Expanding and Factorising Summary

Expanding and Factorising

Summary

removing brackets from an expression is known as expanding the expression. this usually occurs when a term outside a bracket is multiplied by each of the terms inside the bracket. the outside term "distributes" itself over the inside terms.

factorisation of an algebraic expression is the reverse process of expanding.

factorisation involves the placing of brackets into an expression.

some expressions cannot be factorised.

Key Skills
  • expand brackets
  • recognise common factors in expressions
  • factorise simple expressions

Vocabulary

 distributive property, expand, brackets, factorise, common factor.