GED Math - Polynomials

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•How many terms does a polynomial have?

•When multiplying terms, we need to ________ the coefficients and ______ the exponents.


A polynomial consists of more than two terms, while a monomial is an expression that has one term and a binomial has exactly two terms.


Multiplying Terms
When multiplying terms, we need to multiply the coefficients and add the exponents. Coefficients are numbers in front of the variable.
For example,
(9a^2b)(4ab^2) = 36a^3b^3.

The coefficients are 9 and 4, we multiplied them together to get 36.
For a, we added 2 and 1 = 3 to get a^3. Note that a really means a^1.
For b, we added 1 and 2 = 3 to get b^3.
Put it all together and we got 36a^3b^3.


Combine Like Terms
Combine like terms. For example,
(3 + 5x) – (3x + 5) =

(5x – 3x) + (3 – 5) =
2x – 2


Plug-In
Plug in. For example,
If x = -3, then x^2 + x – 10 =
(-3)^2 + (-3) – 10 =
9 -3 -10 = -4
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