Practicing with the Distributive Property in Algebra

Algebra II All-in-One For Dummies

In algebra, the distributive property is used to perform an operation on each of the terms within a grouping symbol. The following rules show distributing multiplication over addition and distributing multiplication over subtraction:

Practice questions

–3(x – 11) = ?

Answers and explanations

The correct answer is –3x + 33.
The correct answer is –5.

About This Article

About the book author:

Mary Jane Sterling (Peoria, Illinois) is the author of Algebra I For Dummies, Algebra Workbook For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, Algebra II Workbook For Dummies, and many other For Dummies books. She taught at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for more than 30 years, teaching algebra, business calculus, geometry, and finite mathematics.