Not even gonna try answering this question cause it looks to complicated

James adds two numbers a + b. sally adds the same two numbers but reverse the order b + a what property of addition assures us that james and sally will get the same sum

Which of the following is the best first step in solving the equation below? 4+2㏒³x=17

George writes the mixed number as sum and uses the distributive property 1/2.-2/5=1/2-2+2/5=1/2