Rosalinda was the one who is right. Here is an example of an equation (x-1)(x-2)(x-3)(x-4)(x-5)(x-6)(x-7)(x-8)(x-9)(x-10) = 0 that holds true when you substitute x=1, x=2, x=3, x=4, x=5, x=6, x=7, x=8, x=9, and x=10, for you get 0 = 0 with all 10 of those values. However when you substitute x = 11 in it, you get 3628800 = 0 So it's not an identity even though it works for all those 10 values of x. To be an identity it must work for all values of x. x=11 is a counterexample which proves it is not an identity. An identity is like this: 2x + 3 = 3(x + 1)-x Holds for ALL values of x, not just ten. You cannot find a counterexample like you can with the first one above. Edwin