Expert: Scott A Wilson - 11/10/2011

Question
I can't quite get the hang of terms/distributive property etc.

Answer
The distibutive prpertiy is a reference to distributin a multiplier over a set of parenthesis.
If we had 5(6+7), that would be 5*6 + 5*7 = 30 + 35 = 65.  What could be done here was to add 6+7 = 13, and take 6*13 = 65.

The distributive propery also applies to minus inside the parenthesis.
An example would be 4(8-3) = 4*8 - 4*3 = 32 - 12 = 20.

It can't, however, be applied to multiplication of division inside the parenthesis.
If we had 7(6*4) or 7(6/4), the 1st one would be 7*6*4 = 42*4 = 168 and
the 2nd one would be 7*6/4 = 42/4 = 10.5.