Variables & expressions

This course is a part of 6th grade, a 8-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Learn what variables are and practice using them in expressions. The major concepts covered in these tutorials are substitution, the distributive property, and combining like terms.

This course contains 9 segments:

Parts of algebraic expressions

Wait, why are we using letters in math? How can an 'x' represent a number? What number is it? We will also learn new words, such as "term" and "coefficient", which help us communicate about the different parts of expressions. This tutorial is great if you're just beginning to delve into the world of variables and expressions.

Substitution & evaluating expressions

Learn how to substitute (or "plug in") values for variables and evaluate algebraic expressions.

Expression value intuition

Explore how the value of an algebraic expression changes as the value of its variable changes.

Evaluating expressions word problems

Learn how to plug in values to evaluate real-world expressions.

Writing algebraic expressions introduction

Learn the basics of writing expressions with variables.

Writing basic algebraic expressions word problems

Learn how to write algebraic expressions (expressions with variables) to model real-world situations.

Distributive property with variables

Learn how to apply the distributive property to numerical expressions (without variables) and algebraic expressions (with variables). The distributive property is also sometimes called the distributive law.

Combining like terms

Combine the powers of Chuck Norris and polar bears to understand how to combine like terms.

Equivalent expressions

Learn to tell whether or not two algebraic expressions are equivalent by combining like terms and using the distributive property.