Mrs. Agriesti's Algebra I Notes
2.6 The Distributive Property
Objective:
To use the distributive property.Vocabulary:
- Distribute - to give something to each member of a group.
- Term - the parts of an expression that are separated by + and − signs. The terms of
, are 3x and 4.
- Coefficient - the number part of a term. For 3x the coefficient is 3.
- Like Terms - terms in which the variable parts are the same. For
- Combine Like Terms - to add or subtract the coefficients of like terms.
Notes:
The Distributive Property
- The product of a and (b + c) is given by a(b + c) = ab + ac or (b + c)a = ab + ca.
- The product of a and (b − c) is given by a(b − c) = ab − ac or (b − c)a = ab − ac.
- Hint: Carry out the multiplication in this order:
- signs
- coefficients
- variables
Examples:
