ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSION
UNIT 2
LESSON 3 POLYNOMIALS
INTRODUCTION
Variable is a letter that can represent any number from a given set of
numbers.
An algebraic expression is any expression of variables a real numbers used
in a number of additions, subtractions, multiplications. Here are some examples;
Monomial is an expression of the form , where is a real number and
is a nonnegative integer.
Binomial is a sum of two monomials.
Trinomial is a sum of three monomials.
In general a sum of monomials is called a polynomials.
POLYNOMIALS
A polynomials in the variable is an expression of the form
𝒌 𝒌 𝟏
𝒏 𝒏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 STANDARD FORM
Where , , . . . , are real numbers, and is a nonnegative integer. If , then
the polynomial has . The monomial that made the poly-nomial are called
the terms of the polynomial.
Each real number an is called a coefficient. The number a0 that is not multiplied
by a variable is called a constant. The exponents of x cannot be negative.
NOTE: That the degree of a polynomial is the highest power of the variable that appears
in the polynomial.
Polynomial Type Terms Degree
Trinomial 2
Binomial 8
Four terms 3
Binomial 1
Monomial 5
6 Monomial 6 0
Algebraic expressions such as
are not polynomials. The first is not a polynomial because it has an exponent that is
negative exponent. Although the second expression is a quotient of two algebraic
expression, the denominator has degree greater than 0, so the expression cannot be a
polynomial.
OPERATIONS ON ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS
o Adding and Subtracting Polynomials
We add and subtract polynomials using the properties of real numbers
that were discussed in lesson 1. The idea is to;
1. Combine Like terms (𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 to the same power.)
2. Simplify and write in standard form
EXAMPLE 1: Addition
Find the sum.
(12x2 + 9x – 21) + (4x3 + 8x2 − 5x + 20)
Solution
= 4x3 + (12x2 + 8x2) + (9x − 5x) + (−21 + 20) 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠
= 4x3 + 20x2 + 4x -1 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
EXAMPLE 2:
Note: In subtracting polynomials,
EXAMPLE 3: Subtraction we have to remember that if a
minus sign or negative precedes an
expression in parentheses, then the
Subtract 9x4 – 3x2 + x – 5 from 2x3 + 2x2 –x2 + 7 sign of every term within the
parentheses is changed when we
remove the parentheses.
Solution: (2x3 + 2x2 – 2x + 7) – (9x4 – 3x2 + x – 5)
= 2x3 + 2x2 – 2x + 7 – 9x4 + 3x2 - x + 5 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠
= -9x4 + 2x3 + 5x2 -3x + 12 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
EXAMPLE 4:
o Multiplying Algebraic Expressions
To find the product of polynomial or other algebraic expressions, we need
to use the distributive property repeatedly. In doing so;
1. Multiply each term of the first polynomial by each term of the second.
2. Combine like terms.
3. Simplify.
EXAMPLE 5:
• FOIL METHOD
Certain products, which we call special products, occur frequently in
algebra. We can calculate them easily using the FOIL (First, Outer, Inner, Last)
method of multiplying two binomials.
EXAMPLE 6: Using FOIL
• SPEIAL PRODUCT FORMULAS
Some products have been given special names because of their form.
EXAMPLE 7:
EXAMPLE 8:
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 (4𝑎)
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 (4𝑏)
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
EXAMPLE 9:
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
EXAMPLE 10:
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦
EXAMPLE 11: Using Special Product Formula
Find each product.
a.)
SOLUTION:
Using the special product (2)
o Dividing two Polynomials
• To divide a polynomial by a monomial, divide each term of the polynomial by the
monomial, add the result.
• To divide a polynomial by another polynomial, arrange the terms of each
polynomial in descending powers of the same variable. Continue dividing until
the remainder is of lower degree than that of the divisor or is zero.
EXAMPLE 12:
STANDARD FORM
NOTE:
Remember, a
polynomial is
in standard
form when its
terms are
written
according to
descending
degree.
EXAMPLE 13:
The process of dividing two polynomials leads to the following result:
o SYNTHETIC DIVISION
To find the quotient as well as the remainder when a polynomial of degree
1 or higher is divided by x – c, a shortened version of long division, called synthetic
division, makes the task simpler.
EXAMPLE 14:
EXAMPLE 15:
WORK WITH POLYNOMIALS IN TWO VARIABLES
A monomial in two variables x and y has the form where a is a
constant, x and y are variables, and n and m are nonnegative integers. The degree of
a monomial is the sum of the powers of the variables.
For Examples:
are monomials, each of which has degree 4.
A polynomial in two variables x and y is the sum of one or more monomials
in two variables. The degree of a polynomial in two variables is the highest degree of
all the monomials with nonzero coefficients.
EXAMPLE 16:
EXAMPLE 17:
