Explain how to use the distributive property to find an expression that is equivalent to 20 + 16.

The distributive property is given by:

A*(B + C) = A*B + A*C

Using this, we will find that 4*(5 + 4) = 4*9 is equivalent to 20 + 16

Ok, we start with 20 + 16, and we want to find an equivalent expression to this one.

To do it, we need to find a common factor between 20 and 16.

For example both of these are even numbers, thus we can write:

20 = 2*10

16 = 2*8

Then we can rewrite:

20 + 16 = 2*10 + 2*8

Now we use the distributive property to get:

2*10 + 2*8 = 2*(10 + 8) = 2*18

We can see that 4 is also a common factor, thus we also can write:

20 = 4*5

16 = 4*4

then:

20 + 16 = 4*5 + 4*4 = 4*(5 + 4) = 4*9

So we just found two equivalent expressions.

If you want to learn more, you can read:

link

both equations and proportions are better.