Chat with our AI personalities
The distributive property is a property for multiplying with parentheses. It states that a(b+c)=ab+ac. The means that 3(x+2)=3x+6, for example. Basically, the distributive property says you must multiply everything within the parentheses by the number outside the parentheses.
The distributive property.
When using the distributive property to write an expression, you do not simplify within the parentheses before applying the property. The distributive property involves multiplying the term outside the parentheses by each term inside the parentheses. Once you have distributed the term, you can then simplify the resulting expression by combining like terms. Simplifying before distributing would result in an incorrect application of the distributive property.
Distributive Property
In the distributive property, 86 can be used as a constant multiplier to distribute across a sum or difference of two or more terms. For example, if you have the expression 86(x + y), you would distribute the 86 across both the x and y terms within the parentheses to get 86x + 86y. This demonstrates how the distributive property allows you to simplify expressions by distributing a constant across terms within parentheses.