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SIMPLIFYING EXPRESSIONS LIKE -a(3b - 2c - d)
Jump right to the exercises!
The concepts for this exercise are summarized below.
For a complete discussion, read the text.
Now we're ready to look at several extensions of the distributive law.
Recall that the "basic model" of the distributive law is:
for all real numbers a , b , and c ,
a(b+c) = ab + ac .
There may be more than two terms in the parentheses:
a(b + c + d) = ab + ac + ad
a(b + c + d + e) = ab + ac + ad + ae
and so on.
All the usual rules for dealing with signed terms hold. For example,
-a(2b + c + 4d + f) = -2ab - ac - 4ad - af
Remember to determine the sign (plus or minus) first,
the numerical part next,
and the variable part last.
EXAMPLE:
Simplify: a(b - c + e)
Answer: ab-ac+ae
Do NOT change the order of the letters:
write ab-ac+ae , not (say) ba-ac+ea .
Even though answers like "ba-ac+ea" are correct, they are not recognized as correct by this program.