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To solve this problem, we need to simplify the algebraic expression by performing the multiplications and then combining like terms.
Given expression:
Step 1: Simplify each term by performing the multiplications
Step 2: Rewrite the expression with simplified terms
which becomes:
Step 3: Identify and combine like terms
Like terms are terms that have the same variable parts raised to the same powers.
Step 4: Write the final simplified expression
After combining like terms, we get:
Therefore, the simplified expression is , which corresponds to choice 4.
Are the expressions the same or not?
\( 20x \)
\( 2\times10x \)
The terms and look similar but have different coefficients - one has just numbers, the other has the variable 'a'. Since we don't know the value of 'a', these terms remain separate.
Multiply the numbers first, then multiply the variables. For example: .
In this specific problem, when we have , these terms cancel out under certain conditions (when a = 9), leaving only .
The original expression shows , which equals . The negative sign stays with the result, making it subtraction in the final answer.
Like terms have exactly the same variables with the same exponents. terms go together, terms go together, but terms with different coefficients may not always combine.
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