Solving Equations | Study Guide | Word Problems | Pre-Algebra

Apply the properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions. For example, apply the distributive property to the expression 3 (2 + 𝘹) to produce the equivalent expression 6 + 3𝘹; apply the distributive property to the expression 24𝘹 + 18𝘺 to produce the equivalent expression 6 (4𝘹 + 3𝘺); apply properties of operations to 𝘺 + 𝘺 + 𝘺 to produce the equivalent expression 3𝘺.

Identify when two expressions are equivalent (i.e., when the two expressions name the same number regardless of which value is substituted into them). For example, the expressions 𝘺 + 𝘺 + 𝘺 and 3𝘺 are equivalent because they name the same number regardless of which number 𝘺 stands for.

Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set.