The distributive property allows us to remove parentheses and simplify an expression, even if there is more than one set of parentheses.
In order to get rid of of the parentheses, we will multiply each term of the first parentheses by each term of the second parentheses, paying special attention to the addition/ subtraction signs.
For example:
(5+8)×(7+2)
Using the distributive property, we can simplify the expression.
All we need to do is to multiply each of the terms in the first parentheses by each of the terms in the second parentheses:
(5+8)×(7+2)=
5×7+5×2+8×7+8×2=
35+10+56+16=
117
Basic distributive property
Let's take a moment to remember our basic distributive property.
Below we can see the formula:
a×(b+c)=ab+ac
Here, we have multiplied a by each of the terms inside the parentheses, keeping the same order.
Extended distributive property
Now we will apply the same concept in the extended distributive property. This allows us to solve exercises with two sets of parentheses.
For example: (a+b)×(c+d)=ac+ad+bc+bd
How does the extended distributive property work?
Step 1: Multiply the first term in the first parentheses by each of the terms in the second parentheses.
Step 2: Multiply the second term in the first parentheses by each of the terms in the second parentheses.
Step 3: Associate like terms.
Example 1
Step 1: Multiply A by each of the terms included in the second parentheses.
Step 2: Multiply 2 by each of the terms included in the second parentheses.
Step 3: Order the terms and combine like terms, if any:
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Test your knowledge
Question 1
Solve the exercise:
\( (2y-3)(y-4)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 2y^2-11y+12 \)
Question 2
Solve the exercise:
\( (3x-1)(x+2)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 3x^2+5x-2 \)
Question 3
Solve the exercise:
\( (5x-2)(3+x)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 5x^2+13x-6 \)
Example 2: What do we do with a minus sign?
So, what do we do when we see a minus sign in one or both of the parentheses? Do we do anything different?
The method is the same! The only difference is that we need to make sure to put out minus/ negative signs in the right places when we distribute.
It can helpful to remember that a "minus sign" is the same as saying "plus a negative number."
For example, 4−2=4+(−2)=2
Let's look at the exercise:
Step 1: Multiply A by each of the terms included inside the second parentheses.
Step 2: Multiply 5 by each of the terms included inside the second parentheses.
Pay attention to the signs of each of the terms! For example, we will see that, −5 times −3 equals +15.
In this case, there are no terms that we want to combine.
Example 3
Task:
Find the value of X:
(X+2)2=(X+5)×(X−2)
Let's look at the left side of the equation and simplify:
(X+2)2=(X+2)×(X+2)
Now we can use the extended distributive property on each side of the equation.
Now the equation looks like this:
(X+2)×(X+2)=(X+5)×(X−2)
After applying the distributive property:
X2+2X+2X+4=X2–2X+5X–10
Let's reduce, combine like terms and arrange the equation.
We will get:
X=−14
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Do you know what the answer is?
Question 1
\( (3+20)\times(12+4)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
368
Question 2
\( (12+2)\times(3+5)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
112
Question 3
\( (35+4)\times(10+5)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
585
Exercises using the distributive property
Exercise 1
Assignment:
A painter has a canvas with the following dimensions:
(23x+12) length
(20x+7) width
What is the area the painter needs to paint?
Solution:
We multiply the length of the canvas by the width to find the area.
(23x+12)×(20x+7)=
Multiply each term in the first parentheses by each term in the second parentheses.
23x×20x+23x×7+12×20x+12×7=
We solve accordingly
460x2+161x+240x+84=
460x2+401x+84
Answer:
460x2+401x+84
Exercise 2
Task:
Find the area of the following rectangle:
Leave variables in your answer.
Solution:
To find the area we multiply the width by the length.
3y×(y+3z)=
Multiply 3y by each of the terms in parentheses.
3y×y+3y×3z=
Solve accordingly
3y2+9yz
Answer:
3y2+9yz
Check your understanding
Question 1
Expand the following expression:
\( (x+4)(x+3)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( x^2+7x+12 \)
Question 2
\( (a+b)(c+d)= \) ?
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( \text{ac + ad}+bc+bd \)
Question 3
\( (2x+y)(x+3)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 2x^2+xy+6x+3y \)
Exercise 3
Task:
(3+20)×(12+4)=
Solution:
We multiply each of the terms in the first parentheses by the terms in the second parentheses.
3×12+3×4+20×12+20×4=
Solve accordingly
36+12+240+80=
We add everything together
48+320=368
Answer:
368
Exercise 4
Task:
(12+2)×(3+5)=
Solution:
We multiply each of the terms in the first parentheses by the terms of the second parentheses.
12×3+12×5+2×3+2×5=
Solve accordingly
36+60+6+10=
We add everything together
96+16=112
Answer:
112
Do you think you will be able to solve it?
Question 1
\( (a+4)(c+3)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( ac+3a+4c+12 \)
Question 2
\( (x+13)(y+4)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( xy+4x+13y+52 \)
Question 3
Solve the following problem:
\( (x-8)(x+y)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( x^2+xy-8x-8y \)
Exercise 5
Task:
(7x+4)×(3x+4)=
Solution:
We multiply each of the terms of the first parentheses by the terms of the second parentheses.
7x×3x+7x×4+4×3x+4×4=
Solve accordingly
21x2+28x+12x+16=
21x2+40x+16
Answer:
21x2+40x+16
Exercise 6
Task:
(2x−3)×(5x−7)
We multiply each of the terms of the first parentheses by the terms of the second parentheses.
2x×5x+2x×(−7)+(−3)×5x+(−3)×(−7)=
Solve accordingly
10x2−14x−15x+21=
10x2−29x+21
Answer:
10x2−29x+21
Test your knowledge
Question 1
Solve the following problem:
\( (12-x)(x-3)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 15x-36-x^2 \)
Question 2
Solve the following problem:
\( (a+15)(5+a)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( a^2+20a+75 \)
Question 3
Resolve -
\( (x-3)(x-6)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( x^2-9x+18 \)
Review questions
What is the distributive property of multiplication?
The distributive property of multiplication is a rule in mathematics that says that multiplying the sum of two (or more) numbers is the same as multiplying the numbers separately and adding/ subtracting them together.
Distributive property of multiplication over addition:
a×(b+c)=a×b+a×c
Distributive property of multiplication over subtraction:
a×(b−c)=a×b−a×c
What is the distributive property of division?
Just as in the distributive property of multiplication, the distributive property of division (also over addition or subtraction) helps us to simplify an expression.
We can express it as follows:
(a+b):c=a:c+b:c
Do you know what the answer is?
Question 1
Solve the exercise:
\( (2y-3)(y-4)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 2y^2-11y+12 \)
Question 2
Solve the exercise:
\( (3x-1)(x+2)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 3x^2+5x-2 \)
Question 3
Solve the exercise:
\( (5x-2)(3+x)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
\( 5x^2+13x-6 \)
What is the extended distributive property?
The extended distributive property uses the same concept as the basic distributive property to simplify expressions with two sets of parentheses.
Where is the extended distributive property used?
Example 1
Task:
Solve (x+3)(x−8)=
We will use the extended distributive property, multiplying each of the terms as follows:
(x+3)(x−8)=x2−8x+3x−24
Reducing like terms we get
(x+3)(x−8)=x2−5x−24
Answer
x2−5x−24
Example 2
Task:
(2x−1)(3x−5)=
Using the extended distributive property we get:
(2x−1)(3x−5)=6x2−10x−3x+5
Reducing like terms:
(2x−1)(3x−5)=6x2−13x+5
Answer
6x2−13x+5
Check your understanding
Question 1
\( (3+20)\times(12+4)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
368
Question 2
\( (12+2)\times(3+5)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
112
Question 3
\( (35+4)\times(10+5)= \)
Incorrect
Correct Answer:
585
Examples with solutions for Extended Distributive Property
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)=x2
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 x2−6x−3x+18
Step 6: Combine like terms −6x−3x=−9x, so we have x2−9x+18
Therefore, the expanded form of (x−3)(x−6) is x2−9x+18.
Therefore, the solution to the problem is x2−9x+18. This corresponds to choice 1.
Answer
x2−9x+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×y=2y2.
Step 2: Multiply the outer terms: 2y×−4=−8y.
Step 3: Multiply the inner terms: −3×y=−3y.
Step 4: Multiply the last terms: −3×−4=12.
Next, we combine all these results: 2y2−8y−3y+12.
Then, we combine the like terms −8y and −3y to get −11y.
Therefore, the expanded expression is 2y2−11y+12.
This matches choice (3):2y2−11y+12.
Thus, the solution to the problem is 2y2−11y+12.
Answer
2y2−11y+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:
3x2+6x−x−2
Step 3: Combine like terms:
3x2+(6x−x)−2=3x2+5x−2
Thus, the expanded expression is 3x2+5x−2.
The correct answer choice is 3x2+5x−2, corresponding to choice id="4".
Answer
3x2+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×3=15x.
Step 2: Multiply the Outer terms: 5x×x=5x2.
Step 3: Multiply the Inner terms: −2×3=−6.
Step 4: Multiply the Last terms: −2×x=−2x.
Now combine all these products together:
5x2+15x−2x−6
Combine the like terms 15x and −2x:
5x2+(15x−2x)−6=5x2+13x−6
Thus, the expanded form of the expression is 5x2+13x−6.
Answer
5x2+13x−6
Exercise #5
(3+20)×(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: