Question

What is the definition of like terms in math?

Answer 1

In mathematics, like terms refer to terms that have the same variable(s) raised to the same power or exponent. In other words, the variable part of the terms should be identical. Additionally, the coefficient (numeric factor) does not need to be the same. For example, 3x and -4x are like terms because they both have the variable x raised to the power of 1. However, 3x^2 and 3x are not like terms because the powers of x are different.