ALGEBRA NOTES AND EXERCISES:

I. Addition of like terms:

𝟏. ) 𝟔𝒂𝒃 − 𝟒𝒂𝒃 − 𝟑𝒂𝒃 + 𝟏𝟐𝒂𝒃 − 𝟓𝒂𝒃 + 𝟔𝒂𝒃 − 𝟖𝒂𝒃

𝟐) 𝟏𝟕𝒃𝟐 − 𝟑𝟑𝒃𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝟓𝒃𝟐 + 𝟔𝟐𝒃𝟐 − 𝟏𝟎𝟗𝒃𝟐 − 𝟓𝟔𝒃𝟐

II. Addition of polynomials:

𝟏) 𝟑𝒙𝟒 − 𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝟐𝒙𝟑 − 𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟕

𝟐) 𝟒𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑 − 𝟓𝒂𝒃𝟒 + 𝟐𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟐 , 𝟓𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑 + 𝟔𝒂𝒃𝟒 𝒂𝒏𝒅 − 𝟐𝒂𝒃𝟒 + 𝟔𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟕𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑

III. Subtraction of polynomials:

𝟏) 𝒙𝟒 − 𝟐𝒙𝟑 + 𝟒𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝟑𝒙𝟒 − 𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒙 − 𝟏

𝟐) 𝟒𝒙𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝟐𝒙𝟑 − 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟒 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝟑𝒙𝟑 − 𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟓

IV. Multiplication of monomials:

𝟏) (𝟐𝒙𝒚)(−𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟑 )(𝟔𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟒 )

𝟐) (𝒂𝟐 𝒃)(−𝟓𝒃𝟐 𝒙)(−𝟒𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑 𝒙𝟐 )

V. Multiplication of a polynomial by a monomial:

𝟏) (𝟐𝒂𝒙𝒃𝟐 )(𝟑𝒂𝒙𝟑 𝒃𝟑 + 𝟐𝒂𝒙𝒃 − 𝟒𝒂𝟐 𝒙𝒃𝟑 )

𝟐) (−𝟑𝒂𝒙𝒚)(𝟒𝒂𝟐 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒙𝟐 𝒚 − 𝒂𝒙𝒚)

VI. Multiplication of a polynomial by a polynomial:

𝟏) (𝟐𝒙𝒚𝒛 − 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟑 𝒛𝟑 )(𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑𝒚 − 𝟒𝒛)

𝟐) (𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙𝟐 𝒚 + 𝟒𝒙𝒚𝟐 − 𝟓𝒚𝟑 )(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝒚 + 𝟑𝒚𝟐 )

VII. Division of monomials:

𝟏) 𝟒𝟐𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟒 𝒚𝟔 ÷ 𝟕𝒂𝒃𝒚𝟐

𝟐) − 𝟔𝟎𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟑 𝒛𝟒 ÷ 𝟏𝟓𝒙𝒚𝟐 𝒛

𝟑) − 𝟑𝟎𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟐 𝒄𝟒 ÷ −𝟔𝒂𝟐 𝒄

VIII. Division of polynomials by a monomial:

𝟏) 𝟐𝟏𝒙𝟑 𝒚 − 𝟗𝟏𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 + 𝟒𝟗𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟐 ÷ −𝟕𝒙𝒚

𝟐) 𝟏𝟔𝒙𝟕 𝒚𝟔 − 𝟒𝟖𝒙𝟓 𝒚𝟖 + 𝟏𝟏𝟐𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟗 ÷ −𝟖𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟒

IX. Division of a polynomial by a polynomial:

𝟏) 𝟐𝟎𝒂𝒄 − 𝟏𝟓𝒂𝒅 − 𝟏𝟐𝒃𝒄 + 𝟗𝒃𝒅 ÷ 𝟓𝒂 − 𝟑𝒃

𝟐) 𝟐𝟏𝟔𝒂𝟑 + 𝟏𝟐𝟓 ÷ 𝟑𝟔𝒂𝟐 − 𝟑𝟎𝒂 + 𝟐𝟓

𝟑) 𝟐𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟑𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏𝟖 + 𝟖𝒙𝟒 + 𝟔𝒙𝟓 ÷ −𝟑𝒙 + 𝟒 + 𝟐𝒙𝟑

𝟒) 𝟏𝟐𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟑 − 𝟒𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟔 − 𝟏𝟓𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟒

In Algebra, certain special products occur so frequently that they should be memorized. We classify
them into the following type forms.

𝟏) (𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒙 − 𝒚) = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒚𝟐

𝟐) (𝒙 + 𝒚)𝟐 = 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐

𝟑) (𝒙 − 𝒚)𝟐 = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐

𝟒) (𝒙 + 𝒂)(𝒙 + 𝒃) = 𝒙𝟐 + (𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒙 + 𝒃𝒅

𝟓) (𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)(𝒄𝒙 + 𝒅) = 𝒂𝒄𝒙𝟐 + (𝒃𝒄 + 𝒂𝒅)𝒙 + 𝒃𝒅

𝟔) (𝒙 + 𝒚)𝟑 = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒚 + 𝟑𝒙𝒚𝟐 + 𝒚𝟑

𝟕) (𝒙 − 𝒚)𝟑 = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒚 + 𝟑𝒙𝒚𝟐 − 𝒚𝟑

𝟖) (𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐 ) = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝒚𝟑

𝟗) (𝒙 − 𝒚)(𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐 ) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝒚𝟑

Perform the indicated multiplications by applying the above type forms:

𝟏) (𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑)(𝟒𝒙 + 𝟕)

𝟐) [(𝒙 + 𝒚) − 𝒛]𝟐

𝟑) (𝒂 − 𝟐𝒃)(𝒂𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒃 + 𝟒𝒃𝟐 )

𝟒) (𝟐𝒂 + 𝟑𝒃)(𝟒𝒂𝟐 − 𝟔𝒂𝒃 + 𝟗𝒃𝟐 )

𝟓) (𝒎 − 𝒏 − 𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒎 − 𝒏 + 𝒙 − 𝒚)

𝟔) (𝟏 + 𝒙 + 𝒙𝟐 )(𝟏 − 𝒙 + 𝒙𝟐 )

𝟕) [𝟐(𝒙 − 𝒚) + 𝟑][𝟒(𝒙 − 𝒚)𝟐 − 𝟔(𝒙 − 𝒚) + 𝟗]

𝟖) (𝟐𝒂𝟐 − 𝟑𝒂𝒃 + 𝟒)(−𝟐𝒂𝟐 − 𝟑𝒂𝒃 + 𝟒)

𝟗) [𝟔(𝒂 + 𝒃) − 𝟓(𝒂𝟐 + 𝒃𝟐 )][𝟔(𝒂 + 𝒃) + 𝟓(𝒂𝟐 + 𝒃𝟐 )]

XI. Factoring Methods

Case I. When each of the terms of the polynomial contain common monomial factors.

𝟏) 𝟐𝒂𝟒 𝒃𝒄𝟐 − 𝟒𝒂𝟒 𝒃𝟑 𝒄𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑 𝒄𝟐

𝟐) 𝟑𝒎𝟑 𝒏 − 𝟔𝒎𝟐 𝒏 + 𝟏𝟐𝒎𝒏 − 𝟐𝟕𝒎𝟒 𝒏𝟐

Case II. When the polynomial has the form 𝒂𝟐 ± 𝟐𝒂𝒃 + 𝒃𝟐 .

𝟏) 𝟒𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝟎𝒙𝒚 + 𝟐𝟓𝒚𝟐

𝟐) 𝟐𝟓𝟔𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟗𝟔𝒄𝒙𝒚 + 𝟗𝒄𝟐

Case III. When the polynomial has the form 𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐 .

𝟏) 𝟗𝒙𝟐 − 𝟏𝟔𝒚𝟐
 𝟐) (𝒂 − 𝒃)𝟐 − (𝒄 − 𝒅)𝟐

𝟑) 𝒎𝟒 + 𝒏𝟒 − 𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐 + 𝟐𝒎𝟐 𝒏𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒃

𝟒) 𝒙𝟒 + 𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟔

𝟓) 𝒙𝟒 + 𝟏𝟏𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 + 𝟑𝟔𝒚𝟒

Case IV. When the polynomial has the form 𝒂𝟐 + 𝒃𝟐 + 𝒄𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒃 + 𝟐𝒂𝒄 + 𝟐𝒃𝒄 = (𝒂 + 𝒃 + 𝒄)𝟐

𝟏) 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒚𝟐 + 𝟗𝒛𝟐 − 𝟒𝒙𝒚 − 𝟔𝒙𝒛 + 𝟏𝟐𝒚𝒛

𝟐) 𝟐𝟓𝒙𝟒 + 𝟒𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒚𝟒 − 𝟐𝟎𝒙𝟑 𝒚 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐

𝟑) 𝟔𝟎𝒂𝟑 𝒃𝟐 + 𝟏 − 𝟏𝟎𝒂𝟐 𝒃 − 𝟏𝟐𝒂𝒃𝟐 + 𝟑𝟔𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟒 + 𝟐𝟓𝒂𝟒 𝒃𝟐

Case V. When the polynomial has the form 𝒂𝟑 ± 𝟑𝒂𝟐 𝒃 ± 𝟑𝒂𝒃𝟐 ± 𝒃𝟑 = (𝒂 ± 𝒃)𝟑

𝟏) 𝟐𝟕𝒙𝟔 − 𝟓𝟒𝒙𝟒 𝒚 + 𝟑𝟔𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟖𝒚𝟑

𝟐) 𝟏 − 𝟐𝟏𝒙 + 𝟏𝟒𝟕𝒙𝟐 − 𝟑𝟒𝟑𝒙𝟑

𝟑) 𝟐𝟏𝟔𝒂𝟑 + 𝟏𝟎𝟖𝒂𝟐 𝒙 + 𝟏𝟖𝒂𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑

Case VI. When the polynomial has the form 𝒙𝟐 + (𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒙 + 𝒂𝒃 = (𝒙 + 𝒂)(𝒙 + 𝒃)

𝟏) 𝒂𝟒 𝒙𝟒 − 𝟏𝟗𝒂𝟐 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟗𝟐

𝟐) 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝟔𝒙 + 𝟏𝟑𝟑

Case VII. When the polynomial has the form 𝒂𝒄𝒙𝟐 + (𝒃𝒄 + 𝒂𝒅)𝒙 + 𝒃𝒅 = (𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)(𝒄𝒙 + 𝒅)

𝟏) 𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟐𝟏

𝟐) 𝟑𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝟗𝒙 + 𝟒𝟎

𝟑) 𝟑𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟑𝟏𝒙 − 𝟗𝟗

Case VIII. When the polynomial has the form (𝒂𝟑 ± 𝒃𝟑 ) = (𝒂 + 𝒃)(𝒂𝟐 − 𝒂𝒃 + 𝒃𝟐 ) 𝒐𝒓 (𝒂 − 𝒃)(𝒂𝟐 − 𝒂𝒃 +
𝒃𝟐 ).

𝟏) 𝟔𝟒𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏𝟐𝟓𝒚𝟑

𝟐) 𝟓𝟏𝟐𝒕𝟑 − 𝟑𝟒𝟑𝒖𝟔

𝟑) 𝟏, 𝟕𝟐𝟖(𝒙 + 𝒚)𝟑 − 𝟑𝟒𝟑(𝒙 − 𝒚)𝟑

Case IX. When the terms of the polynomial can be arranged to show a common binomial factor.

𝟏) 𝟔𝒃𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓𝒂𝒃 − 𝟒𝒅𝒙 + 𝟏𝟎𝒂𝒅

𝟐) 𝟏𝟎𝒂𝒄 + 𝒃𝒄 − 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝒂𝒅 − 𝟏𝟏𝒃𝒅

EXPONENTS AND RADICALS

If n is appositive integer, the expression xn means the product of n factors each of which is equal to x. The
exponent is n and the base is x. The nth power of x is denoted by xn.

The following Index Laws for exponents, where m and n are positive integers.
 𝟏) 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒙𝒎 𝒙𝒏 = 𝒙𝒎+𝒏

𝒙𝒎 𝟏
𝟐) 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏: = 𝒙𝒎−𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒎 > 𝒏, 𝒙 ≠ 𝟎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒎 < 𝒏, 𝒙 ≠ 𝟎
𝒙𝒏 𝒙𝒏−𝒎

𝟑) 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓: (𝒙𝒎 )𝒏 = 𝒙𝒎𝒏

𝟒). 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕: (𝒙𝒚)𝒏 = 𝒙𝒏 𝒚𝒏

𝒙 𝒏 𝒙𝒏
𝟓) 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕: (𝒚) = 𝒚𝒏

𝟔) 𝒁𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓: 𝒙𝟎 = 𝟏 , 𝒙 ≠ 𝟎
𝟏
𝟕) 𝑵𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕: 𝒙−𝒏 = 𝒙𝒏 , 𝒙 ≠ 𝟎

The powers of (-1) are defined as follows:

(-1)n = 1 if n is an even integer ( n=2, 4, 6 …..)

= -1 if n is an odd integer ( n=1, 3, 5 …..)

𝟏) 𝟐𝟑 𝟑𝟐 = 𝟐) 𝟒𝟐 𝟑𝟑 =

𝟒𝟑 𝟑
𝟑) = 𝟒) (𝟓𝟐 ) =
𝟐𝟐

𝟒 𝟑𝟒
𝟓) (𝟐𝟑 ) = 𝟔) 𝟑𝟐
=

𝟑𝟐
𝟕) = 𝟖) (𝟏, 𝟎𝟎𝟎)𝟎 =
𝟑𝟓

𝟐 𝟑
𝟗) (𝟐𝒎𝟐 𝒏𝟑 ) (𝟑𝒎𝒏𝟒 ) 𝟏𝟎) 𝒙𝟐𝒓+𝟏 𝒙𝒓−𝟑

𝒓−𝟏 𝒙𝟑𝒓+𝟒
𝟏𝟏) (𝒙𝒓+𝟏 ) 𝟏𝟐) 𝒙𝟐𝒓−𝟏

𝒙𝒏+𝟐 𝒚𝟑𝒏−𝟏
𝟏𝟑) 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟐

NEGATIVE INTEGRAL EXPONENTS

−𝟑
𝟏) 𝟑−𝟐 = 𝟐) (𝟑−𝟐 ) =

𝟒 𝟒−𝟑
𝟑) (𝟐−𝟏 ) (𝟑)−𝟐 = 𝟒) (𝟐−𝟐 )𝟑
=

−𝟐
𝟔−𝟐 𝒂𝟑 𝒃−𝟐 𝒂−𝟏 𝒃−𝟐 −𝒂−𝟐𝒃−𝟏
𝟓) (𝟑−𝟑𝒂−𝟏𝒃𝟑) = 𝟔) =
𝒃−𝟐 −𝒂−𝟐

𝒙−𝟐 +𝒚−𝟐 𝒙−𝟐 𝒚−𝟏 +𝒙−𝟏 𝒚−𝟐

FRACTIONAL EXPONENTS
𝒑 𝟏
𝒒
If p/q is any rational number with the denominator q positive, 𝒙𝒒 = (𝒙𝒑 )𝒒 = √𝒙𝒑
−𝟏 −𝟑
𝟏) 𝟐𝟓 𝟐 = 𝟐) (𝟖𝟏) 𝟒 =