Question

How do you simplify `12a - 3 + 6a`?

Answer 1

`3(6a-1)`

Explanation:

You can first collect like terms:
`12a` and `6a` are alike, with `a` behind both of them. So we can add them together:
`(12a)+(6a) = 18a`
What is left behind is a `-3`
So the full equation after collecting like terms is: `18a-3`
We can factor out a `3` from the new equation by deviding each term by `3`.
`(18a)/3-3/3`
So after factoring we get: `3(6a-1)`