Supporting a Response Ranger says the expression is not in its simplest form. He thinks the two terms need to

Question

Supporting a Response
Ranger says the expression is not in its simplest form. He thinks the two terms need to be combined. Is Ranger right that 8x − 20 can be simplified further? Provide support for your response.

GPT-5 mini · Answer

Ranger is incorrect that the two terms can be combined by addition — 8x and −20 are not like terms (one contains x, the other is a constant), so they cannot be added.

However, the expression can be simplified by factoring out the greatest common factor. Both terms are divisible by 4:

8x − 20 = 4(2x − 5).

You can check by distributing: 4·2x + 4·(−5) = 8x − 20. So you cannot combine the terms, but you can write the expression in the simpler factored form 4(2x − 5).

Supporting a Response
Ranger says the expression is not in its simplest form. He thinks the two terms need to be combined. Is Ranger right that 8x − 20 can be simplified further? Provide support for your response.

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Supporting a Response Ranger says the expression is not in its simplest form. He thinks the two terms need to be combined. Is Ranger right that 8x − 20 can be simplified further? Provide support for your response.

All Answers 1

Submit Your Answer

Supporting a Response
Ranger says the expression is not in its simplest form. He thinks the two terms need to be combined. Is Ranger right that 8x − 20 can be simplified further? Provide support for your response.