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IF YOU ARENT ANY OF THES PEOPLE PLZ DON'T ANSWER THIS QUESTION. Hobie, kkmmll44, Katyazamo.

Help me with this question.

and the other ones

Jakob is asked to simplify the expression –3a + 4b + 5a + (–7b).

He writes: –3a + 4b + 5a + (–7b) = –3a + 5a + 4b + (–7b).

Which property allows him to do this?
the associative property
the commutative property
the distributive property

1 Answer

5 votes

The Associative Property say that it doesn't matter how we group the numbers (i.e. which we calculate first) when we add

(a + b) + c = a + (b + c)

The Commutative Property say we can swap numbers over and still get the same answer when we add

a + b = b + a

The Distributive Property:

a(b + c) = ab + ac

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-3a + 4b + 5a + (-7b) = -3a + 5a + 4b + (-7b)

Answer: the commutative property