ALGEBRAIC

EXPRESSIONS
Definition
• An algebraic expression is the result of applying the four
fundamental operations to variables and constants.

Ex:
2𝑥
1.
3
2. 𝑥 7 𝑦 9 𝑧 −4
3. 4𝑥 3 + 31𝑥 2 − 8.3𝑥 − 12
Important Terms
• Variable – a symbol which is used to represent any
element of a given set
• Constant – a symbol which is used to represent one
particular value
• Terms – consist of a variable and constant separated by +
or – sign
• Polynomial – an expression which is composed of terms
separated by the fundamental operations in Algebra
• Coefficient – a numerical/number placed before and
multiplying the variable in an algebraic coefficient
• Degree of Term – the sum of the components of its
variables. If the term has more than one variable, the
degree of the term is the sum of the exponents of the
variables in the term.
Two terms are called similar terms, or like terms, if they
differ only on their numerical coefficients.
• Degree of Polynomial – the highest exponent found in any
non-zero term of the polynomial
Types of Polynomial
• Monomial – one term
• Binomial – two terms
• Trinomial – three terms
• Multinomial – also called polynomial, an algebraic
expression having more than one term
Seatwork
I. Classify each polynomial below and give its degree.
1. 43𝑥 8 − 18𝑥 3 + 2𝑥
2. 𝑥 4 + 765
3. 17𝑦 2
4. 75
5. 𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 + 13𝑥 − 88
II. For each polynomial below, give the number of variables,
its type, and its coefficients.
1. 𝑥 3 + 64𝑦 3
2. 3𝑥 2 − 10𝑥𝑦 − 8𝑦 2
3. 77𝑠 3 𝑡 9 𝑢
Law of Exponents
1) 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎 ∙ 𝑎 ∙ 𝑎 ∙ 𝑎 ∙ ∙ ∙ 𝑎 nth power of a
2) 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎𝑚+𝑛 add exponents
3) 𝑎𝑛 𝑏 𝑛 = (𝑎𝑏)𝑛 multiply bases
4) (𝑎𝑚 )𝑛 = 𝑎𝑚𝑛 multiply exponents
𝑎𝑛 𝑎 𝑛
5) = divide bases
𝑏𝑛 𝑏
𝑎𝑚
6) = 𝑎𝑚−𝑛 subtract
𝑎𝑛
exponents
Examples
1) 32 33 = 35 = 243
2 16
2) ( )4 =
3 81
3) 3𝑥 2 𝑦 3 4𝑥𝑦 5 = 12𝑥 3 𝑦 8
3
5𝑥 5 𝑦 8 125𝑥 15 𝑦24
4) =
3𝑧 4 𝑤 2 27𝑧 12 𝑤 6
2 3
4𝑎2 𝑏5 𝑐4 𝑏7 𝑐 6
5) =
𝑐3 12𝑎3 𝑏 108𝑎5
4
𝑎3𝑛+1 𝑏2𝑛−1
6) = 𝑎6𝑛 𝑏6𝑛+1
𝑎6𝑛+4 𝑏2𝑛−5
Operations on Polynomials
1. Addition
2. Subtraction
3. Multiplication
4. Division
a) Long Method
b) Synthetic Division
Addition and Subtraction
• Two monomials or terms are called similar terms, or like
terms, if they differ at most in their numerical coefficients.
2𝑥𝑦 2 and 6𝑥𝑦 2 are similar terms
4𝑥 2 𝑦 3 and 5𝑥 2 𝑦 are not similar

• To add or subtract polynomials, simply combine similar

terms and simplify by adding or subtracting their
numerical coefficients.
Examples
1) Simplify 3ab+2ab+4ab.
2) Simplify 7x²y-3x²y-2xy²+8xy².
3) Combine similar terms in the expression
2a-3a+6b+4b-7c+9c
4.) Add the polynomials
3x²+4y²-3xy+7z² 2x²+4z³ and 4y²-2z²-2xy

5.) Subtract 3x-2y-9z from 5x+3y-6z

6.) Subtract the sum of 2a+3p+5x and 3a+2p-6x from 6a+4p+x
Multiplication
• Use the properties of real numbers, including the law of
signs and the laws of exponents, to find the products of
two or more monomials, monomial and polynomial, and of
two polynomials.
Examples:
1) Find the product of 3𝑥 2 𝑦 ∙ 4𝑥𝑦 2 ∙ 6𝑥 3 𝑦 4
2) Simplify (3𝑥 2 𝑦 − 6𝑥𝑦 2 − 8𝑦 3 )(−5𝑥 3 𝑦 2 )
3) Find the product of the following binomials
(3𝑥 − 2𝑦)(2𝑥 − 5𝑦)
4) Simplify (3𝑥 + 2)(7𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 + 4)
Division
• Suppose that P and D are polynomials with the degree of
P larger than the degree of D and D ≠ 0. Then there are
polynomials Q, the quotient, and R the remainder, with
𝑃 =𝐷∙𝑄+𝑅
where either R=0 or R has smaller degree than the divisor
D. We may also write it as
𝑃 𝑅
=𝑄+
𝐷 𝐷
Steps in Long Division
1. Arrange the terms in P and D in descending powers of
the variable. If a coefficient in P is 0, leave a space or
insert 0.
2. Divide the first term in P by the first term in D to get the
first term in the quotient Q.
3. Multiply all the terms in D by Q and subtract the product
from P.
4. While the divisor remains the same, treat the result in
step 3 as the new P and then repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Continue this process until a remainder is obtained that
has a lower degree than D.
Examples:
1) Find the quotient and remainder if 6𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 − 1 is
divided by 2x-1
2) Divide 𝑃 = 6𝑥 4 − 6𝑥 2 − 3 + 8𝑥 − 𝑥 3 by 𝐷 = −2 + 2𝑥 2 +
𝑥
3) Divide 16𝑥 3 + 4𝑥 2 + 19 by 4𝑥 + 5.
Special Products
Product of sum and difference of Two terms
𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 𝑎2 − 𝑏 2
Square of Binomial
(𝑎 + 𝑏)2 = 𝑎 + 2𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2
(𝑎 − 𝑏)2 = 𝑎2 − 2𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2
Square of Trinomial
(𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐)2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 + 2𝑎𝑏 + 2𝑏𝑐 + 2𝑎𝑐
Cube of Binomial
(𝑎 + 𝑏)3 = 𝑎3 + 3𝑎2 𝑏 + 3𝑎𝑏 2 + 𝑏 3
(𝑎 − 𝑏)3 = 𝑎3 − 3𝑎2 𝑏 + 3𝑎𝑏 2 − 𝑏 3
FOIL Method (First, Outermost, Innermost, Last Term)
𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑐 + 𝑑 = 𝑎𝑐 + 𝑎𝑑 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑏𝑑
Examples:
1. (2a + 5b)² = 4a² + 20ab + 25b²
2. (3x – 4y)² = 9x² - 24xy + 16y²
3. (2x - 5y)³ = 8x³ - 60x²y + 150xy² -125y³
4. (3x – 5y)(3x + 5y) = 9x² - 25y²
5. (x + 2y – 3z)² = x² + 4y² + 9z² + 4xy – 6xz – 12yz
6. (3x – 7)(4x – 1) = 12x² - 31x + 7
7. (x² + 5x – 6)(x² - 5x + 6) = x⁴ - 25x² + 60x -36
8. (2x + y + a)(2x – y + a) = 4x² + 4ax + a² - y²
Factoring
Common Factor
𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎𝑐 − 𝑎𝑑 = 𝑎(𝑏 + 𝑐 − 𝑑)
Difference of Two Squares
𝑎2 − 𝑏 2 = (𝑎 + 𝑏)(𝑎 − 𝑏)
Perfect Square Trinomial
𝑎 + 2𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2 = (𝑎 + 𝑏)2
𝑎2 − 2𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2 = (𝑎 − 𝑏)2
Sum or Difference of Two Cubes
𝑎3 + 𝑏 3 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑎2 − 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2
𝑎3 − 𝑏 3 = 𝑎 − 𝑏 𝑎2 + 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏 2
Factoring by Grouping
General Trinomial
Examples:
1. 9x²y² + 6xy³ + 21x³y² + 3xy² = 3xy² (3x + 2y + 7x² + 1)
2. (x – 1)(x + 2) – (x – 1)(2x – 3) = (x – 1)(-x + 5)
3. 49a² - 16b² = (7a + 4b)(7a – 4b)
4. (a + 3b)² - 4 = (a + 3b + 2)(a + 3b -2)
5. 8x³ + 27y³ = (2x + 3y)(4x² - 6xy + 9y²)
6. 27a³ - 64b⁶ = (3a – 4b²)(9a² + 12ab² + 16b⁴)
7. x⁸ - y⁸ = (x⁴ + y⁴)(x² + y²)(x + y)(x – y)
8. x² + 10x + 16 = (x + 2)(x + 8)
9. 3x² - 10xy – 8y² = (3x + 2)(x – 4)
10. (1 + xy)² - (x + y)² = (1 + y)(1 + x)(1 – x)(1 – y)