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33 votes
33 votes
19a + 44 - 19a
Need help with this was not paying attention in class

User Hunkpapa
by
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2 Answers

19 votes
19 votes

Answer:

44

Explanation:

Hahaha, fair enough.

This one may look more difficult than it is. In algebra, there are variables and there are constants.

A constant is a number that is constantly the same, in the example you posted, 44 is the constant.

A variable is like a place holder, it indicates that there is a number that will be substituted in, we just don't know what that number is yet. In your example, the variable is represented by the letter "a."

If youre still a little unsure what a variable is, think of it like this:

Every morning, you like to have one, single cup of coffee, but some days you feel like putting 1 spoon of sugar in, some mornings you want no sugar, and some mornings you really want something sweet and so you have 3 spoons of sugar.

In algebra, your morning cup of coffee is represented 1 + s. 1 is the number of cups of coffee you have and "s" represents how much sugar you put in it. "s" can equal 1, 3, or even 0 spoons of sugar. "s" will represent the number of spoons of sugar consistantly, BUT, keep in mind that while the value of a variable is the same within that one term or equation it can represent a different value in another term or equation.

1 + s on Monday could equal 4 because you really want some sugar at the beginning of your week so you put 3 sugars in. 1 + 3 = 4. But on Thursday, you don't want any sugar, so 1 + 0 = 1. Monday and Thursday are different terms/equations.

SO, because a variable always has the same value within a term/equation, in your example 19a + 44 - 19a, "a" will always have the same value. if a = 1 then your example is 19(1) + 44 - 19(1). If the value of "a" is 1,000,000, then your example looks like 19(1,000,000) + 44 - 19(1,000,000).

We can rewrite your question a little to make it clearer. 19a - 19a + 44, we just swapped the positions of 44 and -19a. So you can see, that no matter what value "a" represents, they will cancel each other out. leaving you with 44 as your answer.

User Wraf
by
3.1k points
12 votes
12 votes

19a + 44 - 19a

Group like terms.


19a - 19a + 44

Add similar elements.


19a - 19a = 0


=44

User Gyohza
by
2.8k points