Mathematics
Grade6
Easy
Question
Combine the like terms in 3y – y.
- 2y
- 3y
- y
- 4y
Hint:
This is an algebraic expression. An algebraic expression consists of two components: a variable and a constant. A variable is a quantity that doesn’t have any fixed value. It takes value according to the conditions. It is denoted by the alphabet. A constant is a quantity with a fixed value. In this question, we are given an expression. We have to combine the like terms and solve the equation.
The correct answer is: 2y
The given expression is 3y – y.
There is one variable in the above expression. The variable is: ‘y’. There are two terms in the above expression. We have to combine the like terms.
If we see, both the terms contain the same variable. Such terms with same variable are called “like terms.” And the terms with different variables are called “unlike terms.”
For like terms, we can perform the operations between their coefficients by keeping the variable constant. It means we can treat each term as a constant and perform operations like normal operations on constants.
For the above expression, we can perform an operation between the first term and second term, as both the terms have the same variable ‘y’. We will keep ‘y’ constant and perform operation between the coefficients.
The expression becomes
3y – y = (3 – 1)y
3y – y = 2y
Therefore, the value we get after combining the like terms is 2y
So option which is ‘2y’, is the right option.
We should be careful about the variables present in the expression. Only like terms undergo operations.
