(y + 1 ) + 4 = ?
use one or more properties to rewrite each expression that dose not use parentheses.

In this case, the parenthesis do not matter. the value of the equation remains the same with or without them. so you can rewrite this as y + 1 + 4, which is y + 5.

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