How to Simplify a Function in Pre-Algebra
Simplifying functions in mathematics is not only a skill that you will need for pre-Algebra, it's a skill that you will use for the rest of your mathematical career. Simplifying is used in Geometry, Algebra II and Calculus. It's fairly simple, and the main thing to remember when simplifying functions is to combine like terms.
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Instructions
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Identify all of the elements of the function that have the same variable. For example, in "2x + 7 + 3x + 1," "2x" and "3x" have the same variable because they both have "x". We can also combine "7" and "1" because they have no variables.
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Identify the coefficients of each element once they have been separated. The coefficient is simply the number in front of the variable. In the case of our previous function, the coefficient of "2x" is "2" and the coefficient of "3x" is "3."
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Add all of the coefficients that accompany the same variable. In this case, you would "2" and "3" as they accompany the variable "x." "7" and "1" were added together in an earlier step because they had no variable. This leaves us with "5x" and "8," so the function would become "5x + 8."
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Identify any variables that can be factored out or removed. For example, if you have "2xy +3x +4x^2," we can see that there is at least one "x" in every element. We can divide the function by "x" to simplify it even further. In this case, it would become "2y + 3 + 4x."
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