Combining ("Gathering") Like Terms with Exponents
The terms of an expression are the parts of a mathematical expression that are separated by a plus (+) or minus (–) sign.
Each term is either a number or the product of a number (sometimes an understood ) and one or more variables.
For example,
The four terms of the above expression are , , and .
Like Terms:
Terms are like terms if their variable parts are the same.
For Example,
In the above expression , and are like terms. and are unlike terms.
Like terms can be added or subtracted using the Distributive Property . The variable part stays the same; we just add the coefficients (the numerical portion of the terms). Unlike terms cannot be added or subtracted.
Example:
Simplify
Rearrange and group like terms using the Commutative and Associative Properties.
Use the Distributive Property to combine like terms.