MODULE 1: ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS

Objectives:

At the end of this module, the students will be able to:

1. Evaluate algebraic expressions.
2. Break an expression into terms and identifying similar terms.
3. Apply the fundamental operations to algebraic terms.
4. Simplify algebraic expressions.

Introduction:

In arithmetic, sometimes a box, a blank space, or a question mark stands for an

unknown number, as in 2+3 = , 9-___ = 5, or ?  6=18. But in algebra, a letter such as x
stands for an unknown number. A letter in algebra is called a variable because its value ca
nvary from one problem to the next. For instance, in the equation 10  x  8 , x has a value
of 2 because 10  2  8 . But in the equation 2( x)  12 , x has a value of 6 because 2  6  12.

Here are a few algebra conventions you should know:

 Multiplication: When multiplying by a variable, you rarely use the multiplication
operator  or  . As in arithmetic, you can use parenthesis without an operator to
express multiplication. For example, 3( x) means 3  x . Often, the multiplication
operator is dropped altogether. For example, 3 x means 3  x .
 Division: The fraction bar replaces the division sign, so to express x  5 , you write
x
either or x .
5 5
 Powers: Algebra commonly uses exponents to show a variable multiplied by itself. So to
express x  x , you write x 2 rather tan xx . To express xxx , you write x 3 .
An exponent applies only to the variable that it follows, so in the expression 2xy 2 , only the
y is squared. To make the exponent apply to both variables, you had have to group them in
parentheses, as in 2( xy ) 2 .

Pre-test:

For numbers 1-2, Evaluate the following algebraic expressions:

1. x  2 x  5 when x  3.
2

2.
3 x 2  2 xy 4  y 3 when x  5 and y  2
2
3. In the expression 3 x  2 x  9 , which terms are algebraic and which are constants.
4 3 2
4. Identify the coefficient of every term in the expression 2 x  5 x  x  x  9.
2 2
5. Add 4 x y  9 x y.
4 4
6. Subtract  2xy and  20xy .
2
7. Multiply 2 x(4 xy )(5 y ).

1
 6 x3 y 2
8. What is 3 xy 2 ?
3 2 5 4
9. Simplify the expression  x ( x  x)  ( x  x )
2 3
10. Simplify the expression 3  4 x( x  1)( x  5)  2 x

Pre-test Feedback:
1. 8 6. 18xy 4
2. 227 7. 40 x 2 y 3
2
3. Algebraic terms: 3 x 2 ,2 x constant:  9 8.
x2
4. 2,5,1,1,9 9.  2x 5
5. 13 x 2 y 10.  4 x 4  22 x 2  4 x 2  20 x  3

Evaluation of Values of Algebraic Expression

An arithmetic expression is any sequence of numbers and operators that make sense
when placed on one side of an equal sign. An algebraic expression is similar, except that is
includes at least one variable (such as x). Just as with arithmetic expressions, an algebraic
expression can be evaluated --- that is, reduced to a single number In algebra, however the
answer depends on the value of the variable.
Here’s how to evaluate an algebraic expression when you are given a value for every
variable:
1. Substitute the proper value for every variable in the expression.
2. Evaluate the expression using the order of operations.
EXAMPLE 1: Evaluate the following algebraic expressions:
a. x 2  5 x  4 , when x  3 Answer: 28.
b. 5 x 4  x 3  x 2 _ 10 x  8 when x  2 . Answer: 48.

Knowing the terms of Separation

Algebraic expressions begin to make more sense when you understand how they are
put together, and the best way to understand this is take them apart and know what each
part is called. Every algebraic expression can be broken into one more terms. A term is any
chunk of symbols set off from the rest of the expression by either an addition or subtraction
sign. For example:
 The expression  7 x  2 xy has two terms:  7 x and 2 xy
x2 4 4 x2
 The expression x   2 x  2 has four terms x , ,2 x and 2/
5 5
2 3 4 2 3 4
 The expression 8 x y x has only one term 8 x y x
Remember:
When you separate an algebraic expression into terms, group the plus or minus sign
with the term that immediately follows it. Then you can rearrange terms in any order you like.
After the terms are separated, you can drop the plus signs.

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 When a term does not have a variable, it is called a constant. (Constant is just a fancy
word for number when you are talking about terms in an expression.) When a term has a
variable, it is called an algebraic term. Every algebraic term has two parts:
 The coefficient is he signed numerical part of a term -- that is, the number and the sign
(+ or -) that go with that term. Typically, the coefficients 1 and  1 , depending on the
sign of that term. The coefficient of a constant is the constant itself.
 The variable part is everything else other than the coefficient.
Remember:
When two terms have the same variable part, they are called similar terms, or like
terms. For two terms to be similar, both the letters and their exponents have t o be exact
matches. Check out some examples:

Variable Part Examples of Similar Terms

x 2x  12 x 834 x
3
x2 5x 2 x2 19.5 x 2
4
5
xy  17 xy 1,000 xy xy
8
x 3 yz 2 100 x 3 yz 2  33.3 x 3 yz 2  x 3 yz 2
3
None 7  4 .9
10
Notice that constant terms are all similar to each other because they all have no variable
part.

Adding and Subtracting Similar Terms

You can add and subtract only similar algebraic terms (see the preceding section ). In
other words, the variable parts need to match. To add two similar terms, simply add the
coefficients and keep the variable parts of the terms the same. Subtraction works much the
same: Find the difference between their coefficients and keep the same variable part.
Examples: 3 x  5 x  8 x ; 24 x 3  7 x 3  17 x 3

Multiplying and Dividing Terms

Unlike addition and subtraction, you can multiply any two algebraic terms, whether they
are similar or dissimilar terms. Multiply two terms by multiplying their coefficients and
collecting all the variables in each term into a single term. (When you collect the variables,
you are simply using exponents to give a count of how many x’s, y’s, and so on appeared in
the original terms.)

Tip: A fast way to multiply variables with exponents is to add the exponents or identical
variables together.
You can also divide any two algebraic terms. Division in algebra is usually represented
as a fraction. Dividing is similar to reducing a fraction to lowest terms:

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1. Reduce the coefficients to lowest terms as you would any other fraction.
2. Cancel out variables that appear in both the numerator and the denominator.

Tip: A fast way to divide to subtract the exponents of identical variables. For each variable,
subtract the exponent in the numerator minus the exponent in the denominator. When a
resulting exponent is a negative number, move that variable to the denominator and remove
the minus sign.

Simplifying Expressions by Combining Similar Terms

Although an algebraic expression may have any number of terms, you can sometimes
make it smaller and easier to work with. This process is called simplifying an expression. To
simplify, you combine similar terms, which means you add or subtract any terms that have
identical variable parts.

Warning:

In some expressions, similar terms may not all be next to each other. In this case, you
may want to rearrange the terms to place all similar terms together before combining them.

When rearranging terms, you must keep the sign (+,-) with the term that follows it.

To finish you usually rearrange the answer alphabetically, from highest exponent to
lowest, and place any constant last. In other words, if your answer is
 5  4 y 3  x 2  2 x  3 xy, you had rearrange it to read x 2  2 x  3 xy  4 y 3  5. (This step does
not change the answer, but it kind of cleans it up, so teachers love it.)

Examples: Simplify the following algebraic expressions:

1. 4 x 2  3 x  2  x  7 x 2 Answer:  3 x 2  2 x  2
2. 3 x 2  5 x 2  2 x  8 x  1 Answer: 8 x 2  6 x  1

Simplifying Expressions with Parentheses

When an expression contains parenthesis, you need to get rid of the parentheses before
you can simplify the expression. Here are the four possible cases:
 Parenthesis preceded by a plus sign (+): Just remove the parentheses. After that, you
may be able to simplify the expression further by combining similar terms.
 Parenthesis preceded by a minus sign (-): Change every term inside the parentheses
to the opposite sign; then remove the parentheses.. After that the parentheses are gone,
combine similar terms.
 Parentheses preceded by no sign ( a term directly next to set of parentheses):
Multiply the term next to the parentheses by every term inside the parentheses (make
sure you include the plus or minus signs in your terms); then drop the parentheses.
Simplify by combining similar terms.
To multiply by identical variables simply add the exponents. For instance,
x( x 2 )  x1 2  x 3 .
 Two sets of adjacent parentheses: I discuss this case in the next section.

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Examples: Simplify the following algebraic expressions:
1. 7 x  ( x 2  6 x  4)  5 Answer: x 2  x  1
2. x  3 x( x 3  4 x 2  2)  8 x 4 Answer: 5 x 4  12 x 3  5 x

FOILing: Dealing with Two Sets of Parentheses

When an expression has two sets of parentheses next to each other, you need to
multiply every term inside the first set of parentheses by every term in the second set. This
process is called FOILing. The word FOIL is a memory device for the words First, Outside,
Inside, Last’, which may helps keep track of the multiplication when both sets of parentheses
have two terms each.
When two sets of adjacent parentheses are part of a larger expression, FOIL the
contents of the parenthesis and place the results into one set of parentheses. Then remove
this set of parentheses using one of the rules I show you in the preceding section.

Examples: Simplify the following algebraic expressions:

1. ( x  4)( x  3) Answer: x 2  x  1
2. x 2  (2 x  5(3 x  1)  9 Answer: 7 x 2  17 x  14

Practice Exercise:

For numbers 1-5, Evaluate the following expressions:

abc
1. , if a  4, b  5, and c  9
ca
2. 1  3 x 3  x, if x  3
a b ba
3.  , when a  10, and b  5
a 5
4. 5(1  rt )  r , if r  5 and t  6
x
5. 2 x  5 y  , given x  15 and y  5
y
For numbers 6-7, write down all the terms in the given expressions. Which are algebraic
terms, and which are constants?
6. 7 x 2 yz  10 xy 2  y  z  2
7.  2 x 5  6 x 4  x 3  x 2  8 x  17
8. Name every coefficient in the expression  x 3 y 3 z 3  x 2 y 2 z 2  xyz  x .
9. In the expression 12 x 3  7 x 2  2 x  x 2  8 x 4  99 x  99 , identify sets of similar terms.
For numbers 10-14, add the following expressions:
10. p 2  7 pq  q 2 and  3 p 2  2 pq  7 q 2
11. x 3  x 2 y  xy 2  y 3 and x 3  2 x 2 y  3 xy 2  4 y
12. p 2  q  r , q 2  r  p, and r 2  p  q
13. x 3 y 2  x 2 y 3  3y 4 and x 4  3 x 2 y 3  4 y 4
14. a 2  3ab  bc, b 2  3bc  ca, and c 2  3ca  ab

5
For numbers 15-18, subtract the following expressions:
15.  7 p 2 qr from  3 p 2 qr .
16.  4 x 2 y  y 3 from x 3  3 xy 2  x 2 y.
17. ab  bc  ca from  ab  bc  ca.
18.  2a 2  2b 2 from  a 2  b 2  2ab.
For numbers 19-22,find the product the following expressions:
19. (6 x 2 y 3 )(4 x 4 y 2 )
20. 5r 2 s 2 (2r 2  3rs  4 s 2 )
2 
21. 12 m  4n 
3 
22. 3 xy ( x 2  xy  y 2 )
For numbers 23-26,find the quotient the following expressions:
 24 x 2 y
23.
 3 xy
8a 3  4 a 2
24.
 4a 2
b 2  5b  6
25.
b3
y2  3y  2
26.
y2
For numbers 27-30,simplify the following expressions:
27. (9 x  5 y )(2 x  3 y )
28. (2 x  1)(3 x  4)( x  3)
29. 8 x 2  (4 x  3)(2 x  1)
30. aa  2 a  2   4

Homework: Answer the following as indicated.

For numbers 1-5, Evaluate the following expressions:

1. 2(a  5)  4, , when a  6 .
2a  b
2. , if a  5 and b  4
a b
2
3. (a  b)(a  c), when a  2, b  and c 
3
4
3
1
4. a  b  c  d  if a  1, b  4, c  2 and d  6
2
1
5. 2c  m  1 given c  2 and m 
2

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For numbers 6-7, write down all the terms in the given expressions. Which are algebraic
terms, and which are constants?
6. 10 xyz  7 xy 2 z  9 xyz  2 xy 2 z  2 x 2 y 2 z 2  10
7.  6 x 5  9 x 4  x 3  5 x 2  4 x  2
8. Name every coefficient in the expression x 3 y 2 z , xy 2 z 3 ,3 xy 2 z 3 ,5 x 3 y 2 z .
9. In the expression 3 x 2 yz 2 ,3 xy 2 z , x 2 yz 2 ,7 xy 2 z , identify sets of similar terms.

For numbers 10-11, add the following expressions:

10. t  t 2  t 3  14;15t 3  13  9t  8t 2 ;12t 2  19  24t and 4t  9t 2  19t 3
5 4 5 1 9
11. p  2 p 2  ;  17 p  p 2 and p 5  p 3  7
8 8 8 8
For numbers 12-13, subtract the following expressions:
12. 11  15 y 2 from y 3  15 y 2  y  11 .
13. x 3 y 2  3 x 2 y 2  7 xy 3 from x 4  y 4  3 x 2 y 2  xy 3 .
For numbers 14-15,find the product the following expressions:
14. (2c  1)(2c 2  3c  1)
15. (3  2a  a 2 )(5  2a )
For numbers16-17,find the quotient the following expressions:
5x 2 y3
16.
 5 y3
15t 2  19t  56
17.
5t  7
For numbers 18-20,simplify the following expressions:
18. ( x  4)( x  3)  ( x  2)(( x  5)
19. ( x  7)( x  2)  x 2
18d 3  12d 2
20.
6d

Post test:
For numbers 1-2, Evaluate the following algebraic expressions:

1. x 2
 2x  5 when x  3.

2.
3 x 2  2 xy 4  y 3 when x  5 and y  2
2
3. In the expression 3 x  2 x  9 , which terms are algebraic and which are constants.
4 3 2
4. Identify the coefficient of every term in the expression 2 x  5 x  x  x  9.
2 2
5. Add 4 x y  9 x y.
4 4
6. Subtract  2xy and  20xy .
2
7. Multiply 2 x(4 xy )(5 y ).

7
 6 x3 y 2
8. What is 3 xy 2 ?
3 2 5 4
9. Simplify the expression  x ( x  x)  ( x  x )
2 3
10. Simplify the expression 3  4 x( x  1)( x  5)  2 x

Post test Feedback:

1. 8 6. 18xy 4
2. 227 7. 40 x 2 y 3
2
3. Algebraic terms: 3 x 2 ,2 x constant:  9 8.
x2
4. 2,5,1,1,9 9.  2x 5
5. 13 x 2 y 10.  4 x 4  22 x 2  4 x 2  20 x  3