You have used the distributive property to transform numerical expressions such as (5)(3) + (2)(3) to (5 + 2)(3). how would you transform 5x + 2x into a single term? substitute five different values into the expressions 5x + 2x and 7x - 1. what do you notice about the values of the expressions? is there any value that would make the two expressions equal? why or why not?

5x + 2xcombine like terms = 7x

5x + 2xsubbing in 1                               7x - 1subbing in 1
5(1) + 2(1) = 5 + 2 = 7                               7(1) - 1 = 7 - 1 = 6

5x + 2x...subbing in 2                                 7x - 1...subbing in 2
5(2) + 2(2) = 10 + 4 = 14                            7(2) - 1 = 14 - 1 = 13

5x + 2x...subbing in 3                                 7x - 1...subbing in 3
5(3) + 2(3) = 15 + 6 = 21                            7(3) - 1 = 21 - 1 = 20

5x + 2x...subbing in 4                                 7x - 1subbing in 4
5(4) + 2(4) = 20 + 8 = 28                            7(4) - 1 = 28 - 1 = 27

5x + 2x...subbing in 5                                 7x - 1...subbing in 5
5(5) + 2(5) = 25 + 10 = 35                          7(5) - 1 = 35 - 1 = 34

5x + 2x result values are 1 more then 7x - 1 result values
there are no values that will make the 2 expressions equal
because 5x + 2x = 7xand the other one is 7x - 1so the 7x - 1 values will always be 1 number less...because ur subtracting one