Question

Brady said that the expression 2.6 - (1.3 - 4.5) is equivalent to 1.3 - 4.5. Work out the problem and explain in writing Brady’s error.

Answer 1

Brady did not distribute the -1 correctly.

Explanation:

The given expresion is

`2.6 - (1.3 - 4.5)`

Recall that for all real numbers a, b, and c, the distributive property says that:

`a(b + c) = ab + ac`

We apply this property to get:

`2.6 - (1 .3 - 4.5) = 2.6 - 1.3 + 4.5`

`2.6 - (1 .3 - 4.5) = 1.3 + 4.5`

But Brady said it is equivalent to 1.3-4.5

Hence Brady did not apply the distributive property correctly.