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hi my school is asking me to do a summer math packet and I don't understand two of the questions. the questions are...


Combine like terms.

  1. 5c - 8c 2. 19+ b + 15 - 3b2 + 10b - 17b2

(the 2s in the second problem are exponents)

please help

Verified Answer :

  1. Factor out a c to get c(5-8), then simplify: c(-3) -3c

    2.  Combine the integers, multiples of b, and multiples of b^2 similarly to the last example to get -20b^2+11b+34.
AL2006

Like terms ...
-- the x's
-- the c's
-- the cows
-- the b's
-- the b² 's
-- the plain numbers without letters

In #1: 
There are 5 c's minus 8 c's.
It might be easier to understand if each 'c' means a cow.
Then the question is "5 cows minus 8 cows".  That's (negative 3 cows).
5c - 8c = negative 3c

In #2:
-- Add up the b's .
-- Add up the b² 's .
-- Add up the plain numbers that don't have letters.
-- Then write the list of how many of each one there are.
   It'll look like the question in #2, but it'll only have 3 terms.

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