Simplifying Expressions
Learn how to simplify expressions by expanding brackets and combining like terms. Let's get started! 🚀

Video Lesson
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Flashcards
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🛎️ How to Simplify an Expression?
- Expand brackets first using the distributive law.
- Then collect like terms by adding or subtracting their coefficients.
🛎️ Collecting Like Terms
- Like terms have the same variable and the same power (e.g. 2x² and 3x²).
- To collect like terms, add or subtract the numbers, then keep the variable the same.
🛎️ Important Signs and Common Mistakes
- A minus sign before brackets changes the sign of every term inside.
- Terms with different powers (e.g. x and x²) are not like terms and cannot be combined.
Practice Questions
Test your understanding
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +10 pointsNot quite right
Combine the first 2 terms: , and then subtract : .
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +10 pointsNot quite right
To expand the brackets, use the distributive law: .
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +20 pointsNot quite right
To expand the brackets, use the distributive law: .
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +20 pointsNot quite right
Expand the brackets: . Now, combine like terms: and -6 stays the same. So, the simplified expression is .
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +20 pointsNot quite right
First, expand the brackets: . Then, collect like terms: . So, the simplified expression is .
Simplify the expression: .
Correct! 🎉 +30 pointsNot quite right
Expand both sets of brackets: and . Now combine the like terms: and . So the simplified expression is .
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Interactive Activity
Simplifying Expressions: Expand brackets and collect terms
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