52 (1-52) Chapter 1 Real Numbers and Their Properties

1.8 USING THE PROPERTIES TO

SIMPLIFY EXPRESSIONS
The properties of the real numbers can be helpful when we are doing computations.
In this In this section we will see how the properties can be applied in arithmetic and
section algebra.
● Using the Properties in
Computation Using the Properties in Computation
● Like Terms The properties of the real numbers can often be used to simplify computations. For
● Combining Like Terms example, to find the product of 26 and 200, we can write
● Products and Quotients
(26)(200)  (26)(2  100)
● Removing Parentheses
 (26  2)(100)
 52  100
 5200
It is the associative property that allows us to multiply 26 by 2 to get 52, then mul-
tiply 52 by 100 to get 5200.

E X A M P L E 1 Using the properties

Use the appropriate property to aid you in evaluating each expression.
1
a) 347  35  65 b) 3  435   c) 6  28  4  28
3
Solution
a) Notice that the sum of 35 and 65 is 100. So apply the associative property as
study tip follows:
Being a full-time student is a 347  (35  65)  347  100
full-time job. A successful stu-
dent spends from two to four  447
hours studying outside of b) Use the commutative and associative properties to rearrange this product. We
class for every hour spent in
can then do the multiplication quickly:
the classroom. It is rare to find

 
a person who can handle two 1 1
3  435    435 3   Commutative and associative properties
full-time jobs and it is just as 3 3
rare to find a successful full-
time student who also works
 435  1 Inverse property
full time.  435 Identity property

c) Use the distributive property to rewrite this expression.

6  28  4  28  (6  4)28
 10  28
 280 ■

Like Terms
An expression containing a number or the product of a number and one or more
variables raised to powers is called a term. For example,
3, 5x, 3x 2y, a, and abc
 1.8 Using the Properties to Simplify Expressions (1-53) 53

are terms. The number preceding the variables in a term is called the coefficient. In
the term 5x, the coefficient of x is 5. In the term 3x 2 y the coefficient of x 2y is 3.
In the term a, the coefficient of a is 1 because a  1  a. In the term abc the coef-
ficient of abc is 1 because abc  1  abc. If two terms contain the same vari-
ables with the same exponents, they are called like terms. For example, 3x 2 and
5x 2 are like terms, but 3x 2 and 5x 3 are not like terms.

Combining Like Terms

Using the distributive property on an expression involving the sum of like terms
allows us to combine the like terms as shown in the next example.

E X A M P L E 2 Combining like terms

Use the distributive property to perform the indicated operations.
a) 3x  5x b) 5xy  (4xy)
Solution
a) 3x  5x  (3  5)x Distributive property
 8x Add the coefficients.

Because the distributive property is valid for any real numbers, we have
3x  5x  8x no matter what number is used for x.
b) 5xy  (4xy)  [5  (4)]xy Distributive property
 1xy 5  (4)  5  4  1
 xy Multiplying by 1 is the same as
taking the opposite. ■

Of course, we do not want to write out all of the steps shown in Example 2 every
time we combine like terms. We can combine like terms as easily as we can add or
subtract their coefficients.

E X A M P L E 3 Combining like terms

Perform the indicated operations.
a) w  2w b) 3a  (7a) c) 9x  5x
d) 7xy  (12xy) e) 2x 2  4x 2
Solution
a) w  2w  1w  2w  3w b) 3a  (7a)  10a
c) 9x  5x  4x d) 7xy  (12xy)  19xy
e) 2x 2  4x 2  6x 2 ■

CAUTION There are no like terms in expressions such as

2  5x, 3xy  5y, 3w  5a, and 3z 2  5z
The terms in these expressions cannot be combined.

Products and Quotients

In the next example we use the associative property of multiplication to simplify the
product of two expressions.
54 (1-54) Chapter 1 Real Numbers and Their Properties

E X A M P L E 4 Finding products
Simplify.


x
a) 3(5x) b) 2  c) (4x)(6x) d) (2a)(4b)
2
Solution
a) 3(5x)  (3  5)x Associative property
study tip
 (15)x Multiply
Note how the exercises are  15x Remove unnecessary parentheses.
keyed to the examples. This

  
x 1
serves two purposes. If you b) 2   2   x 1
Multiplying by  is the same as dividing by 2.
2 2 2
have missed class and are

 
studying on your own, you 1
should study an example and  2   x Associative property
2
then immediately try to work
1x Multiplicative inverse
the corresponding exercises. If
you have seen an explanation x Multiplicative identity is 1.
in class, then you can start the c) (4x)(6x)  4  6  x  x Commutative and associative properties
exercises and refer back to the
examples as necessary.
 24x 2
Definition of exponent
d) (2a)(4b)  2  4  a  b  8ab ■

CAUTION Be careful with expressions such as 3(5x) and 3(5  x). In

3(5x) we multiply 5 by 3 to get 3(5x)  15x. In 3(5  x), both 5 and x are multi-
plied by the 3 to get 3(5  x)  15  3x.
In Example 4 we showed how the properties are used to simplify products.
However, in practice we usually do not write out any steps for these problems—we
can write just the answer.

E X A M P L E 5 Finding products quickly

Find each product.


b x
a) (3)(4x) b) (4a)(7a) c) (3a)  d) 6  
3 2
Solution
a) 12x b) 28a2 c) ab d) 3x ■
In Section 1.1 we found the quotient of two numbers by inverting the divisor
and then multiplying. Since a  b  a  1, any quotient can be written as a product.
b

E X A M P L E 6 Simplifying quotients
Simplify.
10x 4x  8
a)  b) 
5 2
Solution
a) Since dividing by 5 is equivalent to multiplying by 1, we have
5

 
10x 1 1
   (10x)    10 x  (2)x  2x.
5 5 5
Note that you can simply divide 10 by 5 to get 2.
 1.8 Using the Properties to Simplify Expressions (1-55) 55

b) Since dividing by 2 is equivalent to multiplying by 1, we have

2
4x  8 1
   (4x  8)  2x  4.
2 2
Note that both 4 and 8 are divided by 2. ■

CAUTION It is not correct to divide only one term in the numerator by the
denominator. For example,
47
27
2
because 47  11 and 2  7  9.
2 2

Removing Parentheses
Multiplying a number by 1 merely changes the sign of the number. For example,
calculator
(1)(7)  7 and (1)(8)  8.
So 1 times a number is the opposite of the number. Using variables, we write
close-up (1)x  x or 1( y  5)  ( y  5).
A negative sign in front of When a minus sign appears in front of a sum, we can change the minus sign to 1
parentheses changes the sign
and use the distributive property. For example,
of every term inside the
parentheses. (w  4)  1(w  4)
 (1)w  (1)4 Distributive property
 w  (4) Note: 1  w  w, 1  4  4
 w  4
Note how the minus sign in front of the parentheses caused all of the signs to
change: (w  4)  w  4. As another example, consider the following:

(x  3)  1(x  3)
 (1)x  (1)3
 x  3
CAUTION When removing parentheses preceded by a minus sign, you
must change the sign of every term within the parentheses.

E X A M P L E 7 Removing parentheses
Simplify each expression.
a) 5  (x  3) b) 3x  6  (2x  4) c) 6x  (x  2)
Solution
helpful hint a) 5  (x  3)  5  x  3 Change the sign of each term in parentheses.
The operations that you are
 5  3  x Commutative property
learning in this section will be 2x Combine like terms.
used throughout this text. So b) 3x  6  (2x  4)  3x  6  2x  4 Remove parentheses.
pay attention to these details
now and it will pay off later.  3x  2x  6  4 Commutative property
x2 Combine like terms.
56 (1-56) Chapter 1 Real Numbers and Their Properties

c) 6x  (x  2)  6x  x  2 Remove parentheses.

 5x  2 Combine like terms. ■

The commutative and associative properties of addition allow us to rearrange

the terms so that we may combine the like terms. However, it is not necessary to ac-
tually write down the rearrangement. We can identify the like terms and combine
them without rearranging.

E X A M P L E 8 Simplifying algebraic expressions

Simplify.
a) (2x  3)  (5x  7) b) 3x  6x  5(4  2x)
c) 2x(3x  7)  (x  6) d) x  0.02(x  500)
Solution
a) (2x  3)  (5x  7)  3x  4 Combine like terms.
b) 3x  6x  5(4  2x)  3x  6x  20  10x Distributive property
 7x  20 Combine like terms.
c) 2x(3x  7)  (x  6)  6x  14x  x  6
2
Distributive property
 6x  13x  6
2
Combine like terms.
d) x  0.02(x  500)  1x  0.02x  10 Distributive property
 0.98x  10 Combine like terms. ■

WARM-UPS
True or false? Explain your answer.
A statement involving variables should be marked true only if it is true for all
values of the variable.
1. 3(x  6)  3x  18 True 2. 3x  9  3(x  9) False
3. 1(x  4)  x  4 True 4. 3a  4a  7a True
5. (3a)(4a)  12a False 6. 3(5  2)  15  6 False
7. x  x  x2 False 8. x  x  2x False
9. 3  2x  5x False 10. (5x  2)  5x  2 True

1. 8 EXERCISES
Reading and Writing After reading this section write out the 4. What operations can you perform with unlike terms?
answers to these questions. Use complete sentences. Unlike terms can be multiplied and divided.
1. What are like terms? 5. What is the difference between a positive sign preceding a
Like terms are terms with the same variables and set of parentheses and a negative sign preceding a set of
exponents. parentheses?
2. What is the coefficient of a term? If a negative sign precedes a set of parentheses, then signs
The coefficient of a term is the number preceding the for all terms in the parentheses are changed when the paren-
variable. theses are removed.
3. What can you do to like terms that you cannot do to unlike 6. What happens when a number is multiplied by 1?
terms? Multiplying a number by 1 changes the sign of the
We can add or subtract like terms. number.
 1.8 Using the Properties to Simplify Expressions (1-57) 57

Use the appropriate properties to evaluate the expressions. See 73. 2m  3  (m  9) m  6

Example 1. 74. 7  8t  (2t  6) 10t  1
7. 35(200) 7000 8. 15(300) 4500 75. 3  (w  2) w  5
4 76. 5x  (2x  9) 3x  9
9.  (0.75) 1 10. 5(0.2) 1
3
Simplify the following expressions by combining like terms. See
11. 256  78  22 356 12. 12  88  376 476 Example 8.
13. 35  3  35  7 14. 98  478  2  478
77. 3x  5x  6  9 8x  15
350 47,800
1 1 78. 2x  6x  7  15 8x  22
15. 18  4  2   36 16. 19  3  2   38 79. 2x  3  7x  4 5x  1
4 3
17. (120)(300) 36,000 18. 150  200 30,000 80. 3x  12  5x  9 2x  3
19. 12  375(6  6) 0 20. 3542(2  4  8) 0 81. 3a  7  (5a  6) 2a  1
21. 78  6  8  4  2 98 82. 4m  5  (m  2) 3m  3
22. 47  12  6  12  6 47 83. 2(a  4)  3(2  a) 5a  2
Combine like terms where possible. See Examples 2 and 3. 84. 2(w  6)  3(w  5) 5w  27
23. 5w  6w 11w 24. 4a  10a 14a 85. 5m  6(m  3)  2m 3m  18
25. 4x  x 3x 26. a  6a 5a 86. 3a  2(a  5)  7a 6a  10
27. 2x  (3x) 5x 28. 2b  (5b) 7b 87. 5  3(x  2)  6 3x  7
29. 3a  (2a) a 30. 10m  (6m) 4m 88. 7  2(k  3)  k  6 k  7
31. a  a 2a 32. a  a 0 89. x  0.05(x  10) 0.95x  0.5
33. 10  6t 10  6t 34. 9  4w 9  4w 90. x  0.02(x  300) 0.98x  6
35. 3x 2  5x 2 8x 2 36. 3r2  4r2 7r2 91. 4.5  3.2(x  5.3)  8.75 3.2x  12.71
37. 4x  2x 2 4x  2x 2 38. 6w2  w 6w2  w 92. 0.03(4.5x  3.9)  0.06(9.8x  45) 0.723x  2.817
39. 5mw2  12mw2 7mw2 40. 4ab2  19ab2 15ab2 Simplify each expression.
Simplify the following products or quotients. See Examples 4–6.
93. 3x  (4  x) 94. 2  8x  11x
41. 3(4h) 12h 42. 2(5h) 10h 4x  4 2  3x
43. 6b(3) 18b 44. 3m(1) 3m 95. y  5  (y  9) 96. a  (b  c  a)
45. (3m)(3m) 46. (2x)(2x) 47. (3d)(4d ) 2y  4 2a  b  c
9m2 4x 2 12d2 97. 7  (8  2y  m) 98. x  8  (3  x)
48. (5t)(2t) 49. (y)(y) 50. y(y) 2y  m  1 2x  5
10t 2 y2 y 2 1 1
99. (10  2x)  (3x  6) 3
51. 3a(5b) 52. 7w(3r) 53. 3a(2  b) 2 3
15ab 21rw 6a  3ab
1 1 3
54. 2x(3  y) 55. k(1  k) 56. t(t  1) 100. (x  20)  (x  15)  x  13
2 5 10
6x  2xy k  k 2 t 2  t
101. 0.2(x  3)  0.05(x  20) 0.15x  0.4
3y 9t 15y
57.  y 58.  t 59.  3y 102. 0.08x  0.12(x  100) 0.2x  12
3 9 5
12b y m 103. 2k  1  3(5k  6)  k  4 14k  23
60. 
2
61. 2  
2
62. 6 
3 104. 2w  3  3(w  4)  5(w  6) 15
6b y 2m 105. 3m  3[2m  3(m  5)] 45
6a  3
 
y 2a

63. 8y 
4
64. 10 
5
65. 
3
106. 6h  4[2h  3(h  9)  (h  1)] 2h  112
Solve each problem.
2y2 4a 2a  1
9x  6 10  5x 107. Married filing jointly. The expression
8x  6
66.  67.  68.  0.15(41,200)  0.28(x  41,200)
2 3 5
4x  3 3x  2 2  x gives the 1997 federal income tax for a married couple fil-
Simplify each expression. See Example 7. ing jointly with a taxable income of x dollars, where x is
over $41,200 but not over $99,600 (Internal Revenue Ser-
69. x  (3x  1) 2x  1 70. 4x  (2x  5) 2x  5
vice, www.irs.gov).
71. 5  ( y  3) 8y 72. 8  (m  6) m  14 a) Simplify the expression. 0.28x  5356
58 (1-58) Chapter 1 Real Numbers and Their Properties

b) Use the expression to find the amount of tax for a cou- 109. Perimeter of a corral. The perimeter of a rectangular cor-
ple with a taxable income of $80,000. $17,044 ral that has width x feet and length x  40 feet is 2(x) 
c) Use the graph shown here to estimate the 1997 federal 2(x  40). Simplify the expression for the perimeter. Find
income tax for a couple with a taxable income of the perimeter if x  30 feet.
$150,000. $40,000 4x  80, 200 feet
d) Use the graph to find the approximate taxable income
for a couple who paid $70,000 in federal income tax.
$235,000

100
(in thousands of dollars)

90
Federal income tax

80
70
60
50 x ft
40
x  40 ft
30
20
10

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 FIGURE FOR EXERCISE 109

Taxable income (thousands of dollars)
Married filing jointly

FIGURE FOR EXERCISE 107 GET TING MORE INVOLVED

110. Discussion. What is wrong with the way in which each of
108. Marriage penalty. The expression the following expressions is simplified?
0.15(24,650)  0.28(x  24,650) a) 4(2  x)  8  x 4(2  x)  8  4x
b) 4(2x)  8  4x  32x 4(2x)  (4  2)x  8x
gives the 1997 federal income tax for a single taxpayer
4x 4x 1 1
with taxable income of x dollars, where x is over $24,650 c)   2  x    (4  x)  2  x
but not over $59,750. 2 2 2 2
a) Simplify the expression. 0.28x  3204.5 d) 5 (x  3)  5  x  3  2  x
b) Find the amount of tax for a single taxpayer with tax- 5  (x  3)  5  x  3  8  x
able income of $40,000. $7995.50 111. Discussion. An instructor asked his class to evaluate the
c) Who pays more, two single taxpayers with taxable expression 12x for x  5. Some students got 0.1; others
incomes of $40,000 each or one married couple got 2.5. Which answer is correct and why?
with taxable income of $80,000 together? See Exer- If x  5, then 12  5  12  5  2.5 because we do
cise 107. Married couple pays more. division and multiplication from left to right.

COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES

Remembering the Rules Grouping: 4 students

Topic: Fractions, decimals, and signed numbers
This chapter reviews different types of numbers used in algebra.
This activity will review the rules for the basic operations: b. Starting with addition, each of you will share what he or
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division for fractions, she has written with the other members of the group.
decimals, and real numbers. Make additions or corrections if needed.
Switch operations: Each member of the group now takes
Part I: Remembering the rules. Have each member of the operation of the person to his or her right.
your group choose an operation: addition, subtraction, multipli- 2. Decimals: Repeat parts (a) and (b), in 1 above for the
cation, or division. following sample problems:
1. Fractions: 0.012  3, 2.1  0.25, 3.2  0.23, 5.4  1.2
a. Write the rules for working a fraction problem using the Switch operations: Each member of the group now takes
operation you have chosen. Use your book as a reference the operation of the person to his or her right.
and consider the following sample problems: 3. Signed numbers: Repeat parts (a) and (b), in 1 above for
1 2 1 6 3 1 1 2 the following sample problems:
  ,   ,   , 
2 5 3 7 5 3 3 3 3  5, 3  (2), 2  3, 6  2