Expressions and manipulation
Lesson 2 of 13
Expanding brackets
Objective. Expand single and double brackets.
The key idea
Every term inside the bracket is multiplied by every term outside it. For double brackets, each of the two terms multiplies each of the other two.
Worked example
Expand (x + 3)(x − 5).
- 1x × x = x², x × −5 = −5x.
- 23 × x = 3x, 3 × −5 = −15.
- 3Collect: −5x + 3x = −2x.
Answer: x² − 2x − 15
Practice
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