Equivalent Expressions
Equivalent expressions are mathematical statements that look different but have the same value.
Introduction
Algebraic expressions, such as contain variables, numbers, and mathematical operations. Algebraic expressions may be written in different ways, but still mean the same thing.
For example, the expressions
are equivalent. Regardless of what number is substituted for the two expressions will have the same value.
Identifying Equivalent Expressions
We can use properties of arithmetic and the combining of like terms to write equivalent expressions.
Which expressions are equivalent to
A.
B.
C.
D.
All of the expressions are equivalent toWhen we distribute the 5, we get or choice A.
For choice B, we can combine the like terms of and to get
In choice C, we can distribute the 5 to get
In choice D, when we distribute the 4, we get
Joe wrote two expressions that he said were equivalent and connected them with an equal sign, as shown below. Are his two expressions equivalent?
Joe's two expressions of and are not equivalent. In order to simplify the expression every term in the numerator of the fraction needs to divided by 3, yielding an equivalent expression of