Algebraic Method

Algebraic Method is a general term for various tools and techniques that will help us solve more complex exercises in the future. It is mostly concern about using algebraic operations to isolate variables and solve equations. This approach is fundamental for solving equations in various mathematical contexts.

Distributive Property

This property helps us to clear parentheses and assists us with more complex calculations. Let's remember how it works. Generally, we will write it like this:

$Z\times(X+Y)=ZX+ZY$

$Z\times(X-Y)=ZX-ZY$

Extended Distributive Property

The extended distributive property is very similar to the distributive property, but it allows us to solve exercises with expressions in parentheses that are multiplied by other expressions in parentheses.
It looks like this:

$(a+b)\times(c+d)=ac+ad+bc+bd$

Factoring

The factoring method is very important. It will help us move from an expression with several terms to one that includes only one by taking out the common factor from within the parentheses.
For example:
$2A + 4B$

This expression consists of two terms. We can factor it by reducin by the greatest common factor. In this case, it's the $2$ .
We will write it as follows:

$2A+4B=2\times(A+2B)$

In this article, we’ll explain each of these topics in detail, But each of these topics will be explained even more in detail in their respective articles.

Detailed explanation

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Test yourself on algebraic technique!

Resolve -

$$ (x-3)(x-6)= $$

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Reiteration: Powers

Let's return to the essential points within the topic of exponents:

In fact, exponents are a shorthand way of writing the multiplication of a number by itself several times. It looks like this:
$4^5$

$4$ is the number that is multiplied by itself. It is called the Base of the exponent.
$5$ represents the number of times the multiplication of the base is repeated and it is called the Exponent.

That is, in our example:
$4^5=4\times4\times4\times4\times4$

Let's remember that any number raised to the power of $1$ equals the number itself
That is:

$4^1=4$

And remember that any number raised to the power of $0$ equals $1$
$4^0=1$

Mathematical definition to the power of $0$ .

An important point to note is the difference between an exponent inside brackets and an exponent outside brackets. For example, what is the difference between

$(-4)^2$ and $-4^2$
It is an important case that could be confusing. When the exponent is outside of the brackets, as in the first case, you have to raise the entire expression to the given exponent, that is

$(-4)^2=(-4)\times(-4)=16$

Conversely, in the second case, one must first calculate the exponent and then deal with the negative sign. That is:

$-4^2=-(4\times4)=-16$

Also remember that exponents come before four of the operations in the order of mathematical operations, but not before parentheses.

For example:
$3\times(4-2)^2=3\times(2)^2=3\times4=12$

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The Distributive Property

We usually encounter the distributive property around the age of $12$ . This property is useful for clearing parentheses and assists with more complex calculations. Let's remember how it works. Generally, we write it as:

$Z \times (X + Y) = ZX + ZY$

$Z \times (X - Y) = ZX - ZY$

Now let’s look at some examples with numbers to understand the formula.

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Test your knowledge

Question 1

Solve the exercise:

$$ (2y-3)(y-4)= $$

Question 2

Solve the exercise:

$$ (3x-1)(x+2)= $$

Question 3

Solve the exercise:

$$ (5x-2)(3+x)= $$

Example 1: Distributive Property

$6\times26=6\times(20+6)=6\times20+6\times6=120+36=156$

We used the distributive property to solve a problem that would have been more difficult to compute directly.
We can also use the distributive property with division operations.

Example 2: Distributive Property

$104:4=(100+4):4= 100:4 + 4:4 = 25+1 = 26$

Once again, the distributive property has helped us to simplify a problem that, if solved step by step in a straightforward manner, would have been slightly more complex.

Do you know what the answer is?

Question 1

$(3+20)\times(12+4)=$

Question 2

$(12+2)\times(3+5)=$

Question 3

$(35+4)\times(10+5)=$

Example 3: Distributive Property with Variables

Clear the parentheses by applying the distributive property.
$3a\times(2b+5)=$

We will pay close attention to multiplying the term outside the parentheses by each of the terms inside the parentheses according to the correct order of operations.

Example 3- Distributive property with variables

Factoring: Taking Out the Common Factor from Parentheses

The method of eliminating a common factor is very important. It will help us move from an expression with several terms to one that includes only one.
For example, let's look at the expression:

$2A + 4B$

This expression is now composed of two terms. We can factorize it by eliminating the greatest common term. In this case, it's the number $2$ .
We will write it as follows:

$2A+4B=2\times(A+2B)$

We will realize that we have moved from a situation in which we had two parts being added together, to a situation with multiplication. This procedure is called factorization.
We can use the distributive property we mentioned earlier to do the reverse process. Multiply the $2$ by each of the terms inside the parentheses:

Factorization - Extracting the common term outside of the parentheses

In certain cases we might prefer an expression with multiplication, and in other cases one with addition.
In the article that elaborates on this topic, you can see more examples regarding this.

Check your understanding

Question 1

Expand the following expression:

$$ (x+4)(x+3)= $$

Question 2

$$ (a+b)(c+d)= $$ ?

Question 3

$$ (2x+y)(x+3)= $$

Extended Distributive Property

$(a+b)\times(c+d)=ac+ad+bc+bd$

How does the extended distributive property work?

Step 1: Multiply the first term of the first parentheses by each of the terms in the second parentheses.
Step 2: Multiply the second term of the first parentheses by each of the terms in the second parentheses.
Step 3: Combine like terms.

Example:

$(a+2)\times(3+a)=$

Phase 1: Let's multiply a by each of the terms in the second set of parentheses.

Phase 1- Let's multiply a by each of the terms inside the second parentheses

Do you think you will be able to solve it?

Question 1

$$ (a+4)(c+3)= $$

Question 2

$$ (x+13)(y+4)= $$

Question 3

Solve the following problem:

$$ (x-8)(x+y)= $$

Phase 2: Let's multiply the 2 by each of the terms in the second parentheses.

Phase 2 - Multiply 2 by each of the terms in the second parentheses

Phase 3: Let's organize the terms and, if there are similar ones, let's associate them.

$(a+2)\times(3+a)=3a+a^2+6+2a=a^2+5a+6$

In the full article about the extended distributive property, you can find detailed explanations and many more examples.

Examples and exercises with solutions for the Algebraic Method

Exercise #1

Resolve -

$(x-3)(x-6)=$

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we will expand the expression $(x-3)(x-6)$ using the distributive property, which involves the following steps:

Step 1: Multiply the first terms of each binomial
$(x)(x) = x^2$
Step 2: Multiply the outer terms of the binomials
$(x)(-6) = -6x$
Step 3: Multiply the inner terms of the binomials
$(-3)(x) = -3x$
Step 4: Multiply the last terms of each binomial
$(-3)(-6) = 18$
Step 5: Combine all the products
$x^2 - 6x - 3x + 18$
Step 6: Combine like terms
$-6x - 3x = -9x$ , so we have
$x^2 - 9x + 18$

Therefore, the expanded form of $(x-3)(x-6)$ is $\boxed{x^2 - 9x + 18}$ .

Therefore, the solution to the problem is $x^2 - 9x + 18$ . This corresponds to choice 1.

Answer

$x^2-9x+18$

Exercise #2

Solve the exercise:

$(2y-3)(y-4)=$

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve the algebraic expression $(2y-3)(y-4)$ , we will apply the distributive property, also known as the FOIL method for binomials. This involves multiplying each term in the first binomial by each term in the second binomial.

Step 1: Multiply the first terms: $2y \times y = 2y^2$ .
Step 2: Multiply the outer terms: $2y \times -4 = -8y$ .
Step 3: Multiply the inner terms: $-3 \times y = -3y$ .
Step 4: Multiply the last terms: $-3 \times -4 = 12$ .

Next, we combine all these results: $2y^2 - 8y - 3y + 12$ .

Then, we combine the like terms $-8y$ and $-3y$ to get $-11y$ .

Therefore, the expanded expression is $2y^2 - 11y + 12$ .

This matches choice (3): $2y^2 - 11y + 12$ .

Thus, the solution to the problem is $2y^2 - 11y + 12$ .

Answer

$2y^2-11y+12$

Exercise #3

Solve the exercise:

$(3x-1)(x+2)=$

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll apply the distributive property to expand the expression $(3x-1)(x+2)$ . Below are the steps:

Step 1: Distribute each term in the first binomial to each term in the second binomial:

$3x(x) + 3x(2) + (-1)(x) + (-1)(2)$

Step 2: Calculate each term:

$3x^2 + 6x - x - 2$

Step 3: Combine like terms:

$3x^2 + (6x - x) - 2 = 3x^2 + 5x - 2$

Thus, the expanded expression is $3x^2 + 5x - 2$ .

The correct answer choice is $3x^2 + 5x - 2$ , corresponding to choice id="4".

Answer

$3x^2+5x-2$

Exercise #4

Solve the exercise:

$(5x-2)(3+x)=$

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve the problem $(5x-2)(3+x)$ , we will use the distributive property, specifically the FOIL (First, Outer, Inner, Last) method, to expand the expression:

Step 1: Multiply the First terms: $5x \times 3 = 15x$ .
Step 2: Multiply the Outer terms: $5x \times x = 5x^2$ .
Step 3: Multiply the Inner terms: $-2 \times 3 = -6$ .
Step 4: Multiply the Last terms: $-2 \times x = -2x$ .

Now combine all these products together:

$5x^2 + 15x - 2x - 6$

Combine the like terms $15x$ and $-2x$ :

$5x^2 + (15x - 2x) - 6 = 5x^2 + 13x - 6$

Thus, the expanded form of the expression is $5x^2 + 13x - 6$ .

Answer

$5x^2+13x-6$

Exercise #5

$(3+20)\times(12+4)=$

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Simplify this expression paying attention to the order of arithmetic operations. Exponentiation precedes multiplication whilst division precedes addition and subtraction. Parentheses precede all of the above.

Therefore, let's first start by simplifying the expressions within the parentheses. Then we can proceed to perform the multiplication between them:

$(3+20)\cdot(12+4)=\\ 23\cdot16=\\ 368$

Therefore, the correct answer is option A.

Answer

368

Test your knowledge

Question 1

Solve the following problem:

$$ (12-x)(x-3)= $$

Question 2

Solve the following problem:

$$ (a+15)(5+a)= $$

Question 3

Resolve -

$$ (x-3)(x-6)= $$

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Algebraic Method