Math 9, Polynomials

• the branch of mathematics that uses symbols to represent unknown numbers or quantities

e.g., 7x²

• each part of the algebraic expression (separated by "+ve" and "-ve" signs)

e.g., 4x² - 3y <-- there are two terms

• named by their number of terms

monomial = 1 term, -4x²
binomial = 2 terms, 37 - t²
trinomial = 3 terms, 3x - 4y + z
polynomials = "many"

• the highest exponent for a term in a polynomial
• write unknown variables with exponents starting with the highest, going down to the lowest (or no exponent)

• used to make algebra more visual
• "tile model"

• the organization/ grouping together of terms that are the same
• terms that can be represented by algebra tiles with the same size and shape

• two terms with opposite signs will cancel each other out to '0'

• the tile model uses the fewest tiles possible
• the algebraic form contains only one term of each degree and no terms with a zero coefficient (the number in front of the unknown variable)

• written out with numbers and letters to represent the unknown variables

• substitute the unknown variable with a low number and calculate