what is m+m+m

Question

I can't remember it and my mom says I have to figure it out myself.

Answer 1

m is a variable, which means it can be any possible number.

This means m could be a 5, or a 7, or a 15.

This means it could look like:

5 + 5 + 5, or

7 + 7 + 7, or

15 + 15 + 15

 

Let's try adding them up:

5 + 5 + 5 = 15

7 + 7 + 7 = 21
15 + 15 + 15 = 45

 

Note that you are adding each number three times. You have three 5s, three 7s, and three 15s in each of our examples. That is:

3 * 5 = 15

3 * 7 = 21

3 * 15 = 45

 

this correlates into m + m + m being the same as 3 * m, which shorthanded becomes 3m.