. Expression I: & 7a+10 -3a Expression II: & xa+10 Let's begin by simplifying Expression I. First, we will look for like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable. Remember that only like terms can be combined. 7a + 10 - 3a We can see that there are two a-terms and one constant. Let's apply the Commutative Property of Addition to group these terms together and combine them.
Now let's compare these expressions. Expression I: & 4a+10 Expression II: & xa+10 We can see that if x has a value of 4, these expressions will be equivalent!
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Solution
Consider the following expressions. Expression I: & -19b+7+21b-2 Expression II: & 2b+x What value of x makes these expressions equivalent?
{"type":"text","form":{"type":"math","options":{"comparison":"1","nofractofloat":false,"keypad":{"simple":true,"useShortLog":false,"variables":["x"],"constants":["PI"]},"rendered":false},"text":""},"formTextBefore":"x=","formTextAfter":null,"answer":{"text":["5"]}}
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We want to know which value of x makes the given expressions equivalent. Expression I: & -19b+7+21b-2 Expression II: & 2b+x Let's start by identifying and grouping the like terms — constant terms or terms with the same variable. Remember that only these terms can be combined! -19b + 7 + 21b - 2 We can see that there are two b-terms and two constants. Let's apply the Commutative Property of Addition to group these terms together to combine them.
Now let's compare these expressions. Expression I: & 2b+ 5 Expression II: & 2b+ x We can see that the expressions will be equivalent if x has a value of 5. Therefore, 5 is the answer. We did it!
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Solution
After school, Tiffaniqua and nine of her friends went to the bowling alley.
The alley is running a special that people can play for a price of $p. However, Tiffaniqua and seven of her friends paid $5 extra to rent shoes. Write and simplify an equation for the total amount that the group paid.
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Tiffaniqua and nine friends went to the bowling alley. Eight members of the group paid $ p to play and an extra $ 5 to rent shoes. The remaining two friends only paid the $ p to play. We can find how much the friends paid as a whole paid by multiplying what each group paid by the number of people in that group.
| Games and Shoe Rental | Games Only | |
|---|---|---|
| Price for One Person | p+5 | p |
| Total | 8(p+5) | 2p |
Now that we have the amount of money paid by both group, we can add them together to find the total price the friends paid. Let's write this as an expression. 8(p+5)+ 2p This expression represents the total amount of money paid by the friends, but now we need to simplify it. First, let's use the Distributive Property. Then we can combine like terms to finish the simplification.
The total amount paid by the friends is $10p + 40.
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Solution
Simplify Algebraic Expressions
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