Question

How do you simplify `3(x+4)`?

Answer 1

Use the distributive property to get
`color(white)("XXX")3(x+4)=color(blue)(3x+12)`

Explanation:

The distributive property tells us that
`color(white)("XXX")axx(b+c) = (axxb)+(axxc)`

Therefore
`color(white)("XXX")3(x+4) = (3xxx)+(3xx4) = 3x+12`