ALGEBRA: EXPANSION OF ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS

How do you expand a b c ? Or what is a b c equal to? For example, what is 4(2+3) equal to?

Section A: Exploration

Complete the table below.

a b c a b c ab ac ab + ac ab + c
4 2 3 4(2+3) = 4 5 = 20 8
7 1 4
3 5 2
2 3 5
2 3 4
1 6 2

Section B: Findings

Q1. What do you notice about the numbers in the 4th and 7th columns?

Q2. What do you notice about the numbers in the 4th and 8th columns?

Q3. To conclude, a b c = ______________

This is called the distributive law.

Q4. But why does it work? With the help of a diagram, can you explain why it works for 4(2+3)?

Section C: Practice
Expand the following algebraic expressions.

(a) 2 x y (b) x y z (c) k p q

(d) 3c a b (e) 7 2 x y (f) 4 p x 3t
(g) h ac b (h) 2k p qt (i) ab st 3r
(j)
5 x2 y (k)
x x2 y (l)
ab a 3 b 2
 IMPORTANT NOTES FOR TEACHERS

Section B: Findings

Q2. The purpose of this question is to show that a b c is not equal to ab + c.

Q4. But why does it work? With the help of a diagram, can you explain why it works for 4(2+3)?

2 + 3

4 times

42 + 43

From the diagram, 4(2+3) = 42 + 43.

Section C: Practice

Design of Practice Questions: Please note that the exercise starts with simple questions and move
on to more difficult ones: from numbers to more letters.

Extension:

You can move on to subtraction by either:

Designing a similar worksheet for a b c ab ac , or
Applying the distributive law a b c ab ac to the case where c is negative.