Combine like terms (circle, square, underline): 2x + 3x^2 + 5x^2 - x + 7

In order to combine like terms you need to organize them so that it is easier to solve.

2x + 3x^2 + 5x^2 - x + 7
5x^2 + 3x^2 + 2x - x +7
8x^2 + x + 7

Your answer should be 8x^2 + x + 7

Best answer that i found on yahoo ok   set :   x= length of 2nd piece in cm  x- 3= length of 1st piece in cm  x-4= length of 3rd piece in cm  then since you know they all came from the 20 cm ribbon you add them together and set them equal to 20x+ x-3 +x-4 = 20  3x - 7= 20  3x= 27  x= 9  the shortest piece is the third piece which is x- 4  x-4  9-4 = 5  the length of the smallest piece is 5 cm.  the other lengths are  9 cm  6 cm