Question

Tom is showing his work in simplifying (5.2 - 8.5) - 0.5 + 6.8. In which step did Tom make an error?

Step 1:: (5.2 - 8.5) - 0.5 + 6.8

Step 2: 5.2 + (-8.5 - 0.5) + 6.8 (distributive property)

Step 3: 5.2 - 9 + 6.8

Step 4: 5.2 + 6.8 - 9 (commutative property)

Step 5: 12 - 9 = 3
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Step 2; he wrote distributive instead of commutative

Step 2; he wrote distributive instead of associative

Step 4; he wrote commutative instead of associative

Step 4; he wrote commutative instead of distributive

Answer 1

Tom made an error in Step 2.

Explanation:

The reason this is an error is that this is not the distributive property, it is the associative, which states that it does not matter how numbers are grouped, as long as the signs do not change.