Combining like terms is an important math skill that involves simplifying an expression by combining terms that have the same variables and/or exponents. You combine like terms when you want to make an expression simpler and easier to read and solve.
This free Step-by-Step Guide to Combining Like Terms will walk you through how to quickly and easily combine like terms and it includes examples and a free practice worksheet. This guide will cover the following topics:
Before we dive into how to combine like terms, lets do a quick review of some important math vocabulary related to combining like terms (this quick recap will help you to better understand the examples in this guide).
In math, a term is one single number or algebraic expression that is part of a larger expression or equation.
For example, the mathematical expression 6x + 8y - 4z + 5 has four terms:
