Question

12a + (-3b)-5a + 9bHow can I write an equivalent expression by combining like terms

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation: For the following expression

`12a+(-3b)-5a+9b`

We can see there are different terms. There are terms with an "a" and others with a "b", so the first step is to rearrange our expression to make equal terms near each other as follows

`\begin{gathered} 12a+(-3b)-5a+9b \\ 12a-5a+(-3b)+9b \end{gathered}`

Now we can see above there is "12a - 5a" on the left and "+(-3b) + 9b" on the right we do that because they are like terms.

Also, we know that "+(-3b) means -3b once when we have a positive sign outside and a negative sign inside it is equal to just one negative sign" so we can simplify to

`\begin{gathered} 12a-5a+(-3b)+9b \\ 12a-5a-3b+9b \end{gathered}`

Now we can operate like terms as follows

Final answer: So the final answer is

`7a+6b_{}`

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