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Mike McGarry
Lesson by Mike McGarry
Magoosh Expert
Quiz
Algebra, Equations, and Inequalities
Summary
The essence of simplifying algebraic expressions lies in understanding and applying the fundamental principles of combining like terms and manipulating parentheses.
  • Combining like terms involves adding or subtracting coefficients of terms with the same variable part.
  • The Distributive Law allows for the simplification of expressions by grouping like terms, which must have identical variable parts or differ only in coefficients.
  • Multiplication is commutative, meaning the order of factors does not affect the product, allowing for the identification of like terms even when variables are in a different order.
  • When simplifying expressions involving parentheses, if there is an addition sign before the parentheses, they can be removed without altering the terms inside.
  • Subtracting an expression in parentheses requires changing each term inside to its opposite sign upon removal of the parentheses.
Chapters
00:02
Understanding Like Terms
00:43
The Distributive Law and Simplification
02:46
Commutativity in Multiplication
04:18
Simplifying Expressions Involving Parentheses