That's false. Take the numbers 1, 3, and 5. Let a = 1, b = 3, and c = 5. ab + bc = ac 3 + 15 = 5 18 ≠ 5 Since 18 does not equal 5, this is false. If you were to use the distributive property on ab + bc = ac, you would get b(a+c) = ac, which doesn't even make sense. Have a nice day! :)