Year 8 Interactive Maths - Second Edition

Further Like Terms

Recall that:

Like terms are those terms that contain the same pronumeral or pronumerals.

For example, 8x and 10x are like terms because they contain the same pronumeral in x.   Likewise, 8xy and 10xy are like terms because they contain the same pronumerals in xy.

Clearly, 8xz and 10yz are not like terms because although both terms contain the pronumeral z, the other pronumeral in each term is different.  Terms with different pronumerals are called unlike terms.

Further Addition (or Subtraction) of Like Terms

Recall that:

Algebraic expressions containing like terms may be simplified by adding (or subtracting) the like terms.

Note that the expression 3x + 2xy + 5xyz can not be simplified because it consists of three unlike terms.

Example 8

Solution:

Example 9

Solution:

Example 10

Solution: