The Bakery: Imagine you are the manager at a bakery. Your math expression shows totals for each of the last seven days and uses the following variables: p represents the number of pretzels, b represents the number of bagels, and c represents the number of croissants. Explain how you could combine like terms to simplify your expression.
To combine like terms and simplify the expression for the totals of each item, you would add or subtract the coefficients (numbers multiplying the variables) of the same variable. For example, if you have the expression:
Total = 2p + 3b + 5c + 4p + 2b + 7c - p - b + 3c
You can combine the like terms by adding or subtracting their coefficients:
Total = (2p + 4p - p) + (3b + 2b - b) + (5c + 7c + 3c)
Simplifying each term:
Total = 5p + 4b + 15c
So, the simplified expression for the total number of items would be 5p + 4b + 15c.