Skip to content

Physics Playground

Simulations How we teach Pricing

Language

Log in Start learning free

Loading…

Physics Playground

Built on open, peer-reviewed sources: OpenStax, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, HyperPhysics, NASA and NIST. See our sources.

Learn

Physics course
Math for Physics
Start with the math toolkit
Simulations
Glossary
Exercises
Past exams
Library
How we teach

Company

Pricing
Terms
Privacy
Contact

© 2026 Physics Playground. Made for the curious.Language

Exercises Expressions, exponents and radicals

Example 2.19 from Prealgebra, 2.2 Evaluate, Simplify, and Translate Expressions

Evaluate, Simplify, and Translate Expressions: example 2.19

Identify each term in the expression $9 b + 15 x^{2} + a + 6 .$ Then identify the coefficient of each term.

Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.

Solution
The expression has four terms. They are $9 b, 15 x^{2}, a,$ and $6 .$

The coefficient of $9 b$ is $9 .$

The coefficient of $15 x^{2}$ is $15 .$

Remember that if no number is written before a variable, the coefficient is $1 .$ So the coefficient of $a$ is $1 .$

The coefficient of a constant is the constant, so the coefficient of $6$ is $6 .$

Your turn

The book's Try It right after this example: same idea, new numbers. Only the answer is given.

Identify all terms in the given expression, and their coefficients:

$4 x + 3 b + 2$

How did it go?

PreviousEvaluate, Simplify, and Translate Expressions: example 2.18 Next Evaluate, Simplify, and Translate Expressions: example 2.20

From Prealgebra (1st edition) by OpenStax (Rice University), section 2.2, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Original at openstax.org. We split the solution into steps; the words, numbers and figures are the book's. OpenStax doesn't endorse this site.