Identify like & unlike terms
for 6th grade
Decide whether each expression consists of like terms or unlike terms
Like and unlike terms
In algebra a "term" is any combination of variables, exponents and constants or coefficients upon which mathematical operations such as addition or multipliation can be performed. Examples of terms are:
3a 63b -23y 4x³ -ab⁻³
Terms are most often found grouped together into expressions. Expressions are groups of terms separated by mathematical operators. Examples of expressions are:
a + 5 3b² - a 2b x 3b⁻³ 4x³ ÷ 15y⁴
What are like terms?
Like terms are terms whose base and exponent are the same. The base of the term 3b² is b and the exponent is 2. The coefficient is 3 but you can ignore the coefficient when looking for like terms. Examples of like terms are in the boxes below which all share the same base x :
x -33x ½x
Unlike terms are those whose base or base and exponent are different (ignore the coefficient when deciding). So, examples of unlike terms are:
7x -33x² 5xy
where the x is unlike x² which is unlike xy.
Why do we care about like terms?
If terms are like terms, you can easily add or subtract them. You cannot do so with unlike terms. The following two examples show adding like terms :
a³ + 3a³ = 4a³
5p²q⁵ + 3p²q⁵ = 8p²q⁵
Related topics
Below is a table showing the first 6 question answer pairs for the topic "Identify like & unlike terms" as used in the lessons for this topic. Our games and tests for the topic use these 6 items plus 10 additional question answer pairs.
The topic "Identify like & unlike terms" is in the category Algebra for 6th grade (ages 11 to 12).
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