Polynomials and Their

Operations
Restu Lusiana
  Simplify expressions using the rules of exponents.
Learning  Simplify expressions involving parentheses and exponents.
Objectives  Simplify expressions involving 0 as an exponent.
 If a factor is repeated multiple times, then the product can be written in
exponential form xn. The positive integer exponent n indicates the number of
times the base x is repeated as a factor.

For example,
Product, Here the base is 5 and the exponent is 4. Exponents are sometimes indicated
Quotient, and with the caret (^) symbol found on the keyboard: 5^4 = 5*5*5*5. Next consider
the product of 23 and 25,
Power Rule for
Exponents Expanding the expression using the definition produces multiple factors of the
base, which is quite cumbersome, particularly when n is large. For this reason,
we will develop some useful rules to help us simplify expressions with
exponents. In this example, notice that we could obtain the same result by
adding the exponents.
In general, this describes the product rule for exponents. If m and n are
positive integers, then

In other words, when multiplying two expressions with the same base, add the
exponents.

Example: Simplify: 2x8y⋅3x4y7.

Solution:
Multiply the coefficients and add the exponents of variable factors with the
same base.
Next, we will develop a rule for division by first looking at the quotient of 27 and 23.

Here we can cancel factors after applying the definition of exponents. Notice
that the same result can be obtained by subtracting the exponents.

This describes the quotient rule for exponents. If m and n are positive integers
and x≠0, then

In other words, when you divide two expressions with the same base, subtract
the exponents.
Now raise 23 to the fourth power as follows:

After writing the base 23 as a factor four times, expand to obtain 12 factors of
2. We can obtain the same result by multiplying the exponents.

In general, this describes the power rule for exponents. Given positive
integers m and n, then

In other words, when raising a power to a power, multiply the exponents.

 Now we consider raising grouped products to a power. For example,

After expanding, we have four factors of the product xy. This is equivalent to
raising each of the original factors to the fourth power. In general, this
Power Rules describes the power rule for a product. If n is a positive integer, then

for Products
and Quotients Example: Simplify: (3xy3)4.
Solution:
Next, consider a quotient raised to a power.

Here we obtain four factors of the quotient, which is equivalent to the

numerator and the denominator both raised to the fourth power. In general,
this describes the power rule for a quotient. If n is a positive integer and y≠0,
then

In other words, given a fraction raised to a power, we can apply that exponent
to the numerator and the denominator. This rule requires that the
denominator is nonzero. We will make this assumption for the remainder of
the section.
 Using the quotient rule for exponents, we can define what it means to have 0
as an exponent. Consider the following calculation:

Eight divided by 8 is clearly equal to 1, and when the quotient rule for
exponents is applied, we see that a 0 exponent results. This leads us to the
definition of zero as an exponent, where x≠0:
Zero as an
Exponent It is important to note that 00 is undefined. If the base is negative, then the
result is still +1. In other words, any nonzero base raised to the 0 power is
defined to be 1. In the following examples, assume all variables are nonzero.
Try this!
1. Simplify: (3ab)3
2. Simplify: (ab2/2c3)5
3. Simplify: ((5x5(2x−1)4)/3y7)2
4. Simplify: (5x3y0z2)2
 Learning Objectives:
Introduction to  Identify a polynomial and determine its degree.

Polynomials  Evaluate a polynomial for given values of the variables.

 Evaluate a polynomial using function notation.
 A polynomial is a special algebraic expression with terms that consist of real
number coefficients and variable factors with whole number exponents.

Polynomials do not have variables in the denominator of any term.

Definitions
The degree of a term in a polynomial is defined to be the exponent of the
variable, or if there is more than one variable in the term, the degree is the
sum of their exponents. Recall that x0=1; any constant term can be written as
a product of x0 and itself. Hence the degree of a constant term is 0.
And the degree of a polynomial is the largest degree of all of its terms.

We classify polynomials by the number of terms and the degree as follows:

We will call polynomials with four or more terms simply polynomials

Example 1: Classify and state the degree: 7x2−4x5−1.
Solution:
Here there are three terms. The highest variable exponent is 5.
Therefore, this is a trinomial of degree 5.
Answer: Trinomial; degree 5

Example 2: Classify and state the degree: 12a5bc3.

Solution:
Since the expression consists of only multiplication, it is one term, a
monomial.
The variable part can be written as a5b1c3; hence its degree is 5+1+3=9.
Answer: Monomial; degree 9

Example 3: Classify and state the degree: 4x2y−6xy4+5x3y3+4.

Solution:
The term 4x2y has degree 3; −6xy4 has degree 5; 5x3y3 has degree 6; and the
constant term 4 has degree 0.
Therefore, the polynomial has 4 terms with degree 6.
Answer: Polynomial; degree 6
Of particular interest are polynomials with one variable, where each term is of
the form anxn. Here an is any real number and n is any whole number. Such
polynomials have the standard form

Typically, we arrange terms of polynomials in descending order based on the

degree of each term. The leading coefficient is the coefficient of the variable
with the highest power, in this case, an.

Example: Write in standard form: 3x−4x2+5x3+7−2x4.

Solution: Since terms are separated by addition, write the following:

In this form, we can see that the subtraction in the original corresponds to
negative coefficients. Because addition is commutative, we can write the
terms in descending order based on the degree of each term as follows:
We can further classify polynomials with one variable by their degree as
follows:

In this text, we call any polynomial of degree n≥4 an nth-degree polynomial.

In other words, if the degree is 4, we call the polynomial a fourth-degree
polynomial. If the degree is 5, we call it a fifth-degree polynomial, and so on.
 Given the values for the variables in a polynomial, we can substitute and
simplify using the order of operations.

Calculate: f(5), given f(x)=−2x2+5x+10.

Solution:
Recall that the function notation f(5) indicates we should evaluate the function
when x=5. Replace every instance of the variable x with the value 5.

Evaluating
Polynomials
 Recall that we combine like terms, or terms with the same variable part, as a
means to simplify expressions. To do this, add the coefficients of the terms to
obtain a single term with the same variable part. For example,

Notice that the variable part, x2, does not change. This, in addition to the
commutative and associative properties of addition, allows us to add
polynomials.
Adding
Polynomials Example: Add: (3x2+3x+5)+(2x2−x−2).
Solution: Remove the parentheses and then combine like terms.

Try it!
1. Add: (−5x2y−2xy2+7xy)+(4x2y+7xy2−3xy).
2. Add: (a−4a3+a5−8)+(−9a5+a4−7a+5+a3).
 When subtracting polynomials, we see that the parentheses become very
important. Recall that the distributive property allowed us to derive the
following:

In other words, when subtracting an algebraic expression, we remove the

parentheses by subtracting each term

Subtracting Example: Subtract: (3x2+3x+5)−(2x2−x−2).

Solution: Distribute the −1, remove the parentheses, and then combine like
Polynomials terms.
 We use function notation to indicate addition and subtraction of functions as
follows:

Adding and When using function notation, be careful to group the entire function and add
or subtract accordingly.
Subtracting Example: Calculate: (f−g)(x), given f(x)=2x−3 and g(x)=−2x2+2x+5.
Polynomial Solution: The notation (f−g)(x) indicates that you should subtract the
functions f(x)−g(x):
Functions
 Recall the product rule for exponents: if m and n are positive integers, then

In other words, when multiplying two expressions with the same base, add the
exponents. This rule applies when multiplying a monomial by a monomial. To
find the product of monomials, multiply the coefficients and add the exponents
of variable factors with the same base. For example

Multiplying
Polynomials To multiply a polynomial by a monomial, apply the distributive property and
then simplify each term.
Example: Multiply: 2x2(3x2−5x+1).
Solution: Apply the distributive property and then simplify.
 In the same way that we used the distributive property to find the product of a
monomial and a binomial, we will use it to find the product of two binomials.

Here we apply the distributive property multiple times to produce the final
result. This same result is obtained in one step if we apply the distributive
Multiplying by property to a and b separately as follows:
a Binomial

This is often called the FOIL method. We add the products of the first terms of
each binomial ac, the outer terms ad, the inner terms bc, and finally the last
terms bd. This mnemonic device only works for products of binomials; hence
it is best to just remember that the distributive property applies.
Example: Multiply: (1/2x−1/4)(1/2x+1/4).
Solution: Distribute 1/2x and then distribute −1/4
 When multiplying polynomials, we apply the distributive property many
times. Multiply all of the terms of each polynomial and then combine like
terms.

Example: Multiply: (2x2+x−3)(x2−2x+5).

Solution: Multiply each term of the first trinomial by each term of the second
trinomial and then combine like terms.

Product of
Polynomials
Aligning like terms in columns, as we have here, aids in the simplification
process.
Notice that when multiplying a trinomial by a trinomial, we obtain nine terms
before simplifying. In fact, when multiplying an n-term polynomial by an m-
term polynomial, we will obtain n × m terms. In the previous example, we
were asked to multiply and found that
 In this section, the goal is to recognize certain special products that occur
often in our study of algebra. We will develop three formulas that will be very
useful as we move along. The three should be memorized. We begin by
considering the following two calculations:

Special
Products
This leads us to two formulas that describe perfect square trinomials:

We can use these formulas to quickly square a binomial

Example: Multiply: (3x+5)2.
Solution: Here a=3x and b=5. Apply the formula:

Example: Multiply: (x−4)2.

Solution: Here a=x and b=4. Apply the appropriate formula as follows:
 We use function notation to indicate multiplication as follows:

Example: Calculate: (f⋅g)(−1), given f(x)=−x+3 and g(x)=4x2−3x+6.

Solution: First, determine (f⋅g)(x).

Multiplying
Polynomial
Functions
Next, substitute −1 for the variable x.
 Recall the quotient rule for exponents: if x is nonzero and m and n are positive
integers, then

In other words, when dividing two expressions with the same base, subtract
the exponents. This rule applies when dividing a monomial by a monomial. In
this section, we will assume that all variables in the denominator are nonzero.

Dividing Example: Divide: (24x7y5)/(8x3y2)

Polynomials Solution: Divide the coefficients and apply the quotient rule by subtracting the
exponents of the like bases.

Try This!
Divide: (9a4b−7a3b2+3a2b)/(−3a2b)
 The same technique outlined for dividing by a monomial does not work for
polynomials with two or more terms in the denominator. In this section, we will
outline a process called polynomial long division, which is based on the division
algorithm for real numbers. For the sake of clarity, we will assume that all
expressions in the denominator are nonzero.

Example: Divide: x3+3x2−8x−4x−2.

Solution: Here x−2 is the divisor and x3+3x2−8x−4 is the dividend.
Dividing by a Step 1: To determine the first term of the quotient, divide the leading term of
the dividend by the leading term of the divisor.
Polynomial

Step 2: Multiply the first term of the quotient by the divisor, remembering to
distribute, and line up like terms with the dividend.
Step 3: Subtract the resulting quantity from the dividend. Take care to
subtract both terms.

Step 4: Bring down the remaining terms and repeat the process from step 1.
Notice that the leading term is eliminated and that the result has a degree
that is one less than the dividend. (Try it!)

Polynomial long division ends when the degree of the remainder is less than
the degree of the divisor. Here the remainder is 0. Therefore, the binomial
divides the polynomial evenly and the answer is the quotient shown above
the division line

To check the answer, multiply the divisor by the quotient to see if you obtain
the dividend:
 We may use function notation to indicate division as follows:

The quotient of two polynomial functions does not necessarily have a

domain of all real numbers. The values for x that make the function in the
denominator 0 are restricted from the domain. This will be discussed in
more detail at a later time. For now, assume all functions in the
Dividing denominator are nonzero.
Polynomial Example: Calculate: (f/g)(x) given f(x)=6x5−36x4+12x3−6x2 and g(x)=−6x2.
Functions Solution: The notation indicates that we should divide:
 In this section, we define what it means to have negative integer exponents.
We begin with the following equivalent fractions:

Notice that 4, 8, and 32 are all powers of 2. Hence we can write 4=22, 8=23, and
32=25.

Negative If the exponent of the term in the denominator is larger than the exponent of
the term in the numerator, then the application of the quotient rule for
Exponents exponents results in a negative exponent. In this case, we have the following:

We conclude that 2−3=1/23. This is true in general and leads to the definition
of negative exponents. Given any integer n and x≠0, then

Here x≠0 because 10 is undefined. For clarity, in this section, assume all
variables are nonzero.
Example: Simplify: x−3/y−4.
Solution:

The previous example suggests a property of quotients with negative

exponents. If given any integers m and n, where x≠0 and y≠0, then

In other words, negative exponents in the numerator can be written as

positive exponents in the denominator, and negative exponents in the
denominator can be written as positive exponents in the numerator.

Try this!
Simplify: (−3x−4)−3/y−2.