1. The problem is to multiply $9(7w + 8x)$ using the area model. 2. The area model breaks the expression into parts: multiply $9$ by each term inside the parentheses separately. 3. Calculate the partial products: - Multiply $9$ by $7w$: $$9 \times 7w = 63w$$ - Multiply $9$ by $8x$: $$9 \times 8x = 72x$$ 4. Write the product by adding the partial products: $$9(7w + 8x) = 63w + 72x$$ 5. This shows how the distributive property works: multiply the outside term by each inside term and then add the results. Final answer: $$63w + 72x$$