Simplifying like terms

OK, so we get this question:

Simplify 3x + 6x + 7x + 9 - 11.

First, we need to work out which terms are "like" - for example, 3 and 6 would be like, and so would 4x and - 7x.

Here, 3x, 6x and 7x are like, which means we can add them all together - this makes 16x.

9 and - 11 are also like. We add them too, which makes - 2.

We put these together:

16x -2

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