Question

Mya applied the distributive property to write the equivalent expressions below. 45 + 72 = 9 (5 + 9) What is Mya’s error?

a.Mya did not write the common factor in the correct place.
b.Mya wrote two expressions that are not equivalent.
c.Mya did not use the correct operations in the equation.
d.Mya used a factor that is not common to 45 and 72.

Answer 1

Mya made a mistake by writing non-equivalent expressions when distributing the common factor. The correct expressions should have been 45 + 72 = 9(5 + 8), since both 45 and 72 are multiples of 9, not 9(5 + 9).

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asks about an error made by Mya applying the distributive property to the expression 45 + 72. The answer to the question of what is Mya’s error is option b: Mya wrote two expressions that are not equivalent. This is correct because the common factor of 45 and 72 is 9, but when this factor is used within the distributive property, one should express this as 9(5 + 8), since 45 = 9×5 and 72 = 9×8, not 9×9 as written by Mya.