Real-World Examples of the Distributive Property for Middle School

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🔢 The distributive property lets you multiply a single term by two or more terms inside a set of parentheses.
• 📝 The formula is: $a(b + c) = ab + ac$
• 💡 Example: $2(x + 3) = 2x + 6$
• ➕ It works for subtraction too: $a(b - c) = ab - ac$
• 🍕 Think of sharing pizza! If 3 friends want 2 slices each, you can calculate $3(2)$ or $3 \times 2 = 6$ slices.

✏️ Practice Quiz

1. What is the result of applying the distributive property to $4(x + 2)$?
1. $4x + 2$
2. $4x + 8$
3. $x + 8$
4. $8x$
2. Using the distributive property, simplify $3(2y - 1)$.
1. $6y - 1$
2. $6y - 3$
3. $5y - 3$
4. $5y - 1$
3. A store is offering a 20% discount on all items. If an item costs $x$ dollars, and there's a $2 handling fee, which expression represents the final cost after the discount using the distributive property?
1. $0.80(x + 2)$
2. $0.20(x + 2)$
3. $0.80x + 2$
4. $0.20x + 2$
4. What is the simplified form of $-2(a - 3)$ using the distributive property?
1. $-2a - 6$
2. $-2a + 6$
3. $2a - 6$
4. $2a + 6$
5. If you buy 5 notebooks and each notebook costs $(x + 1)$ dollars, what is the total cost?
1. $5x + 1$
2. $5x + 5$
3. $x + 5$
4. $6x$
6. Simplify the expression: $7(z + 4)$
1. $7z + 4$
2. $7z + 28$
3. $z + 28$
4. $11z$
7. What is the result of applying the distributive property to $-1(5 - b)$?
1. $-5 - b$
2. $-5 + b$
3. $5 - b$
4. $5 + b$