Final answer:
The algebraic expression to model the situation where you start with 16 tomatoes and each day 5 more tomatoes are produced is 16 + 5x. This expression is already simplified and checks out when reasonable values are substituted for x.
Step-by-step explanation:
To model the situation where you have 16 tomatoes and your tomato plants produce 5 more each day, you can write an algebraic expression. The expression would need to start with your initial amount of tomatoes, which is 16, and then add to this the number that you gain each day, which is 5 times the number of days.
Let x represent the number of days. Since you get 5 tomatoes per day, the total number of tomatoes you would have after x days is:
16 + 5x
This expression starts with your initial 16 tomatoes and adds 5 for each day that passes. The variables and constants are already simplified, as there are no like terms to combine and no further simplification to do.
It's always a good practice to check if this expression is reasonable by substituting a value for x and ensuring the result makes sense. If x is 0 (the first day), you should have 16 tomatoes, which makes sense. If x is 1 (after one day), you should have 16 + 5(1) = 21 tomatoes, which also makes sense.