Quick introduction to Algebra 1

Algebra Basic Definitions

Suppose you have an equation 4x -7 =5

A number on its own is called constant. In the above example 7 & 5 are constants.

A variable is a symbol for a number we don’t know yet. In the above example x is a variable.

An operator is a symbol such as + or - etc. that shows an operation.

A Coefficient is defined as a number used to multiply a variable (4x means 4 times x and here 4 is a coefficient)

An Expression is a group of terms, terms are separated by operators.

Exponents: An exponent is a small number written with another number to tell how many times that number can be used in multiplication. For eg: 52. Here 2 is the exponent

52 = 5 x 5

53 = 5 x 5 x 5

y4 = Y x Y x Y x Y

Polynomial

A polynomial is an expression consisting of variables and coefficients which involves only the following operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and non-negative integer exponents

Eg: 2x2+4x+6

Monomial, Binomial, Trinomial

Monomial is a polynomial with one term, and binomial is a polynomial with 2 terms and Trinomial is a polynomial with 3 terms.

Monomial: 4x2y

Binomial: 4xy -5

Trinomial: 3xy+ 6x +3

Like Terms

Like terms are those terms whose variables and their exponents are same.

2x and 6x are like terms

3x2 and 5x2 are like terms

4x and 5y are not like terms

3x2 and 8x are not like terms