Grade 9 Mathematics: Algebraic expressions

Fill in the following definitions:

Expression- __________________________________________________________
Term- ______________________________________________________________
Coefficient- __________________________________________________________
Constant- ____________________________________________________________
Degree of the expression- _______________________________________________
Like terms- __________________________________________________________
Distribute- ___________________________________________________________
Factorise- ____________________________________________________________
Simplify- ____________________________________________________________

Go through the Platinum textbook p.70 for additional notes on conventions in expressions.

Exercise 1
1. Consider the expression 4𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 3
a) How many terms are there in the expression?
b) What is the constant term?
c) What is the coefficient of 𝑥 2 ?
d) What is the degree of the expression?
e) What is the value of the expression if 𝑥 = 3?

Remember you may only add or subtract like terms

e.g. 2𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 2 = 5𝑥 2 but 2𝑥 2 + 3𝑦 2 ≠ 5𝑥 2 𝑦 2

2. Simplify the following:

a) 4𝑦 3 − 5𝑦 2 + 𝑦 + 2 − 3𝑦 3 + 𝑦 2 + 3𝑦 − 3 + 𝑥
b) 2𝑥𝑦 2 − 5𝑥 2 𝑦 + 𝑥𝑦 2 − 3𝑥 + 5𝑥 2 𝑦
c) (4𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 3) − (6𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 + 9)
d) Subtract (−3𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 + 4) from (𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 + 2)

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Grade 9 Mathematics: Algebraic expressions

Multiplication and division

Numbers outside the brackets must be multiplied into the brackets (distributed). Note: The
e.g. 2(3𝑥 + 4) 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 2 × (3𝑥 + 4) result would be
the same if the
= 2 × 3𝑥 + 2 × 4 ← 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 expression was
(3𝑥 + 4)2
= 6𝑥 + 8 ← 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑

Multiplication of two binomials

e.g. (5𝑥 − 2)(4𝑥 + 3)
= 5𝑥(4𝑥 + 3) − 2(4𝑥 + 3) ← 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡

= 20𝑥 2 + 15𝑥 − 8𝑥 − 6 ← 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠

= 20𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 6 ← 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟

The same result can be achieved by using the acronym FOIL

This when you take the First, Outer, Inner and Last terms from the brackets and multiply them together
respectively.
e.g. (5𝑥 − 2)(4𝑥 + 3)
= (5𝑥 × 4𝑥) + (5𝑥 × 3) + (−2 × 4𝑥) + (−2 × 3) ← 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛

= 20𝑥 2 + 15𝑥 − 8𝑥 −6
= 20𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 6
Division by a monomial
9𝑥 3 +3𝑥 2 −𝑥
e.g. 3𝑥

9𝑥 3 3𝑥 2 𝑥
= + − 3𝑥 ← 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟
3𝑥 3𝑥
1
= 3𝑥 + 𝑥 − 3

Remember to apply the laws of exponents when multiplying or dividing in expressions. Also remember
to follow the correct order when dealing with multiple operations.
e.g. 3𝑥 + 2𝑥(𝑥 + 4) ← 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑑 3𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 2𝑥 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

= 3𝑥 + 2𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 ← 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑦 2𝑥 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡

= 2𝑥 2 + 11𝑥 ← 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟

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Grade 9 Mathematics: Algebraic expressions

Exercise 2: Simplify
1. 2𝑎 − 2𝑎 2. 3𝑎𝑏𝑐 − 5𝑏𝑐𝑎 + 𝑐𝑏𝑎

3. (3𝑥 3 )2 + √16𝑥 2 − 8𝑥 4 4. 4(2𝑥 − 3)

5. 3𝑝(2𝑝 − 5) + 2(3𝑝 − 2) 6. 𝑥(𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 3)
7. −2(3 − 4𝑦) 8. (2𝑥 − 5)(2𝑥 + 5)
9. (𝑦 + 3𝑥)(2𝑦 − 3𝑥) 10. (3𝑦 + 5)2
11. (4𝑎2 + 2𝑏)(4𝑎 − 3𝑏 + 5) 12.
1
𝑎𝑏 (
14𝑎2 𝑏
+
8𝑎𝑏 3
)
2 𝑏 𝑎
15𝑎𝑏 2 +3𝑎2 𝑏𝑐 3 −27𝑎𝑏𝑐
13. 14. (2𝑥 2 𝑦 + 8𝑥𝑦 3 ) ÷ 4𝑥𝑦
3𝑎𝑏
15. Given 𝑎 = −1; 𝑏 = 2; 𝑐 = 0 evaluate: 5𝑎𝑏 + 2𝑐 − 𝑎2

Factorisation
Factorisation is the opposite of distribution, you need to find out what are the factors of the expression. For
example the factors of 2𝑥 2 + 6𝑥 are 2𝑥 and (𝑥 + 3) because you have to multiply 2𝑥(𝑥 + 3) to get
2𝑥 2 + 6𝑥.
The types of factorisation that will be dealt with in grade 9 are: Highest Common Factor (HCF), Grouping (a
form of HCF), Difference Of Two Squares, and Trinomial.
The following are all examples where you have to factorise.

Highest common factor

e.g. 21𝑥 3 − 15𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 ← 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝐶𝐹 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 3𝑥 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒

= 3𝑥(7𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 1) ← 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 left over" 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡

The terms in the bracket come from dividing the terms in the original expression by the highest
common factor that was found i.e. 21𝑥 3 ÷ 3𝑥 = 7𝑥 2 ; −15𝑥 2 ÷ 3𝑥 = 5𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 3𝑥 ÷ 3𝑥 = 1.
Note: the number and/ or variable outside the bracket must always be the highest common factor not just
any common factor; and the number of terms inside the bracket should be the same as the number of terms
in the original expression.

Grouping
Sometimes some terms have something in common and other terms have something else in
common, this is where grouping is used.
e.g. 2𝑥 + 4𝑦 − 𝑏𝑥 − 2𝑏𝑦 ← 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛

= 2(𝑥 + 2𝑦) − 𝑏(𝑥 + 2𝑦) ← 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 (𝑥 + 2𝑦) 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛

= (𝑥 + 2𝑦)(2 − 𝑏)

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Grade 9 Mathematics: Algebraic expressions

Difference Of Two Squares

This type of factorisation can only be used when the following three conditions are met. The
expression must only have two terms, the terms must be separated by a minus sign and all the
numbers and variables must be square numbers and variables.
e.g. 16𝑥 2 − 9𝑦 4 ← 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑

= (4𝑥 − 3𝑦 2 )(4𝑥 + 3𝑦 2 )
The form of these answers are two brackets each containing two terms.
The numbers and variables in the brackets must be the same but the signs must be different i.e.
one bracket has a plus and one has a minus but they both have 4𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 3𝑦 2 .
It does not matter if you put the plus in the first bracket and minus in the second or the other way
around.
The way to determine which numbers and variables go inside the bracket is by finding the square
roots of the terms in the original expression i.e. √16𝑥 2 = 4𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 √9𝑦 4 = 3𝑦 2 .

Trinomial
This type of factorisation can only be used for expression with the form 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 where
𝑎, 𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐 are constants (numbers).
e.g. 𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 + 12 ← 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑎 = 1, 𝑏 = 8 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐 = 12

= (𝑥 + 6)(𝑥 + 2)
The form of these answers are also two binomials.
The variables and numbers inside the brackets come from the factors of the first and last terms in
the original expression. i.e. 𝑥 2 = 𝑥 × 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 12 = 6 × 2.
Note: the pairs of factors we can use to get 12 are 12 × 1 𝑜𝑟 6 × 2 𝑜𝑟 4 × 3 but we have to
use 6 and 2 because they can add to give the coefficient of the second term (8) in the original
expression.
More examples
a) 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 − 15 b) 𝑥 2 − 9𝑥 + 20
= (𝑥 + 5)(𝑥 − 3) = (𝑥 − 5)(𝑥 − 4)
↑ 5 × (−3) = −15 𝑎𝑛𝑑 5 + (−3) = 2 ↑ (−5) × (−4) = 20 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (−5) + (−4) = −9

c) 2𝑥 2 + 15𝑥 − 8 ← 2𝑥 × 𝑥 = 2𝑥 2 ; (−1) × 8 = −8
and we have to consider how the factors have to work
= (2𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 + 8) together to get the second term from the question. You need
to figure out which factors to use if there is more than one pair
and figure out in which bracket to put each number. This is
↑ 2𝑥 × 8 = 16𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (−1) × 𝑥 = −𝑥
because the coefficient of 𝑥 2 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 1
16𝑥 + (−𝑥) = 15𝑥

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Grade 9 Mathematics: Algebraic expressions

Note: always check is terms have common factors and take out the HCF first, then do other types
of factorisation if possible.
Factorisation answers can always be checked by multiplying out the factors and checking that it
is the same as the original question that was given.
e.g. factorise 4𝑥 3 + 12𝑥 2 check: 4𝑥 2 × 𝑥 + 4𝑥 2 × 3
= 4𝑥 2 (𝑥 + 3) = 4𝑥 3 + 12𝑥 2
Exercise 3
1. Factorise by taking out the highest common factor.
a) −9𝑎 + 3𝑏 − 6𝑎𝑏 b) 12𝑝2 𝑞 − 60𝑝𝑞 2 + 48𝑝2 𝑞 2
c) 12𝑎𝑏 − 15𝑎 + 16𝑏 2 − 20𝑎𝑏 d) 8𝑎(3𝑏 − 𝑐) + 7𝑐(𝑐 − 3𝑏)

2. Factorise using the difference of two squares method.

a) 9𝑎2 − 64𝑏 2 b) 16𝑎4 − 1
6
c) 81 − 121𝑥 d) (3𝑎 + 𝑏)2 − 𝑐 2

3. Factorise using the trinomial method.

a) 𝑥 2 + 14𝑥 + 40 b) 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 − 20
c) 𝑥 2 − 12𝑥 + 36 d) 3𝑥 2 + 11𝑥 + 10

4. Factorise fully (use any method necessary)

a) 𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 − 7 b) 3𝑥 2 − 12
2
c) 75𝑥𝑦 + 25𝑥𝑦 d) 3𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 − 60
5 1
e) 𝑥 2 + 6 𝑥 + 6 f) 4𝑥 2 − 36𝑦 8

5. Simplify these algebraic fractions. Remember to factorise where possible.

𝑥 2 −16
e.g. 𝑥 2 +6𝑥+8 ← 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟
(𝑥−4)(𝑥+4)
= (𝑥+4)(𝑥+2) ← (𝑥 + 4) 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑝 ÷ (𝑥 + 4) 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 = 1 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 "𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙"
𝑥−4
= 𝑥+2

4𝑥+2 𝑥 2 +9𝑥+14
a) b)
𝑥 2 −1 𝑥 2 +11𝑥+28
3𝑥+24 𝑥 2 −36 𝑥 2 +3𝑥+2 9𝑥+27
c) × 𝑥 2 +14𝑥+48 d) ×
𝑥 2 −16 8𝑥+8 𝑥 2 −9
𝑥 2 +8𝑥+15 𝑥 2 −25 𝑥 2 −9 𝑥 2 +3𝑥−10 (𝑥−3)(𝑥−2)
e) ÷ 6𝑥 2 +42𝑥 f) × ÷ 3(𝑥+3)(𝑥+1)2
3𝑥 2 +9𝑥 3𝑥+15 𝑥 2 +2𝑥+1

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