John H. answered • 12/20/18
MBA Graduate, Available for Accounting and Other Business Tutoring
The most direct way that I would solve this:
2 * (4 + 24x) = 8 + 24x
To arrive here, we simply have to understand our factors. Given both were even numbers, I know that they are both going to be divisible by 2. Setting up the formula was as easy as
Placing the 2 on the outside of the parenthesis and understanding that 8 ÷ 2 = 4 and 24 ÷ 2 = 12
Thus: 2 * (4+ 24x) is my expression.
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Further Expansion:
The distributive property teaches us how to properly multiply in examples like the answer I have given.
In my example : 2 * (4 + 12x) = 8 + 24x
We would take the 2 that is on the outside of the equation in the parenthesis and multiply it first with the 4, and then with the 12x. This results in 8 + 24x.
A simplified version would be to just remove the x.
When we do that we see that 8 + 24 is equal to 32.
What it also demonstrates is that:
2 * (4 + 12) is the same as saying 8 + 24, both equal 32.
