2023-08-02 09:29 UTC
Reference in top left of screenshot. Note the use of the words "everything" and "must" - certainly no room for ambiguity there! Hence the Distributive Law, because must always be obeyed. AKA expand brackets, AKA expand and simplify.
Next, "if you want to remove the bracket" - in other words, you CAN'T remove the brackets UNTIL YOU HAVE DISTRIBUTED AND SIMPLIFIED. Mistake #1 removing the brackets before completing that.
Mistake #2 ignoring that the "multiplication" is INSIDE THE BRACKETS...
Replies (1)
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@SmartmanApps@dotnet.social 2023-08-02 09:37
This leads people to treat it as multiplication "M", but it's expanding brackets, "B", so must be done first! See meme. Lastly (for this week) note in our previous screenshot "number or a letter". By "letter" they mean pronumeral. "pro" means "substituted for" so it's literally a symbol (letter in this case) substituted for a numeral. What I'm getting at is THEY ARE THE SAME THING. Mistake #3 "that rule only applies to letters". No, it applies to letters AND numbers. Continued next week...