A student claims that the expression “9 times the sum of a number and 13” is translated to the algebraic expression 9n + 13. Is the student correct? If not, what is the correct expression?

Answer:

The student is incorrect. The expression "the sum of a number and 13" must be group together using parentheses because the entire sum is being multiplied by 9. The correct algebraic expression should be 9(n + 13). Without parentheses, the expression 9n + 13 translates to "9 times a number, plus 13."