Polynomials
ADDING AND SUBTRACTING POLYNOMIALS
1. Which part(s) of the terms stay the same when we add or subtract like
terms?
Solution:
Both the base and the exponent stay the same when we add or subtract
like terms. Only the coefficient changes.
2. Simplify the expression.
(2x 3 − 5x 2 + x − 3) − (x 2 − 2x + 7)
Solution:
Distribute the subtraction across the second set of parentheses.
(2x 3 − 5x 2 + x − 3) − (x 2 − 2x + 7)
2x 3 − 5x 2 + x − 3 − x 2 + 2x − 7
Combine like terms.
2x 3 − 6x 2 + 3x − 10
1
3. What went wrong in this set of steps?
6x 3 + 7 + x 2
7x 3 + 7
Solution:
The terms 6x 3 and x 2 were added together but they aren’t like terms. The
exponents aren’t the same, so they can’t be added together.
4. Simplify the expression.
(10a 2b + 3ab 2 − ab) + (2ab 2 − a 2b + ab)
Solution:
Simplifying the expression by combining like terms.
(10a 2b + 3ab 2 − ab) + (2ab 2 − a 2b + ab)
10a 2b + 3ab 2 − ab + 2ab 2 − a 2b + ab
9a 2b + 5ab 2
2
5. Simplify the expression.
(x 4 − 5y 3 + z − xy) − (2y 4 + 6xy − z + x 4)
Solution:
Distribute the subtraction across the second set of parentheses.
(x 4 − 5y 3 + z − xy) − (2y 4 + 6xy − z + x 4)
x 4 − 5y 3 + z − xy − 2y 4 − 6xy + z − x 4
Combine like terms.
−5y 3 + 2z − 7xy − 2y 4
−2y 4 − 5y 3 − 7xy + 2z
6. What went wrong in this set of steps?
9 − x 3 + 3 + 4x 3
12 + 3x 6
Solution:
3
The terms −x 3 and 4x 3 were added together. They’re like terms, so we do
want to add them, but when the terms were added, the exponents were
added as well. The sum should be 3x 3, not 3x 6.
4
MULTIPLYING POLYNOMIALS
1. Use the Distributive Property to expand the expression.
1
(6x + 4)(x − 1)
2
Solution:
Distribute the 1/2 across the (6x + 4).
1
(6x + 4)(x − 1)
2
(2 2 )
1 1
(6x) + (4) (x − 1)
(3x + 2)(x − 1)
Use FOIL to multiply the binomials.
(3x)(x) + (3x)(−1) + (2)(x) + (2)(−1)
3x 2 − 3x + 2x − 2
3x 2 − x − 2
2. What should we put in place of the “??” to make the expression true?
5
(2x + 1)(5 − x) = ?? + 10x − x + 5
Solution:
Use FOIL to expand the left side of the equation.
(2x + 1)(5 − x)
(2x)(5) + (2x)(−x) + (1)(5) + (1)(−x)
10x − 2x 2 + 5 − x
Matching this expanded left side to the form of the right side,
?? + 10x − x + 5, we can see that the missing value is −2x 2.
3. What went wrong in this set of steps?
(a − 2)2
a2 − 4
Solution:
The expression was not interpreted correctly, because the exponent was
distributed to both terms directly, when it should have been expanded as
(a − 2)2
6
(a − 2)(a − 2)
Then FOIL should have been used to expand it.
a 2 − 2a − 2a + 4
a 2 − 4a + 4
4. Use the Distributive Property to expand the expression.
4(2 − x)(3 + 2x)
Solution:
Use FOIL to multiply the binomials,
4(2 − x)(3 + 2x)
4(6 + 4x − 3x − 2x 2)
4(6 + x − 2x 2)
then use the Distributive Property to distribute the 4 across the
parentheses.
24 + 4x − 8x 2
5. Fill in the blank.
7
(3 − a)(5 + a) = 15 + − a2
Solution:
If we FOIL the product on the left, we get
(3 − a)(5 + a)
15 + 3a − 5a − a 2
15 − 2a − a 2
Comparing this to the right side of the original equation, the value that
goes in the blank must be −2a.
6. Expand the expression.
(x 2 − 3)(2 − x)
Solution:
The expression is expanded and simplified as
(x 2 − 3)(2 − x)
2x 2 − x 3 − 6 + 3x
−x 3 + 2x 2 + 3x − 6
8
DIVIDING POLYNOMIALS
1. Simplify the expression using polynomial long division.
(3x 3 − x 2 + 5) ÷ (x + 2)
Solution:
Using polynomial long division, we get
Therefore, the solution is
2 23
3x − 7x + 14 −
x+2
2. What went wrong in setting up the long division problem?
9
(5x 4 − 3x 2 + x − 2) ÷ (x 2 + 1)
Solution:
The dividend and divisor were placed incorrectly. We should have set up
the division problem as
3. Express the full solution of the polynomial long division.
Solution:
10
The solution should be written as
remainder
quotient +
divisor
10x − 8
3x − 1 +
x2 − 3
4. Simplify the expression using polynomial long division.
(2x 5 − 3x 3 + x 2 + 4x − 1) ÷ (x 2 + 2)
Solution:
Using polynomial long division, we get
Therefore, the solution is
11
18x − 3
2x 3 − 7x + 1 +
x2 + 2
5. Simplify the expression using polynomial long division.
x 5 − x 3 + 4x 2 − x + 6
2x 3 − 5
Solution:
Using polynomial long division, we get
Therefore, the solution is
13 7
1 2 1 2
x2 − x + 2
x − +
2 2 2x 3 − 5
12
6. Simplify the expression using polynomial long division.
(3x 2 + 2x + 5) ÷ (3x + 5)
Solution:
Using polynomial long division, we get
Therefore, the solution is
10
x−1+
3x + 5
13
MULTIPLYING MULTIVARIABLE POLYNOMIALS
1. Simplify the expression.
(a − 3y)(2a + y)
Solution:
Use FOIL to expand the product of the binomials.
(a − 3y)(2a + y)
(a)(2a) + (a)(y) + (−3y)(2a) + (−3y)(y)
2a 2 + ay − 6ay − 3y 2
2a 2 − 5ay − 3y 2
2. Simplify the expression.
(x − 2y)(x + y) + (3x − y)(4x + 4y)
Solution:
Use FOIL to expand each pair of binomials.
(x − 2y)(x + y) + (3x − y)(4x + 4y)
14
(x)(x) + (x)(y) + (−2y)(x) + (−2y)(y)
+(3x)(4x) + (3x)(4y) + (−y)(4x) + (−y)(4y)
x 2 + xy − 2xy − 2y 2 + 12x 2 + 12xy − 4xy − 4y 2
x 2 − xy − 2y 2 + 12x 2 + 8xy − 4y 2
13x 2 + 7xy − 6y 2
3. Fill in the blanks with the correct terms.
(5a − b)(7b − 3a)
35ab − 15a 2 + + 3ab
− 15a 2 +
Solution:
Expanding and simplifying the binomial expression gives
(5a − b)(7b − 3a)
35ab − 15a 2 − 7b 2 + 3ab
38ab − 15a 2 − 7b 2
Therefore, the first blank should be filled with −7b 2, the second blank with
38ab, and the last blank with −7b 2.
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4. What went wrong in this set of steps?
(a 2 + 6b)(−a − b 2)
−a 3 − a 2b 2 − 6ab − b 3
−a 3 − 7ab − b 3
Solution:
In the first step, the terms 6b and −b 2 were multiplied incorrectly. Their
product was shown as −b 3, but it should have been −6b 3. In the second
step, the terms −a 2b 2 and −6ab were added, but they shouldn’t have been
added because they’re not like terms.
5. Fill in the the multiplication chart with the correct terms, given the
following product of binomials.
(4a + 3b)(−a + 2b 2)
3b
-a -3ab
Solution:
16
The chart should be filled in as
4a 3b
-a -4a2 -3ab
2b2 8ab2 6b3
6. Simplify the expression.
(5a x − 3by)(a + y) − (a − y)(2a x + 4by)
Solution:
We’ll use FOIL to expand both pairs of binomials.
(5a x − 3by)(a + y) − (a − y)(2a x + 4by)
(5a 2 x + 5a xy − 3aby − 3by 2) − (2a 2 x + 4aby − 2a xy − 4by 2)
Distribute the subtraction across the second set of parentheses,
5a 2 x + 5a xy − 3aby − 3by 2 − 2a 2 x − 4aby + 2a xy + 4by 2
then combine like terms.
3a 2 x + 7a xy − 7aby + by 2
17
DIVIDING MULTIVARIABLE POLYNOMIALS
1. Find the quotient.
3x 2 + 6xy − 2y 2
x − 2y
Solution:
Using polynomial long division,
we can see that the solution is
22y 2
3x + 12y +
x − 2y
2. Identify the quotient, remainder, and divisor.
18
Solution:
The quotient is x 2 − xy + y 2, the remainder is 0, and the divisor is x + y.
3. How should we rewrite the expression before starting the long
division?
2y 3 − xy 2 + x 3
x−y
Solution:
Because the leading term int the divisor is x, we want to reorder the terms
in the dividend by descending power of x, which means we should rewrite
the quotient as
19
x 3 − xy 2 + 2y 3
x−y
4. Find the quotient.
6x 2 − xy + 2y 2
2x − y
Solution:
Using polynomial long division,
we can see that the solution is
3y 2
3x + y +
2x − y
20
5. In words, what’s the first question we should ask when solving this
long division problem?
Solution:
To begin the long division, the first question we need to ask is “What do
we need to multiply by 2x in order to get 6x 4?” The answer to that question
will be the first term in the quotient.
6. Find the quotient.
(y 2 + xy − 3x 2) ÷ (y + x)
Solution:
Using polynomial long division,
21
we can see that the solution is
3y 2
−3x + 4y −
x+y
22
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