Expanding & Factorising Brackets (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE International Maths: Core): Flashcards

Exam code: 0607

1/17

0Still learning

Know0

Cards in this collection (17)

  • Explain how to expand a single bracket.

    E.g. 2 open parentheses x plus 3 close parentheses.

    Expanding a bracket means multiplying the term outside the bracket by each term inside the bracket.

    So 2 open parentheses x plus 3 close parentheses becomes 2 x plus 6 from 2 cross times x plus 2 cross times 3.

  • True or False?

    negative 2 open parentheses 1 minus x close parentheses expands to negative 2 minus 2 x.

    False.

    negative 2 open parentheses 1 minus x close parentheses can be thought of as open parentheses negative 2 close parentheses cross times 1 plus open parentheses negative 2 close parentheses cross times open parentheses negative x close parentheses.

    Multiplying two negatives gives a positive, so the answer is negative 2 plus 2 x.

  • How can you simplify 3 open parentheses x plus 5 plus x close parentheses before expanding the brackets?

    You can simplify 3 open parentheses x plus 5 plus x close parentheses before expanding by first collecting like terms inside the brackets to give 3 open parentheses 2 x plus 5 close parentheses.

    This can also be written as 3 open parentheses 5 plus 2 x close parentheses.

  • Explain how to simplify an expression with two sets of brackets

    E.g. 2 open parentheses x plus 1 close parentheses plus 3 open parentheses x minus 1 close parentheses.

    To simplify expressions like 2 open parentheses x plus 1 close parentheses plus 3 open parentheses x minus 1 close parentheses you expand the brackets then collect like terms.

    So 2 open parentheses x plus 1 close parentheses plus 3 open parentheses x minus 1 close parentheses expands to give 2 x plus 2 plus 3 x minus 3.
    The terms are then collected to give 5 x minus 1.

  • True or False?

    3 open parentheses x plus 2 close parentheses expands to 3 x plus 6, then the 3's cancel to give x plus 2.

    False.

    You cannot cancel the 3's because 3 open parentheses x plus 2 close parentheses is an expression, not an equation.

    You can only cancel both sides by 3 if you had an equation, like 3 open parentheses x plus 2 close parentheses equals 9.

  • How do you find the highest power of x when expanding expressions?

    E.g. 2 x squared open parentheses x plus x squared close parentheses.

    The highest power of x will come from multiplying the outside term by the inside term with the highest power.

    The highest power of x in 2 x squared open parentheses x plus x squared close parentheses is x to the power of 4.

    This can be found by multiplying x squared outside the bracket by the highest power, x squared, from inside the bracket.

  • How many multiplications are needed to expand \left(x + 1\right) \left(x + 3\right), and why?

    Four, because every term in the first bracket must be multiplied by every term in the second bracket.

    The four products here are x \times x, x \times 3, 1 \times x and 1 \times 3.

  • Complete the expansion by filling in the missing numbers:

    \left(2 x - 3\right) \left(x + 4\right) = 2 x^{2} + \_\_\_\_\_\_ x - \_\_\_\_\_\_

    The completed expansion is:

    \left(2 x - 3\right) \left(x + 4\right) = 2 x^{2} + 5 x - 12

    The two middle products, 8 x and - 3 x, are like terms, so they combine into the single term 5 x.

  • When expanding \left(x - 3\right) \left(3 x - 5\right) using FOIL, which two products are the Outside and Inside ones?

    Outside is x \times \left(- 5\right), the first term of the first bracket multiplied by the last term of the second bracket.

    Inside is \left(- 3\right) \times 3 x, the last term of the first bracket multiplied by the first term of the second bracket.

  • True or False?

    \left(x + y\right)^{2} expands to x^{2} + y^{2}.

    False.

    The expansion of \left(x + y\right)^{2} is x^{2} + x y + x y + y^{2}, which simplifies to x^{2} + 2 x y + y^{2}.

    The two x y cross terms are exactly what x^{2} + y^{2} leaves out.

  • What is the first thing to do when expanding \left(x + 3\right)^{2}?

    Write the square as two brackets multiplied together, \left(x + 3\right) \left(x + 3\right).

    It can then be expanded in exactly the same way as any other pair of brackets.

  • Describe how to factorise simple expressions such as 6 x plus 8.

    To factorise simple expressions like 6 x plus 8:

    1. Find the highest common factor of 6 and 8 (which is 2)

    2. Write this factor outside a set of brackets

    3. Write inside the brackets what you must multiply the factor by to get the original expression

    So 6 x plus 8 becomes 2 open parentheses 3 x plus 4 close parentheses.

  • True or False?

    2 x is the highest common factor in the expression 4 x squared plus 12 x.

    False.

    The highest common factor in 4 x squared plus 12 x is 4 x, not 2 x.

  • True or False?

    Factorisation can be thought of as the opposite of expanding brackets.

    True.

    Factorisation can be thought of as the opposite of expanding brackets.

  • An expression is factorised to get 5 open parentheses x minus 1 close parentheses.

    How can this result be checked?

    This result can be checked by expanding the expression.

    So 5 open parentheses x minus 1 close parentheses expands to give 5 x minus 5.

    If that was the original question, then the factorised expression is correct.

  • True or False?

    You can factorise out negative numbers.

    E.g. negative 2 can be factorised out from the expression negative 2 x minus 4.

    True.

    You can factorise out negative numbers.
    Just be very careful with the signs.

    E.g. negative 2 x minus 4 factorises to negative 2 open parentheses x plus 2 close parentheses.

  • True or False?

    The expression 3 x open parentheses 5 x plus 10 close parentheses is factorised fully.

    False.

    The expression 3 x open parentheses 5 x plus 10 close parentheses is not factorised fully.

    You can still take out a 5 from inside the brackets.

    This gives 15 x open parentheses x plus 2 close parentheses, which is now factorised fully.

Sign up to unlock flashcards

or