$\"\"$

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The cost of one baseball is 2.98 dollars.

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Write the expression for 25 baseballs total cost is $\"\"$ .

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Rewrite 2.98 as $\"\"$ .

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$\"\"$

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Apply distributive property: $\"\"$ .

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$\"\"$

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$\"\"$

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$\"\"$ . $\"\"$

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The total cost is 74.5 dollars.