QuestionCombine the like terms. (Simplify your answer completely.)
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STEP 1
What is this asking?
We're asked to simplify an expression by combining similar terms involving , , and .
Watch out!
Don't accidentally combine terms that aren't alike, like and !
They're like apples and oranges!
STEP 2
1. Group Like Terms
2. Combine Coefficients
STEP 3
Let's **rearrange** the expression to put similar terms together.
This makes it way easier to see what we're combining!
Think of it like organizing your sock drawer – all the socks together, the socks together, and the socks together!
STEP 4
Notice how we've grouped the terms, the term (all alone, but that's okay!), and the terms.
This sets us up perfectly for the next step!
STEP 5
Now, let's **combine** those like terms!
For the terms, we have and , which is like having **13** apples and **1** more apple.
That gives us **14** apples, or in our case, .
STEP 6
The term is all by itself, so there's nothing to combine it with.
It's like that unique, single sock that doesn't have a match – still important!
So we have .
STEP 7
Finally, let's tackle the terms.
We have and .
This is like having **5** bananas and taking away **3** bananas, leaving us with **2** bananas, or .
STEP 8
Putting it all together, we get:
STEP 9
Our simplified expression is !
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