Introduction to Evaluating, Simplifying, and Translating Algebraic Expressions

What you’ll learn to do: Evaluate, simplify, and translate algebraic expressions

A U.S 1040 individual tax return form with a pencil lying on top of it

Have you ever had to fill out a tax form when starting a new job or filing your tax return at the end of the year? It can be a puzzling task, with lots of instructions such as “enter the sum of line 20 and line 32 into line 33” or “enter the difference between line 8 and line 9 into line 10.” The form might be telling you to do simple addition or subtraction, but it’s not always obvious due to the wording used. In this section, you’ll learn how to untangle algebraic expressions by identifying and combining like terms and translating words and phrases into familiar operations.

Before you get started in this module, try a few practice problems and review prior concepts.

readiness quiz

If you missed this problem, review this example:

Determine if each is an expression or an equation:

[latex]16 - 6=10[/latex]
[latex]4\cdot 2+1[/latex]
[latex]x\div 25[/latex]
[latex]y+8=40[/latex]

Show Solution

If you missed this problem, review this example:

Simplify: [latex]{3}^{4}[/latex].

Show Solution

If you missed this problem, review the video below.

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	[latex]{3}^{4}[/latex]
Expand the expression.	[latex]3\cdot 3\cdot 3\cdot 3[/latex]
Multiply left to right.	[latex]9\cdot 3\cdot 3[/latex]
	[latex]27\cdot 3[/latex]
Multiply.	[latex]81[/latex]

1. [latex]16 - 6=10[/latex]	This is an equation—two expressions are connected with an equal sign.
2. [latex]4\cdot 2+1[/latex]	This is an expression—no equal sign.
3. [latex]x\div 25[/latex]	This is an expression—no equal sign.
4. [latex]y+8=40[/latex]	This is an equation—two expressions are connected with an equal sign.

Module 2: The Language of Algebra