are the terms like or not. Explain why.4a,-122a
They are like terms because they both contain the unknown a.
They are like terms because they contain unknown a
The terms "4a" and "-12a" are not like terms. Like terms are terms that have the same variable raised to the same power. In this case, both terms have the variable "a" but they have different coefficients (4 and -12) multiplied with "a". So, they are not like terms.
To identify like terms, you need to compare the variables and their exponents. If two terms have the same variable and exponent, they are considered like terms. For example, "3x^2" and "5x^2" are like terms because they both have the variable "x" raised to the power of 2.
In the given example, "4a" and "-12a" have the same variable "a" but different coefficients (4 and -12). Therefore, they are not like terms.