That long, messy expression is not an equation and it's not a question, so there's nothing to solve or answer. However, it IS long and messy, so your homework assignment might be to 'simplify' it. Here's how:
<span>12ax - 2ax + 14x - 2a + -3x
Everything we'll do to this is called "combine like terms". That means "combine terms that are alike". Terms are alike when they have the same letter variables.
12ax and -2ax are like terms. Combine them, and you get 10ax .
14x and -3x are like terms. Combine them, and you get 11x .
So now we have: 10ax + 11x + 2a .
Nothing has been changed. This shorter, simpler expression has exactly the same value as the original long messy one has. It has just been cleaned up, and it looks neater and simpler.
You might also be expected to 'factor' the expression. I don't know. If you want to do that, then you could do it in 2 different ways . . . either factor the 'x' from the two terms that have 'x' in them, or else factor the 'a' from the two terms that have 'a' in them. Without explanation, here's how those would look:
x(10a + 11) + 2a or a(10x + 2) + 11x .
Again, nothing has changed. Both of these have the same value, and their value is the same as the value of the long messy expression in the question.
To determine the salary of the department head, you will create any equation that represents the situation. Equation it will be in terms of S, the salary of one of the department heads.
