Algebraic expressions can be simplified by gathering like terms. Like terms are terms that feature the same variable, usually shown by a letter.
Part of MathsExpressions and equations
In algebra, letters are used to stand for values that can change (variables) or for values that aren鈥檛 known (unknowns), for example:
A term is a number or letter on its own, or numbers and letters multiplied together, for example:
An expression is a set of terms combined using the operations \(+\), \(-\), \(\times\) or \( \div\), for example:
We can often simplify algebraic expressions so that they are shorter to read and write.
For example, the expression \(b + b + b + b\) can be simplified to \(4b\).
Simplifying an expression like this is called collecting like terms.