Question

ade wants to verify that the expression 5(3x – 6) is equivalent to 15x – 30. She substitutes 2 into each expression and evaluates each one. How will she know if 5(3x – 6) is equivalent to 15x – 30?

Answer 1

She will know if 5(3x - 6) is equivalent to 15x - 30 if they end up to be equal to the same number.

5(3x - 6)    Substitute 2 into x

5(3(2) - 6)

5(6 - 6) = 5(0) = 0

15x - 30

15(2) - 30

30 - 30 = 0

They both equal 0 when 2 is substituted in, so they are equivalent.

Also if you distributed 5 into (3x - 6) it would equal 15x - 30