In working with algebra problems often we come across terms that are not the same. These terms are represented by different pronumerals. When working with such problems first we need to group the like terms together.

For example in a problem such as:
2x + 3y + 15 + 5x
Terms 2x and 5x are like terms so when we solve this sum we write:
2x + 5x +3y + 15
or 7x + 3y + 15

 

Solve:

To solve the above sum first we will need to group the like terms together. In this example like terms are:

[3x² and x^2] , [4x], [7y and 2y] and [2 and 9], so when we regroup these, the expression looks like:

Remember, we usually follow alphabetic order in placing pronumerals, so x will be written before y. Numbers are written in the end. So, simplifying the above expression will give us:

Since 4x is common to the first two terms we can rewrite the expression taking 4x as a common factor:

4x(x + 1) + (9y + 11)

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Practice Questions

Solution 1

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Solution 2

 

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