ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Playlist Solving Equations and Inequalities 11 videos

0
Combining Like Terms
15808 Views

This video covers the concept of combining like terms. If you try to combine terms with different variables, it just won’t work. But terms with t...

1
Solving Two-Step Equations Using Addition and Subtraction
10212 Views

Solving two-step equations can be tricky, but at least they’re easier than doing the Texas Two-Step. We trip over our feet so often you’d think...

2
Solving Multi-Step Equations with Fractions
1640 Views

If you have to solve a multi-step equation, you might as well do it with fractions, right?

See All

Combining Like Terms 15808 Views


Share It!


Description:

This video covers the concept of combining like terms. If you try to combine terms with different variables, it just won’t work. But terms with the same variable? Now that’s a match made in Pre-Algebra heaven.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Combining Like Terms, a la Shmoop.

00:07

Do you, x squared minus 7, take this expression, [Couple with math calculations for heads marrying]

00:11

x squared plus 4, to be your lawfully combined term?

00:17

I do.

00:18

I do.

00:20

Algebra Tov! It’s been happening for centuries. [Wine glass shatters]

00:24

Like terms have been combining.

00:26

Creating lives together. Producing offspring. [Like terms math calculations laid in bed]

00:29

Statistics show that 87% of like terms stay combined.

00:34

But… there is an unlucky 13% who… aren’t able to make it work.

00:38

In the case of this lucky couple… …they found each other… [algebra calculation sat on a park bench]

00:41

…but not without some challenges. There was 4y’s old flame, for example.

00:45

Love was in the air… but it simply wasn’t meant to be.

00:49

It seemed as if divine forces were conspiring to keep them apart… [lightning strikes and separates the algebra terms]

00:52

Finally, they gave up on their adolescent impulses.. and moved on.

00:57

But when 4y met 7y several years later…

01:01

…she realized that this term was who she was destined to marry… [4y and 7y by the seaside and a love heart appears]

01:06

and someday have little digits of their own.

01:08

Well, they had no trouble whatsoever combining…

01:10

…as will become clear should you happen to find the whole family at home some evening.

01:14

Of course, 4y and 7y are just one successful couple.

01:18

There are a zillion similar stories of happy unions. [lots of like terms appear]

01:21

All of whom have been busy changing their relationship status on Facebook.

01:25

Now there are a couple of “liked” terms…

Related Videos

ACT Math 2.3 Pre-Algebra
2851 Views

ACT Math: Pre-Algebra Drill 2, Problem 3. Which of the following numbers is smallest?

ACT Math 2.4 Pre-Algebra
461 Views

ACT Math: Pre-Algebra Drill 2, Problem 4. Which of the following numbers is largest?

SAT Math 1.2 Algebra and Functions
359 Views

SAT Math: Algebra and Functions Drill 1, Problem 2. Based on the data in the table, what is the maximum heart rate for the average 22-year-old?

Translation into Mathematical Expressions
2538 Views

Rigging your friend's scale so it looks like she's shedding the pounds: being a good friend, or being a total creeper? Translate a word problem int...

Expressions and Basic Operations
6109 Views

What do poetry and basic operations have in common? Watch this video to find out.