How do you simplify #(7 - b ) + ( 3b + 2)#?

1 Answer
Andy Y.
Feb 1, 2017

#2b+9#

Explanation:

#(7-b)+(3b+2)#

We can solve this pretty quickly using the order of operations:

P: Parentheses
E: Exponents
M: Multiplication
D: Division
A: Addition
S: Subtraction

P: Parentheses. There is nothing to simplify inside the parentheses, so we can get rid of them

#=7-b+3b+2#

There are no exponents, multiplication, or division so we can skip those.

Addition/Subtraction will occur if we simply add or subtract like terms. First, it may be helpful to combine like terms so that they are next to each other:

#=7+2+3b-b#

#=9+2b# or #2b+9#

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