Question

A student attempted to generate an equivalent expression using the distributive property, as shown below:

3(p − 4) = 3p − 4

What was the mistake made? (1 point)

Group of answer choices

3 was not multiplied by p

3 was not multiplied by −4

Incorrect sign was used for the first term

Incorrect sign was used for the second term

Answer 1

3 was not multiplied by -4

Explanation:

The distributive property requires you distribute 3 across both variables, but the student only distributed it to the term p and did not multiply 3 by -4.

Using the distributive property correctly:

`3(p - 4) = 3 * p + 3 * (-4) = 3p - 12`

Answer 2

The mistake made by the student is:

Incorrect sign was used for the second term.

The correct application of the distributive property to the left-hand side of the equation is:

3(p - 4) = 3p - 3(4) = 3p - 12

Therefore, the correct equivalent expression is:

3(p - 4) = 3p - 12

The student incorrectly wrote 3p - 4 instead of 3p - 12, which is the result of applying the distributive property correctly.