Which expression is equivalent to 60-3h-9?
The correct answer and explanation is:
To simplify the expression 60 – 3h – 9, you combine like terms.
Here, the constants 60 and -9 are like terms because both are numbers without variables. You can add or subtract these numbers:
60 – 9 = 51.
Now, the expression becomes:
51 – 3h.
At this point, there are no other like terms to combine, and the expression is already simplified. Therefore, the simplified expression is:
51 – 3h.
Explanation:
In algebra, like terms are terms that have the same variable raised to the same power. In this case, 60 and -9 are constants (numbers without variables), so they are considered like terms. The variable term -3h is separate because it involves a variable, h, which is not a constant.
By combining 60 and -9, you are left with 51. The -3h stays as it is because it doesn’t have another term to combine with. So, the final simplified expression is 51 – 3h.
When simplifying algebraic expressions, it’s important to look for and combine like terms. If the expression contained more variable terms, or if there were additional constants, you would continue this process to reduce the expression as much as possible.