​Constants and Variable Terms

​Constant - a constant is a number on its own

​​Example: in

"x + 5 = 9"

5 and 9 are constants.

​

​Variable Term - a number and a variable side by side

​Example in

​4x + 7 = 5x - 35

​4x and 5x are variable terms

Coefficient

​The number in front of the variable is called the coefficient

​

​For example:

​In 4x the coefficient is 4

​in -6x the coefficient is -6

​Like Terms

​- Are terms that have the same variables and powers. The coefficients do not need to match.

​

​-7x and 2x are like terms because they are both "x".

​

-3x² and −2x² are like terms because they are both "x²".

​

But 7x and 7x² are NOT like terms (the exponents are different), they are unlike terms.

​

​Rules to Solving Linear Equations

​1. Remove any Parenthesis by doing the distributive property.

​

​2. Put boxes around variable terms and circles around constants.

​

​3. Combine all like terms (circles with circles, boxes with boxes), left side first then right side.

​

​4. Determine how many solutions the equation have by comparing like terms and constants to each other on the left and right side of the equal sign.