Like terms have identical variable parts, including the same variables raised to the same powers, so their whole-number coefficients can be added or subtracted while the common variable part is retained; constant terms are combined with other constants. This produces an equivalent, simplified expression and relies on the distributive property, while unlike terms cannot be combined by adding their coefficients. The scope is limited to numerical whole-number coefficients and does not include more general polynomial coefficients or advanced algebraic generalizations.
Like terms have exactly the same variable parts. Their coefficients can be added or subtracted, while the variable part stays the same. Constants are like terms with no variables.
Simplify:
Step 1: Find the like terms.
Step 2: Group the like terms.
Step 3: Combine the coefficients of the variable terms.
The remains because both terms contain .
Step 4: Combine the constants.
So the simplified expression is
Terms such as and are unlike terms because one has a variable and the other does not, so they cannot be combined.
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