Mya applied the distributive property to write the equivalent expressions below.

Question

45 + 72 = 9 (5 + 9)

What is Mya’s error?
Mya did not write the common factor in the correct place.
Mya did not find the correct two factors for 72.
Mya did not find the correct two factors for 45.
Mya used a factor that is not common to 45 and 72.

Answer 1

Mya's error is that she used a factor that is not common to 45 and 72.

To explain further:

For the distributive property, we need to factor out a common factor from both numbers (in this case, 45 and 72). The common factor between 45 and 72 is 9, but when she factored out 9, she incorrectly grouped the remaining terms.

The correct way to express \(45 + 72\) using the distributive property by factoring out the common factor of 9 would be:

\[ 45 + 72 = 9(5 + 8) \]

Here, \(45\) can be expressed as \(9 \times 5\) and \(72\) as \(9 \times 8\). Thus, her error was indeed using the numbers \(5\) and \(9\) inside the parentheses instead of \(5\) and \(8\).