Posted by Joel on November 13, 2002 at 09:52:56:
In Reply to: Simple algebra for a dummy posted by Sam on November 13, 2002 at 09:00:05:
: In working with Algebra I am doing expression simplfication
: In doing the following I am getting a little confused
: 6a-3b-2a-6b=4a-9b
: =-5
: 6a(minus)2a I understand because I see the (-) minus sign
: Now how do I know
: 3b is supposed to plus(+) 6b???
: I dont see a plus sign anywhere
: That is ofcourse without figuring lt out from the outcome
: Thanks in advanced
-3b-6b = -9b
or, looking at it another way:
-3b = -(3b) = -(+3b)
[here the "+" and "-" signs don't indicate an operation; they just indicate a positive or negative value. I'll indicate OPERATIONS by spelling out PLUS or MINUS]
so,
-3b MINUS 6b = (-3b) PLUS (-6b) = (-(+3b)) PLUS (-(+6b) =
-((+3b) PLUS (+6b)) = -((+9b)) = -9b
Does that help? (I hope I didn't confuse you even more.)