2x 4 2x 4. As paren two x minus six y close paren minus ten or as left paren two x minus six y right paren minus ten a x - y could be read as a parenthesis x minus y close parenthesis a b2 could be read as a times the square of b Use pauses to audibly group sections of an expression together. The first thing to evaluate there is the exponent 6 2.
A b c d a b c d.
Simplify 4 x 3 2x 1 With nested parentheses the safest plan is to work from the inside out. The parentheses group 3 and 2 together and 6 and 4 together so they get done first. Some people are just dropping them without doing any math. Four guidelines govern how to use these punctuation marks together or not to handle double enclosures.