# Changing Algebraic Expressions to Reflect Red Tiles

**URL:** <https://cl.desmos.com/t/changing-algebraic-expressions-to-reflect-red-tiles/4770>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Created:** [March 9, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://cl.desmos.com/t/changing-algebraic-expressions-to-reflect-red-tiles/4770 "2023-03-09T15:09:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Rhodes](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/cl.desmos.com/mr_rhodes/32/4086_2.png) [@Mr\_Rhodes](https://cl.desmos.com/u/Mr_Rhodes)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://cl.desmos.com/t/changing-algebraic-expressions-to-reflect-red-tiles/4770/1 "2023-03-09T15:09:33Z")

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Hi! I added red Algebra tiles to my activity and was wondering if you could assist in changing the algebraic expressions that appear on the top to reflect the addition of the red tiles. The coding for that is way above my level. Thanks so much! 🙂

> **[Algebra Tiles • Activity Builder by Desmos](https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/6409f4094bb9e78663152402)**
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> by Nick Rhodes

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**Author:** ![ianmcmeek](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/cl.desmos.com/ianmcmeek/32/3966_2.png) [@ianmcmeek](https://cl.desmos.com/u/ianmcmeek)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://cl.desmos.com/t/changing-algebraic-expressions-to-reflect-red-tiles/4770/2 "2023-03-10T21:30:27Z")

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Howdy! I set out to simplify the graph in your activity but ended up re-discovering why it was so complicated in the first place 🙃 Anyways, here is a modified copy with the negative algebra blocks:

> **[\[Copy of\] Algebra Tiles • Activity Builder by Desmos](https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/640b4d94ff0e296e490f4765)**
>
> by Ian M

One known quirk is that if a trip balances out to 0 (e.g. one x^2 block and one -x^2 block), the display will read 0x^2 + 0x + 0. This is because of what I fed into `formatLatex` to set up the display, and it could be changed by adding in a `when...otherwise...` statement to the point labels if it bothers you. I hope this helps!