Collecting Terms

 

·         Rewrite the question grouping like letters together

·         Add / Subtract IDENTICAL letters only

 

eg.             

 

 etc

 

Brackets

 

Brackets are like packets of…

 

eg.        means “3 packets of an ‘a’ and 3 packets of a ‘b’”

 

ie           

 

eg.       

eg.        etc

 

when expanding (multiplying) do the:

·         numbers first

·         then the letters

·         then the signs

 

eg.         

 

Powers

 

As with numbers, the little number above a letter tells you how many times to multiply the letter by itself

 

eg.