Question

HELP!!!
Look at the expression below.

2 + 4xy + 8x + 10 – 3x + 5y
a. Rewrite the expression so that like terms are grouped together.
b. Simplify the expression

Answer 1

Combining like terms is like picking fruit. lol... just make sure each one is the same (but the amount of them may be different!).

In this case 4xy is 4 "xy"s which is different than 8"x"s... so they cannot be added. However, the "x"s in 8x and -3x are the same... so they can be. With that in mind...

2 + 4xy + 8x + 10 - 3x + 5y
2 + 4xy + (8x - 3x) + 10 + 5y :: grouping the x's
(2 + 10) + 4xy + (8x-3x) + 5y :: group numbers without variables
12 + 4xy + 5x + 5y :: after simplification

This is as far as we can take it. Hope that helps.