Which of the following is equivalent to the expression above?

Question

Accepted Answer

Choice A is correct. The given expression can be rewritten as . Applying the distributive property, the expression can be rewritten as , or . Adding like terms yields . Substituting for in the given expression yields . By the rules of exponents, the expression is equivalent to . Applying the distributive property, this expression can be rewritten as , or . Adding like terms gives . Substituting for in the rewritten expression yields , and adding like terms yields . Choices B, C, and D are incorrect. Choices C and D may result from rewriting the expression as , instead of as . Choices B and C may result from rewriting the expression as , instead of .

Question which-