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It is useful to note that multiplication is short hand for addition. When working with variables, it is important to
understand the notation. Exponents can be used as short hand for multiplication.
When working with variables, the exponent indicates
how many times the variable was multiplied to itself. |
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When adding expressions that contain variables, the variable "part"
must be the same and you keep it the same. 3xy + 5x = 3xy + 5x since the variable part is NOT the same, you can NOT add!
When multiplying variable expressions, just count the number of variables
and write it as an exponent. (5x2)(9x2) = 45x4 multiply
coefficients and count two x's and two more x's (3xy)(5x) = 15x2y multiply the coefficients and just count the number of variables |
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