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How can you tell when to multiply and make boxes vs to simply combine like terms?

User Reducer
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1 Answer

2 votes

You can multiply ANYTHING. Just make sure that when you multiply, you change the exponents properly. Combining like terms is basically like normal addition. For example, you cannot add 6x +3y because they have different variables. If it was 3x+6x, then you can add it because they are like terms.

Hope this helps! Comment if you have any questions!

User ShZ
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