Question

-9(t-3)-(t+5)=8

Answer 1

Do the distributive property.
-9 * t = ?
-9 * - 3 = ?

Answer 2

Are you there? @ladyelf

Answer 3

Yeah. This stuff so confuses me

Answer 4

Do you know what -9 * -3 give you?

Answer 5

-27

Answer 6

Hmm. Not quite. When you are multiplying a negative number by a negative number, then it would become positive.
So -9 * -3 = 27.
Keep that in mind. ;)

So, do you know what -9 * t = ?

Answer 7

oh wait two neg make a pos

Answer 8

Now see that is what confuses me when they had letters to it

Answer 9

Alright. So t, is a variabe. We don't know what t is. So we keep it as a coefficient.
Coefficient - A number used to multiply a variable
So, -9 * t = -9t.
If you want to learn a little more about coefficient:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/coefficient.html

What about the other side?
-(t+5)
You want to distribute. But what can we distribute? Well, there's always an invisible 1n ext to the negative sign.
So it looks like: - 1(t+5)
Now distribute. :)

-1 * t = ?
-1 * 5 = ?

Answer 10

-1t and 4

Answer 11

-1 * t does equal to -1t.
But a negative number multiply by a positive number would give us a negative number. :)
So what do you think -1 * 5 give us?

Answer 12

-4

Answer 13

-5

Answer 14

sorry I was subtracting now multiplying

Answer 15

\[\large \large -9t+27 -t -5 = 8\] Now we want to combine like terms. Which terms can we combine?

Answer 16

Now this part I have never understood. I do not see anything alike

Answer 17

Alright. Like terms are terms whose variables (and their exponents such as the 2 in x^2) are the same.
Make sense a little?
So can we combine -9t and - t?

Answer 18

my guess would be -9t and 27 because 3 divides into both

Answer 19

We can not divide 3 to -9t and 27 because they're both in one side of the equation. :)

Answer 20

Back to my question: So can we combine -9t and - t?

Answer 21

I really do not see it. Sorry

Answer 22

Well, like I said, like terms are terms whose variables (and their exponents such as the 2 in x^2) are the same.

If you raed it carefully, "like terms are terms whose varaibles are the same".
They both have the same variable, t. So we can combine them. :)

What does, -9t + (-t) give us?

Answer 23

9t

Answer 24

I forgot to tell you, -t can be written as -1t.
So -9 + (-1t) = ?
Also, that's a negative 9. :)

Answer 25

10

Answer 26

Hmm. Ignore the variable for now.
-9 - 1 = ?

Answer 27

8

Answer 28

or is it 8t

Answer 29

Not quite.