Question

How do you combine like terms in `(2b + 5) + ( 3b + 9)`?

Answer 1

`5b+14`

Explanation:

In this problem, the parenthesis are unnecessary, because we're not multiplying.

Our like terms are going to be those with variables, and the constants, respectively.

We can add the `2b` and `3b` to get `color(blue)(5b)`, because they both have the same variable.

We can add `5` and `9` because they both have no variable. We get `color(blue)(14)`.

We get `5b+14`. This cannot be simplified further because one term has a variable, and the other one doesn't.