How do you combine like terms in #(5a + 3b ) - ( 6a + 9b )#?

1 Answer
graces
May 6, 2017

First, you have to distribute the negative sign to #(6a+9b)#

Explanation:

Then you end up with:
#(5a+3b)+(-6a-9b)#

Now you can ignore the parenthesis:
#5a+3b-6a-9b#
*remember adding a negative number is the same as subtracting

Then you can change the order:
#5a-6a +3b-9b#

Finally:
#-1a-6b#

Hope this helps :)

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