Question

Two students evaluate the expression 17(4 + 15).

• Student A evaluates the expression by adding the product of 17 and 4 to the product of 17 and 15.
• Student B evaluates the expression by determining the product of 17 and 19.
Is each student's evaluation correct or incorrect?
Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Both are correct

Explanation:

Student A used the distributive property to multiply 17 and 4 and 17 and 15 and find the sum, which would give you: 17 * 4 + 17 * 15 = 68 + 255 = 323

Student A did the addition inside the parentheses first and then multiplied the 17 and 19, which gives us: 17(4 + 15) = 17 * 19 = 323