Combine like terms.

7a square root 2 - a square root 2 + 16=
My answer would be as follows:
7a square root 2 + 16

Can you please check to see if I got this correct

Is this your problem?

(7a * √2) - (a * √2) + 16 =

Yes

(7a * √2) - (a * √2) + 16 =

9.9a - 1.4a + 16

8.5a + 16

I am sorry Ms. Sue that has me even more confused. Can you explain how you got that answer?

I found the square root of 2 and the rest is easy.

To combine like terms, you need to add or subtract the coefficients of terms that have the same radical part. In this case, you have two terms with the same radical: 7a√2 and -a√2.

The coefficient of the first term is 7a and the coefficient of the second term is -a. To combine them, you need to add these coefficients:

7a - a = 6a

Since the radical part (√2) remains the same, you keep it in the combined term. Thus, the combined term would be:

6a√2

Now, if you also have another term in the equation, which is 16, you would simply add this term to the combined term:

6a√2 + 16

Therefore, the correct combination of the like terms for the given equation is:

6a√2 + 16

So, your answer is incorrect. The correct answer is 6a√2 + 16.