Terms related to algebraic expression Constant : A quantity which has a fixed value, i.e., whose value does not change is called a constant. E.g., . etc. are all constants.
Variable: A symbol which can be assigned different numerical values is called a variable. In algebra, the variables are denoted by the letters in the English alphabet, viz.; etc. E.g., The perimeter of a square of a side is given by the formula, , here 4 is a constant while and are variables.
A combination of constants and variables connected by signs of fundamental operations and ) is called an algebraic expression. E.g., is an algebraic expression consisting of three terms, namely and . Expression can also be obtained by multiplying variable by variable. and Factors: Each term of an algebraic expression consists of a product of constants and variables. A constant factor is called a numerical factor, while a variable factor is known as literal factor. E.g., In the expression are all terms of the above expression. Each term is further made of factors, i.e., can be written as as and as . Here are factors of , are factors of and are factors of . Thus, an expression, its terms and factors of the terms can be represented by a tree diagram to make it easily comprehensible to you.
Factors are numbers that can't be further factorized is not taken as separate factor.
E.g., In the algebraic expression is the coefficient of is the coefficient of y and 10 y is the coefficient of . The numerical part is called the numerical coefficient and literal part or variable or variable part is called the literal coefficient. When the numerical coefficient is not given. It is always understood to be 1 . E.g.,
Always consider the "sign" while taking the coefficient. E.g., In coefficient of is and numerical coefficient is -7 not ' 7 '.
Like terms:
Unlike terms :
Monomial: An algebraic expression which contains only one term, is called a monomial. Thus, , etc, are all monomials.
Binomial : An algebraic expression containing two unlike terms is called a binomial. Thus, etc, are all binomials.
Trinomial : An algebraic expression containing three terms is called a trinomial. Thus, , etc, are all trinomials.
Quadrinomial : An algebraic expression containing four terms is called a quadrinomial. Thus, , etc, are all quadrinomials.
Polynomial : An expression containing one or more terms is called a polynomial. An algebraic expression of the form . , where are constants and is a variable is called a polynomial in x . The degree of the polynomial is the greatest power of the variable present in the polynomial. In any polynomial, the power of variable is a non-negative integer. E.g., is a polynomial in of degree 4 . If the polynomial is in two or more variables, then the sum of the powers of the variables in each term is taken and the greatest sum is the degree of the polynomial. Note : Every polynomial is an expression, but every expression need not be a polynomial.
While adding algebraic expressions, we collect the like terms and add them. The sum of several like terms is another like term whose coefficient is the sum of the coefficients of those like terms.
The difference of two like terms is a like term whose coefficient is the difference of the numerical coefficients of the two like terms.
Rule for subtraction of algebraic expressions: Change the sign of each term of the expression to be subtracted and then add.
Note: At the time of adding or subtracting the expression, arrange the expressions so that the like terms are grouped together or arrange the expression in rows so that like terms appear in columns and then add or subtract.
If the operation of subtraction is performed by writing in column form, then the sign of each term to be subtracted must be changed and then the terms are added or subtracted.
Before taking up the product of algebraic expressions, let us look at two simple rules. (i) The product of two factors with like signs is positive, and the product of two factors with unlike signs is negative. (ii) If is any variable and are positive integers then
Thus, and , etc.
(i) The coefficient of the product of two monomials is equal to the product of their coefficients.
(ii) The variable part in the product of two monomials is equal to the product of the variables in the given monomials. These rules may be extended for the product of three or more monomials.
Volume of cuboid with length ( ), breadth () and height ( ) is cubic units. If a trinomial is a perfect square, then it is the square of the binomial.
Let and r be three monomials. Then, by distributive law of multiplication over addition, we have
Suppose and are two binomials. By using the distributive law of multiplication over addition twice, we may find their product as given below: . This method is known as the horizontal method.
To divide one algebraic term by another, the power or exponent rule for division is used. (i) The power of all the factors in the denominator is subtracted from the power of like factors in the numerator. (ii) The numerical coefficient of the numerator and denominator is divided by their HCF.
If either, or both terms are fractions, then the division sign is changed to multiplication and the second term (fraction) is inverted. Then division is then carried out as explained in (i) above or simplify by reducing to the lowest terms.
The value of an expression can be found by substituting the given value of literal in the expression. Eg. value of when is .
(i) Perimeter of an equilateral triangle , where is the length of the side of the equilateral triangle. (ii) Perimeter of a square , where is the length of the side of the square. (iii) Perimeter of a regular pentagon , where is the length of the side of the pentagon.
(i) Area of a square , where is the side of the square. (ii) Area of a rectangle , where and b are respectively the length and the breadth of the rectangle. (iii) Area of triangle , where is the base of the triangle and is the height of the triangle.
(i) If a natural number is denoted by n , its successor is . (ii) If a natural number is denoted by is an even number and is an odd number.
Make similar pattern with basic figures as shown:
(The number of line segments required to make the figure is given to the right. Also, the expression for the number of line segments required to make letters is also given).
Q. Draw a tree diagram of the expression . Answer:
Q. Write down the numerical as well as the literal coefficient of each of the following expression. (a) (b) Solution:
Q. Identify the like terms in each of the following: (a) (b) Solution: (a) Like terms: (b) Like terms:
Q. Find the coefficient of in the following: (a) (b) (c) Solution: (a) 1 (b) (c)
Q. Which of the following is a polynomial? (a) (b) Solution: (a) is a polynomial in a and . The sum of the powers of variables of each term is respectively. (b) is not a polynomial in and . The sum of the powers of variables of each term is respectively.
Q. State the degree of the polynomial: . Solution: is a polynomial in and . The sum of the powers of variables of each term is respectively. The degree is highest power of variable of a term in the expression. Here, highest power is 4 . So, it is a polynomial of degree 4 .
Q. Classify the following polynomials as monomial, binomial or trinomial? Solution: has 3 terms, so it is a trinomial. has 1 term, so it is a monomial. has 2 terms, so it is a binomial. has 2 terms, so it is a binomial.
Q. Add: and Solution: Required sum [collecting like terms] quad[ adding like terms]
Q. Add : Solution: Required sum [collecting like terms] [adding like terms]
Q. Subtract from Solution: We have,
Q. Take away from Solution: We have,
Q. and Solution:
Q. Multiply and Solution:
Q. Multiply and Solution:
Q. Multiply and Solution:
Q. Multiply and Verify the result when and . Solution: We have .
Q. Multiply : by . Solution: We have [by distributive law] .
Q. Multiply: by . Solution: We have . column method we have
Q. Multiply and . Solution: We have: Using horizontal method, we have
Q. Multiply by . Solution: By column method, we have
multiplication by 2 x
multiplication by - 3 Add: [multiplication by ] .
Q. Solution:
Q. Solution:
Q. Solution:
Q. If , find the value of: (i) (ii) (iii) Solution: (i) Value of , when is (ii) Value of when is (iii) Value of when is
Q. If , find the value of: (i) (ii) (iii) Solution: (i) Value of , when is (ii) Value of , when is (iii) Value of , when is
Q. Find the value of ' ' that will make the expression a equal to 5 , at . Solution: Value of , when is Now,
Q. Find the value of if the expression equals -1 when . Solution: The value of is -1 , when
Q. The side of a square is . Find its perimeter and area. Solution: Side of square Perimeter Area
Q. If the perimeter of square is 36 cm . Find its area. Solution: Perimeter of square Side Area of square
Q. If , then is equal to Solution:
(Session 2025 - 26)