Use the reverse of the distributive property to find the original expression. 5a + 10b - 25c

In the distributive property, we distribute something from the outside of the parentheses into the inside of the parentheses by multiplying. The reverse would be pulling a common factor from inside to the outside by dividing (factoring). In order to do this we have to find something common to everything in the parentheses. a, b, and c are not common, so let's look at the numbers ...

5, 10, and 25 all have a factor of 5, so we need to divide each thing in the parentheses by 5 and bring it to the outside ...

5a + 10b - 25c =

(5a/5) + (10b/5) - (25c/5)

5 (a + 2b - 5c)

Done!

If you want to check it, do the distributive property and multiply 5 through the parentheses and you should get your original expression.

5 (a + 2b - 5c) =

5a + 10b - 25c

It checks!