How do you combine like terms in -11j + 16 - 22j -27 + 5j?

1 Answer
Apr 6, 2017

Combine to get -28j-11

Explanation:

Faribault Middle SchoolFaribault Middle School

Like terms are terms that are being multiplied by the same variable that are raised to the same power.

First we'd want to sort them by variable.
Variable j-> -11j, -22j, and 5j.
No variable -> 16 and -27.

We'd then just add them based on their coefficient.
j-> -11-22+5=-28
None -> 16-27=-11

Then we'd add (technically multiply) the variable back in:
-28j and -11

Then we'd just add the two like terms to get their simplified form:
-28j-11