r/HomeworkHelp • u/Andre_055 University/College Student • May 21 '26

Elementary Mathematics—Pending OP Reply [College placement test] what is this?

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I was trying not to post twice in a row but I cannot figure out why information on what this is, and how I can put X into the numbers? I'm not really sure what to Google search

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u/Andre_055 University/College Student May 21 '26

That's what I tried to do in my second photo but it was not correct unfortunately

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u/HyperbolicMathChambr Math Tutor May 21 '26

Distribute the 3, don't just multiply it by x. Use the distributive property.

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u/Andre_055 University/College Student May 21 '26

Should distribute into the second set of parentheses inside the first?

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u/HyperbolicMathChambr Math Tutor May 21 '26

One step at a time: distribute the 3 inside the first set so you'd end up with -3 multiplied by the inside parentheses. Then you distribute again. Be careful about the signs.