On-air walkthrough: distributing and combining like terms yields -23x - 5 in example

In a focused example the hosts applied the distributive property and then combined like terms. Canelo Paredo walked listeners through multiplying the outside coefficient, saying "negative 5 times 3x ... smash on the x," and recorded the intermediate products as -15x and -5, then brought down the remaining -8x from the original parentheses.

The hosts then grouped variable terms together (the program's "square up" method), combined -15x and -8x to reach -23x, and left the constant term as -5 because it had no variable partner. On air the hosts presented the final simplified form as "-23x - 5."

Why this matters: the example models two standard algebraic steps—distribution (multiplying each term inside parentheses by an outside factor) and combining like terms (adding/subtracting coefficients of the same variable). The hosts also reminded students not to drop variable symbols when multiplying numbers by variables.

Detail and teaching tips: the program recommended circling variables and constants separately, applying sign rules ("same sign add and keep; different sign subtract"), and double-checking that variables are carried through each multiplication step.

Ending note: the hosts used the example to reinforce common pitfalls (dropping the variable after multiplying) and strategies to avoid them.