Question

If an operation * is defined as a * b= (a + b) x a Evaluate: a. (-5) * (-3) b. 14 * 15​

Answer 1

Answer:

Let x be the number

Thus, half of the number =

2

x

10 subtracted from it =

2

x

−10

Hence,

2

x

−10=4 is required equation

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

n algebra we are doing arithmetic with just one new feature − we use letters to represent numbers. Because the letters are simply stand-ins for numbers, arithmetic is carried out exactly as it is with numbers. In particular the laws of arithmetic (commutative, associative and distributive) hold.

For example, the identities

2 + x = x + 2 2 × x = x × 2

(2 + x) + y = 2 + (x + y) (2 × x) × y = 2 × (x × y)

6(3x + 1) = 18x + 6

hold when x and y are any numbers at all.

In this module we will use the word pronumeral for the letters used in algebra. We choose to use this word in school mathematics because of confusion that can arise from the words such as ‘variable’. For example, in the formula E = mc2, the pronumerals E and m are variables whereas c is a constant.