Like Terms
“Like terms” refer to terms in algebraic expressions that have the same variables and corresponding exponents, meaning they are identical in terms of the variable parts
“Like terms” refer to terms in algebraic expressions that have the same variables and corresponding exponents, meaning they are identical in terms of the variable parts. In simpler terms, like terms are expressions that can be combined and simplified together.
For example, in the expression 2x + 3y – 4x + 5y, the terms 2x and -4x are like terms because they both have the variable x raised to the power of 1. Similarly, the terms 3y and 5y are like terms because they both have the variable y raised to the power of 1. However, the terms 2x and 3y, as well as -4x and 5y, are not like terms because they have different variables or exponents.
In algebraic operations, we can only combine or add/subtract like terms. By combining like terms, we simplify an expression and make it easier to work with or solve. Going back to our example, we can combine the like terms to obtain: (2x – 4x) + (3y + 5y) = -2x + 8y.
One important note is that the coefficients (the numbers in front of the variable) can be different in like terms. For instance, in the expression 2x + 3xy, the terms 2x and 3xy are like terms because they have the same variable x raised to the power of 1. The terms are different only in the coefficient and the presence of an additional variable, y.
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