Answer:
not equivalent; signs don't match
Explanation:
Apparently, you want to compare the expressions ...
Distributive property
The distributive property allows you to eliminate parentheses by multiplying each term inside parentheses by the factor outside.
Application
When we do that to the first expression, we get ...
-0.5(3x +5) = (-0.5)(3x) +(-0.5)(5) = -1.5x -2.5
Note that the signs of the terms inside parentheses are the same, and the signs of the terms after removing parentheses are the same. (Both terms have their signs changed by the negative factor multiplying the parentheses.)
The expanded expression -1.5x -2.5 is not equivalent to -1.5x +2.5, which has terms of different signs.