whats the diffirence between 2x and x2

Question

 x=-2

Answer 1

 Is the second expression x2 or x²?

 

Because multiplication is commutative, x2 and 2x would be the same thing.

But x² means x times x.

Answer 2

Hi Brithany.

 

2x and x2 are the same.  What if you substitute 3 for x?

2 times 3 and 3 times 2 are equal.

 

However,

x² is not the same as x2.

x² means x times x.

 

Also,
X₂ is not the same as x2

X₂ (pronounced x sub 2) refers to a second unique value of x.

For example, delta x (meaning a change in x on a graph)
     is often notated as X₂ - X₁

 

Now if your question is actually asking:

     what is the "Difference of 2x and x2 where x = -2",

     then this means:  what is 2x minus x2 where x = -2.

 

We would write it this way:

difference = 2(-2) - (-2)2 = -4 - -4

     = -4 + 4 = 0

Therefore the answer is 0

 

Hope this helps.