The distributive property for multiplication helps in solving expressions like a(b + c). It specifies that the result of multiplying one number by the sum or difference of two numbers can be obtained by multiplying each number individually and then totaling the results: a(b + c) = ab + ac. For example, 4(10-5) = (4 x 10) - (4 x 5) = 40 - 20 = 20.

In order to find how many additional workers are needed to staff the extra crews you first need to calculate how many workers are on a crew. There are 8 workers at the company now and that's enough to staff 4 crews so there are \( \frac{8}{4} \) = 2 workers on a crew. 9 crews are needed for the busy season which, at 2 workers per crew, means that the roofing company will need 9 x 2 = 18 total workers to staff the crews during the busy season. The company already employs 8 workers so they need to add 18 - 8 = 10 new staff for the busy season.

There are 3 3-passenger taxis available so that's 3 x 3 = 9 total seats. There are 13 people needing transportation leaving 13 - 9 = 4 who will have to find other transportation.

A prime number is an integer greater than 1 that has no factors other than 1 and itself. Examples of prime numbers include 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11.

A rational number (or fraction) is represented as a ratio between two integers, a and b, and has the form \({a \over b}\) where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. An improper fraction (\({5 \over 3} \)) has a numerator with a greater absolute value than the denominator and can be converted into a mixed number (\(1 {2 \over 3} \)) which has a whole number part and a fractional part.