Question

Use the distributive property to simplify the expression below: -2x-12/-2

Answer 1

hmm..I'm sure there is a way to do this distributively but for me..

\[\frac{-2x -12}{-2}\]

all terms are divisible by 2 so it's easier to divide numerator by the denominator which becomes:

x + 6

Answer 2

actually maybe that is distributing, because you are distributing the denominator to both terms in the numerator..so :/

Answer 3

so the first number i divide into the rest of the numbers? all the time?

Answer 4

well they might not give you cases where the numbers easily divide into each other, but in this case all the terms: -2x, -12 and -2 they are all able to be divided by 2 (which is called the greatest common divisor) -- you can find the greatest common divider by factoring each of the numbers e.g 2 = (2 and 1, right?, the only numbers that can go into 2) and you see which is the greatest number of all three that can divide into them. Not the first or last number, just a common number. Does that make sense?

Answer 5

@carachronic12345678 does it make sense? < Medal me? :)