Q&A for How to Use Distributive Property to Solve an Equation

Return to Full Article

Coming soon

Add New Question

Question

How would I do -6(a+8)?

Community Answer

-6(a+8) = -6a-48, the number outside the bracket multiplies everything inside the bracket. i.e. (-6 x a) + (-6 x 8) = -6a - 48.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 8 Helpful 15
Question

Where do I put the parentheses in this equation: 6x+2-2x=4x+12?

Donagan

Top Answerer

On the left side of the equation, enclose "x+2" inside parentheses. It will look like 6(x+2)-2x=4x+12.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 5 Helpful 10
Question

How would I solve 9x15=(9x9)+(9x )=?

Community Answer

This is an effort to show you that you can rewrite a multiplication problem, using the distributive property. Instead of performing 9x15, you can break the 15 into smaller parts. In this case, someone has chosen 9 and the first part and you have to fill in the rest. Since 9+6=15, the blank space in your problem will be filled in with a 6. You will then have 9x15=(9x9)+(9x6). If you can resolve those two parentheses in your head and add them, you can do the solution. 9x9=81, and 9+6=54, so 81+54=135. Therefore the original problem 9x15=135.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 11 Helpful 14
Question

What do I do with a problem evolving two numbers being subtracted outside the parentheses like: Ten minus five Parenthesesnine n minus nine?

Community Answer

If the equation looks like this: 10-5(9n-9), then distribute the 5 to the equation inside the parenthesis it will look like this 10-45n-45. You would solve for N like a regular equation and the answer you will later get it:-35-45n.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 9 Helpful 10
Question

How do I solve 8x-3 (4-5)?

Community Answer

You may have copied this problem incorrectly. You cannot "solve" this expression, because it's not an equation. All you can do is simplify it. Perform the step inside the parentheses first. You will get 8x-3(-1). Then multiply the -3 by -1 to get +3. The simplified expression is 8x+3. Check your source to see if you miscopied the question.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 7 Helpful 9
Question

How can distributive property to help you with math?

Community Answer

Look at some of the other questions and answers here. It helps simplify complicated problems into easier ones.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 5 Helpful 4
Question

How can I change a decimal into a fraction?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Make the decimal the numerator, and use 100 as the denominator, then reduce the fraction if possible.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 5 Helpful 5
Question

How do I solve 8(22) as a distributive problem?

Community Answer

Find the "difficult" number in the problem and rewrite it as the sum of two "easy" numbers. For example, 22 can be rewritten as (20+2). Then you can write your original problem as 8(20+2). Use the distributive property to get (8)(20)+(8)(2)=160+16=176.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 7 Helpful 4
Question

If I had the expression -8a(3b), then would the answer be -24a + 3ab?

Community Answer

Since you can't multiply a's and b's together, the answer would just be -8a x 3b.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 15 Helpful 7
Question

How do I use the distribution property to find the product of 7 and 16?

Community Answer

The distributive property can help you do some mental math and perform multiplication in your head. You can rewrite 7 x 16 as 7(10+6). Then the distributive property makes this fairly easy, as it becomes 7*10=70, and 7*6=42. Just add those two parts together, 70+42=112. Therefore the answer to 7x16=112. If you practice this you can quickly do multiplications in your head.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 3 Helpful 4
Question

Use distribute property to solve the following fact 8x6?

Community Answer

For single digits, I would not use the distributive property. You should just learn that 8x6=48. Some people like to use the distributive property using 10's. Therefore, instead of multiplying by 8, you would multiply by (10-2). Therefore, 8x6 turns into (10-2)(6). You can then use the distributive property to get (10)(6)-(2)(6)=60-12=48.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do I solve the problem 4(y + 8)?

Donagan

Top Answerer

You can't "solve" this expression, because it's not an equation. But by the distributive property you can perform the implied multiplication to arrive at 4y + 32.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do I show the distributive property for 652?

Donagan

Top Answerer

652 = 6(100) + 5(10) + 2(1).

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do you use the distributive property to solve 14x6?

Community Answer

When multiplying a number in the "teens," you can break it into 10 and whatever is left. This creates two simple multiplications that you can do in your head. Thus, 14x6=(10+4)(6). Then use the distributive property to rewrite this as (10x6)+(4x6). This is (60)+(24)=84.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 0
Question

Can you show me how to do this problem: -6(b+2)+b-2(-4+6)?

Donagan

Top Answerer

The "b+2" is multiplied by the "-6" in front of it: that makes it "-6b-12." In the other parentheses, "-4+6" is the same as "+2." That's multiplied by the "-2" in front of it, making it "-4." The "+b" in the middle of the expression isn't multiplied by anything, so it remains unchanged. So you have "-6b-12+b-4," which simplifies to "-5b-16."

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 0
Question

How do I solve 2(9x-8)=8(x-7)?

Community Answer

2*9x-2*8=8*x-8*7, 18x-16=8x-56, 18x-8x=56+16, 10x=72, x=72/10, x=36/5. So, the answer is x=7-1/5.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do I use the distributive property on the expression -2(a - 5)?

Donagan

Top Answerer

-2(a - 5) = -2(a) - 2(-5) = -2a + 10 = 10 - 2a.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do I perform PEMDAS for (2x² +7) / 3 = 13?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Multiply both sides by 3: 2x² + 7 = 39. Subtract 7 from both sides: 2x² = 32. Divide both sides by 2: x² = 16. Find the square root of both sides: x = +/-4. (PEMDAS does not necessarily apply when solving an equation. It is applied mainly when simplifying expressions.)

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do I solve 59 x 6 using distributive property?

Donagan

Top Answerer

6(59) = 6(50 + 9) = 6(50) + 6(9) = 300 + 54 = 354.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How do you know if you got the answer right without going back and solving the equation again?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Take the value(s) you calculated and substitute it back into the original equation to see if it works.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

Can u combine 3x with x?

Donagan

Top Answerer

If by "combine" you mean "add," 3x + x = 3x + 1x = 4x.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How would I solve 12(7) - 5(7) using distributive property?

Tina X

Community Answer

You would take the 7 out. Then it will turn into 7(12-5), which equals to 7x7 = 49.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

What is 14x + 14y using the distributive property?

Rainy

Top Answerer

You can't use the distributive property for this problem. It is also impossible to simplify without knowing the value of the variables.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

How would I solve 2(x⁵+3x²+8x+7)?

I_l1ke_gam3s

Community Answer

You cannot "solve" this because it's not an equation, but you can perform the multiplication: 2x^5 + 6x² + 16x + 14.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0
Question

Given this expression: 60÷5(2+4), do I first perform 60÷5, then apply that result of 12 to the terms inside the parentheses? As in 12(2+4) = 24+48 =72. Or distribute the 5 first, 60÷(10+20)=2?

Community Answer

Do what is inside the parentheses first: 2 + 4 = 6. Next multiply and divide: 60 / [(5)(6)] = 60/30 = 2.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0