Question

Find a sum of -3x and 8x

Answer 1

Answer: 5x

Explanation:

If -3x is a negative and 8x is a positive, its the same as subtracting 3x from 8x, which equals 5x.

Answer 2

`5x`

Explanation:

Using the distributive property which states that
`A(B+C) = AB + AC`, the equation
`-3x + 8x` can be rewritten as
`x(-3+8)`. From here, we can evaluate the expression inside of the parentheses:
`-3 + 8 = 5`, and then we can plug the simplified value inside of the parentheses back into the original expression:
`x(5)`. This can be rewritten as
`5x`.

This process is known as combining like terms.

Here are the above steps listed out rather than in paragraph form:

`-3x + 8x`

↓ undistribute
`x`

`x(-3 + 8)`

↓ evaluate the value inside the parentheses

`-3 + 8 = 8 - 3 = 5`

↓ plug that value back into the expression

`x(5)`

↓ rewrite with the constant before the variable

`5x`