What is 2(x+4)

Question

My question must be using the distributive property and must be simplified if possible

 

Answer 1

To Distribute is to multiply the outside factor (2) by all the members of the polynomial inside the parentheses. 

 

If we made x equal 6, and this said 2(6+4), what would you do? If you followed PEMDAS, you could add 6+4 to get 10 and then multiply by 2 to get 20. Or you could multiply 2 x 6 and add it to 2 x 4. Then add together the result of those two multiplications: 12 + 8 gives us the same result of 20.

 

So let's use the same process; multiply the 2 by the x and then by the 8 and add them together: 

 

2*x = 2x 

2*4 = 8 

 

These are unlike terms (think of them like different colors or flavors) so we cannot combine them.

 

The result is 2x + 8.