Assignment: 11-Parts of a Mathematical Expression
To begin, knowing the parts of an expression is very heavy in knowing the vocabulary. Here is a list of the necessary vocab words with definitions.
addend - the numbers added in an addition problem’ 5 + 6 = 11
sum - the answer in an addition problem; 5 + 6 = 11
difference - the answer to a subtraction problem; 5 – 3 = 2
dividend - the first number in a division problem; 6 ÷ 3 = 2
divisor - the second number in a division problem; 6 ÷ 3 = 2
quotient - the answer in a division problem; 6 ÷ 3 = 2
factor - numbers multiplied together to get a product; factors might also be referred to as nunbers that will even go into another; 3 x 4 = 12; 3 and 4 both evenly go into 12, therefore, they are factors of 12
product - the answer in a multiplication problem; 3 x 4 = 12
monomial - a number, a variable, or a product of numbers or variables; a, 3, 5b, 7a²
polynomial - a group of monomials added together; 7a² + 3b + 6;
term - each of the monomials within a polynomial; 7a² + 3b + 6; Note: When referencing terms, subtraction is thought of as adding the negative, so if our polynomial were 6a – 3b, then the two terms would be 6a and -3b.
coefficient - the number a variable is being multiplied by; 3a, 4b; One thing to note with this is if a variable does not have a number multiplying it, like ‘c’, then it’s coefficient is 1 because there is only one c there.
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There are also less commonly used words, but might be fun to know:
augend – the proper name for the first number in an addition problem; 3 + 4 = 7
minuen – the first number in a subtraction problem; 5 - 2 = 3
subtrahend – the second number in a subtraction problem; 5 - 2 = 3
multiplicand – the first number in a multiplication problem; 4 x 5 = 20
multiplier – the second number in a multiplication problem; 4 x 5 = 20
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With these terms, the main goal is to be able to identify all of the separate parts within an expression. This skill will be checked in several ways. Here are some examples:
***How many terms are in the following expression?
7km + 4 + 7k + 8n + 8n³p
The hard part for the students is to look past the difficulty of the expression and simply answer the question. In that expression there are 5 terms, each of them separated by the addition sign.
***Name the terms in the following expression.
4qr – 8
Remembering that subtraction is considered addition of a negative, the terms in this expression are 4qr and -8.
***In the expression 12 + 46a³, what is the coefficient of a³?
Remember, you are looking for the number that the a³ is being multiplied by, so the answer to this question would be 46.