SOLUTION: I am trying to refresh my mind so I can help my daughter with algebra 1. here is one problem that I need help with and if you could reexplain the letters to me and what they mean.

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The letters in this expression are called "variables".
A variable is a letter that represents a unknown quantity.
To simplify the expression in this problem, simply collect like-terms, that is, those terms that have a something in common, such as the same variable.
Simplify 3n + 6n + 2 You can collect the n's together simply by adding them.
3n + 6n = 9n
The 2 is a constant and cannot be added explicitly to the terms containing variables so we must show the addition implicitly as +2.
Putting it all together, we have the result: 3n + 6n + 2 = 9n + 2