How to Write an Expression With a Distributive Property
The distributive property is a mathematical concept that illustrates how a number that is outside of a set of parentheses can be multiplied by each term inside the parentheses. Knowing how to write an expression with the distributive property is important because it will help you to better understand and apply the components of the distributive property. It will also improve your understanding of the order of operations for math word problems and equations.
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Instructions
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Write an equation with two or more terms with different variables. For example, you may choose to write the expression of 4x + 6z - 7. It is important to write terms that are not alike and cannot be combined or simplified further.
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Put the expression inside parentheses and place a number outside of the parentheses. For example, you may choose to write 2(4x + 6z - 7).
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Use the distributive property to solve the problem. The distributive property indicates that you have to multiply each term by the number outside the parentheses. For example, each term in 2(2x + 6z - 7) is multiplied by 2. The final expression is 2 * 2x + 2 * 6z - (2 * 7), or 4x + 12z - 14.
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References
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