Question

How do you combine like terms in `(6- 8m ^ { 4} + 6m ^ { 2} ) + ( 5m ^ { 2} - m + 5m )`?

Answer 1

Remove Brackets then Combine like Terms

Explanation:

First remove the parenthesis (brackets) to do this you must use distributive property

In this case we can just remove them as there is only a positive sign but if there was a negative sign we would have to multiply each term by -1

`6-8m^4+6m^2 +5m^2-m+5m`

Then combining like terms, we must follow this rule

1. To be a common term, the term must have the same variable and the same exponents

`6-8m^4+6m^2 +5m^2-m+5m`

In our equation we have these terms `m^4`, `m^2`, `m` and their corresponding coefficients

Now all we have to do is add apples to apples

`6-8m^4+11m^2-m+5m` - In this step we added `6m^2 and 5m^2`
`6-8m^4+11m^2+4m` - Then add `-4m and 5m`
`6-8m^4+11m^2+4m` There is no longer any terms to be combined therefore it is simplified.

`-8m^4+11m^2+4m+6`

It is good to order your numbers based on variables and exponents