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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from Carla, a student: I am struggling to understand Multiplication of Polynomials. No matter how hard I try to understand Multiplication of Polynomials, I just can't get it! In my Math Book I am learning how to multiply polynomials using a horizontal format. Which I can't understand. The problem that I am trying to solve is this : -3x^3y(-y + 2 -x^2 + x) How would I workout this problem? Thanks for your answer! |
Carla,
Use the distributive law: multiply the first factor by each term inside the parentheses in turn, Be sure to keep track of signs.
Thus, (-5x)(x2 - 2y2 + xy)
= (-5x) x2 - (-5x) 2y2 + (-5x)(xy)
= -5x3 + 10xy2 - 5x2y
Now try the same idea on your problem.
Good Hunting!
-RD
PS: If both factors have multiple terms, multiply every term of the first factor by every term of the second, then combine terms with the same powers in.
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