BUSINESS MATHEMATICS

Dr. Addial Manjonjo

21st September, 2022

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Algebra I
In this Lecture we will cover:
I Preliminaries
I Manipulating Algebraic expression
I Solving equations

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Algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses letters and other
symbols to represent unknown numbers and solve problems.

I The symbols used are usually letters of various alphabets.

I More commonly used examples include the Latin alphabet
a, b, c, d, · · · , A, B, C , D, · · ·
I Or Greek alphabet,
α, β, γ, δ, · · · σ, λ · · · A, B, Γ, ∆, · · · Σ, Λ · · · · · ·

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I Letters x, y , z are usually used to represent variables.
I A variable is sometimes (especially when dealing with
equations) referred to as the unknown.
I It is also common to use, say, the first letter of the name of
the quantity involved as the variable name.
I For example if the variable is time it is usually represented by
the letter t.

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Here are some of the examples

Quantity Variable name

Number of eggs to buy e or n
Cost of a can of cola c
Length of a school ground l
Height of a building h
Mass of a vehicle m

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Term
Mathematical expressions consists of terms which are connected by
positive (+) and negative (−) signs.

I For example, in the expression 4x + 6y − 9z + 12, the terms

are 4x, 6y , −9z and 12.
I As with numbers, if there is no sign written in front of a term,
it is always understood that the sign is +.

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Constant
A constant term is a term whose value does not change.

I In the expression 4x + 6y − 9z + 12, the term 12 is called a

constant term.
I Other examples of constants include 12, −0.5, π, and −230.65
are all constants since their values do not change.
Variable
A variable term is a term whose quantity can take different values.

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 I The term with a variable e.g. 4x, 6y , and 9z are called
variable terms.
I The expression 4x + 6y − 9z + 12 itself is called an algebraic
expression.
Coefficient
A coefficient is a constant factor by which the rest of a term is
multiplied.

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Worked example
Find the coefficients of all terms in in the following expressions

a) 5xy − 15z b) x 3 − 5x 2 + 3x − 18

Solution:
a) The term 5xy has coefficient 5 and the term −15z has coefficient
−15.
b) The coefficient of x 3 is 1, the coefficient of −5x 2 is −5, the
coefficient of 3x is 3.

A term with a coefficient of 1 or −1 is usually written without the 1. That

means the expression 1x 3 − 1x 2 + 2x − 1 is written as x 3 − x 2 + 2x − 1

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Algebraic expression
An algebraic expression is a combination of constants and variables
connected by the use of mathematical operations (such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division and exponentiation).

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Examples of algebraic expressions
The following are examples of algebraic expressions

a) 2 b) −3x c) x 3 − 5x 2 + 3x − 18
X −µ x 4 −5u+6π
d) 25m − 12n2 e) σ f) h−9.34xu
2
g) 2x +3x−2
h) 3α − 2β + 65 σ

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The table below show many different ways of reading algebraic
expressions.

x
x +3 x −2 5·x 6
x plus 3 x minus 2 5 times x x divided by 6
x increased by 3 x decreased by 2 product of 5 and x the quotient of x and 6
sum of x and 3 difference between x and 2 x over 6
1
3 more than x 2 less than x 6 of x
3 added to x 2 subtracted from x

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Powers of variables

I Just like in numbers, multiplying a variable by itself i.e

x · x · x · x · x can be written in shorthand as x 5 .
I The following properties of numbers in exponential form also
apply in algebra

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Properties of exponents

a) x m · x n = x m+n b) x m ÷ x n = x m−n

c) x −n = 1
xn d) (x · y )n = x n · y n

e) x 0 = 1 f) x 1 = x
m √ √
m
g) x n = n x m = n x

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I It is common practice to drop the multiplication symbols (· or
× ) when multiplying algebraic expressions.
I For example 5 · x is written as 5x and 26 · x · y is written as
26xy .
I The expression x · x · x · x · x can also be written as xxxxx but
its more appropriate to write it as x 5 .

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Example
Simply the following expressions

a) x 7 · x 3 b) y 3 · y 4 · y 8 c) z 4 ÷ z 2 · z 6
p
d) (xy )7 e) y −6 f) 3 x 3 y 6

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Solution:

a) x 7 · x 3 = x 7+3 = x 10 b) y 3 · y 4 · y 8 = y 3+4+8 = y 15

c) z 4 ÷ z 2 · z 6 = z 4−2+6 = z 8
d) (xy )7 = x 7 y 7
e) y −6 = y16
1 1 1 1 1
p
f) 3 x 3 y 6 = (x 3 y 6 ) 3 = (x 3 ) 3 (y 6 ) 3 = x 3× 3 y 6× 3 = xy 2

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I Remember that in multiplication the order in which you
multiply the numbers does not matter i.e.
5 × 2 × 4 = 4 × 5 × 2 = 4 × 2 × 5 = 2 × 4 × 5 = ···
I This is also true for algebraic expressions i.e
xyz = xzy = yxz = yzx = zxy = zyx

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I This allows us to simplify more complicated problems by
rearranging the variables.
I For example, to multiply the expressions 12x 4 y and 6x 3 y 4 we
proceed as follows
12x 4 y · 6x 3 y 4 = 12 · 6 · x 4 · x 3 · y · y 4
= 72 · x 4+3 · y 1+4
= 72x 7 y 5

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Example
Simplify the following

a) 3xy · 5xy b) 13x 3 y 5 · 5x 2 y 2 z

16x 7 y 5
c) 4x 4 y 2
d) xy 2 · 2x 2 y 3 z · 4x 2 z 2

Solution:
a)
3xy · 5xy = 3 · 5 · x · x · y · y = 15x 1+1 y 1+1 = 15x 2 y 2

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Solution(continued):
b)
3x 3 y 5 · 5x 2 y 2 z = 15x 3+2 y 5+2 z = 15x 5 y 7 z
c)
16x 7 y 5 16 x 7 y 5
4 2
= · 4 · 2 = 4x 7−4 y 5−2 = 4x 3 y 3
4x y 4 x y
d)
xy 2 · 2x 2 y 3 z · 4x 2 z 2 = 8x 1+2+2 y 2+3 z 1+2 = 8x 5 y 5 z 3

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Degree of an algebraic expression
The degree of an expression is the highest exponent (or power) of
any variable contained in the expression.

I First degree expression has highest power of 1. For example

3x + 7
I Expression of first degree are called linear expression.

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I Second degree expression has highest power of 2.
I For example
9x 2 − 4x + 1
I Expression of first degree are called quadratic expression and
third degree 10y 3 + 4y 2 − y + 8 are called cubic expression.

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Example
Find the degree of each of the following expressions

a) 12x b) −5x 3 − 2x + 7

c) 4x 2 − 12x 5 − 4x d) 5y 6 + 7

Solution:
a) The degree of the expression 12x is 1
b) The degree of the expression −5x 3 − 2x + 7 is 3
c) The degree of the expression 4x 2 − 12x 5 − 4x is 5
d) The degree of the expression 5y 6 + 7 is 6

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Like terms
Terms of an algebraic expressions that differ only in their
coefficients are called like terms.
I For example in this expression
15x − 5y + 32 − 4x + 6xy + x 2 + 3y − 11
I The terms 15x and −4x are like terms.
I The terms −5y and 3y are also like terms.
I The constant terms 32 and −11 are like terms as well.
I However, the terms −4x and x 2 are not like terms since x is
not the same as x 2 .

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Worked example
Find like terms in the following expressions

a) x 2 + 7x b) 3 − 3.14x + 7y − 6

c) 12xy 2 − 2xy − 31 x 2 y − 7.99x 2 y − 6xy 2 + 4x − 56 xy 2

Solution:
a) There are no like terms in the expression x 2 + 7x
b) The like terms are 3 and −6
c) In this case the like terms are 12xy 2 , −6xy 2 and − 56 xy 2 . The terms
− 13 x 2 y and −7.99x 2 y are also like terms.

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Combining Like times
If an expression contains like terms, these terms may be combined into a
single term. Constants may also be combined to form a single constant.

I For example for the expression

5x − 2y + 4z + 7 − 3x + 7y − 6z + 4
we can combine like terms by adding or subtracting the numerical
coefficients of terms to obtain a single term as follows
I 5x and −3x becomes 5x − 3x = 2x
I −2y and 7y becomes −2y + 7y = 5y
I 4z and −6z becomes 4z − 6z = −2z
I 7 and 4 becomes 7 + 4 = 11
I Combining the three together, the simplified expression becomes
2x + 5y − 2z + 11
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Worked example
Simplify the following expression by grouping like terms
a) 4x − 7x 2 + 4y − 8 + 5x 2 − 9y
b) 32 a + 5 + 47 b − 25 a − 6 + 13 b

Solution:
a)
4x − 7x 2 + 4y − 8 + 5x 2 − 9y = 4x − 7x 2 + 5x 2 + 4y − 9y − 8
= 4x − 2x 2 − 5y − 8

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Solution(continued):
b)
Grouping like terms we get
2 4 2 1 2 2 4 1
a+5+ b− a−6+ b = a− a+ b+ b+5−6
3 7 5 3 3 5 7 3
Simplifying terms in a we get
2 2 10 6 4
a− a= a− a= a
3 5 15 15 15

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Solution(continued):

Simplifying terms in b we get

4 1 12 7 19
b+ b= b+ b= b
7 3 21 21 21
Putting everything together we have
2 4 2 1 4 19
a+5+ b− a−6+ b = a+ b−1
3 7 5 3 15 21

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Evaluating Algebraic expressions

I Evaluating an expression occurs when we replace a variable is

replaced with a number. We then simplify the resulting
expression.
I The process of replacing an variable with a number is also
called substitution.

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Example
Evaluate the following expressions when a = −3, b = 6 and c = −2

5a2 −2b
a) 4a2 − bc + 3c b) 3a + 5b 2 + 5c c) −2a+2b

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Solution:
a)
4(−3)2 − (6)(−2) + 3(−2) = 4(9) − (−12) − 6
= 36 + 12 − 6 = 42
b)
3(−3) + 5(6)2 + 5(−2) = −9 + 5 · 36 − 10
= −9 + 180 − 10 = 161

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Solution(continued):
c)
5(−3)2 − 2(6) 5 · 9 − 12
=
−2(−3) + 2(6) 6 + 12
45 − 12 33 11
= = =
18 18 6

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Removing/Expanding brackets
When an expression is contained in parentheses (brackets), each
term within the parentheses is multiplied by any coefficient written
outside the parentheses.

I For example the consider the expression, 2(3x + 4y − 1).

I To remove the brackets (parentheses) we must multiply each
term inside the brackets by the coefficient 2.
I Thus, the expression becomes
2(3x) + 2(4y ) + 2(−1) = 6x + 8y − 2

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Worked example
Simplify the following expressions by removing brackets

a) 4(4x − 2y ) b) −2(−3z +5x −12y )

Solution:
a) 4(4x − 2y ) = 4(4x) − 4(−2y ) = 16x + 8y
b) −2(−3z + 5x − 12y ) = −2(−3z) − 2(5x) − 2(−12y ) =
6z − 10x + 24y

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Worked example
Simplify the following expressions by removing brackets

a) 3(2x − y ) − 5(3x − y ) b) 2z − (z + 4y )

Solution:
a)
3(2x − y ) − 5(3x − y ) = 6x − 3y − 15x + 5y
= 6x − 15x − 3y + 5y
= −9x + 2y

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Solution(continued):
b)
2z − (z + 4y ) = 2z − 1(z + 4y )
= 2z − z − 4y
= z − 4y

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I Expanding brackets also work when you have a product of 2 or
more algebraic expressions.
I To expand brackets, we multiply each term of one expression
by each term of the other expression.
I The resulting expression is then simplified by collecting any like
terms.
I This expression is called the product of the expressions.

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Worked example
Evaluate the following products by expanding brackets

a) −4x(−4x + 2z − 1) b) (3x + 2)(2x − 1)

Solution:
a)
−4x(−4x + 2z − 1) = −4x(−4x) − 4x(2z) − 4x(−1)
= 16x 2 − 8xz + 4x

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Solution(continued):
b)
(3x + 2)(2x − 1) = 3x(2x − 1) + 2(2x − 1)
= 3x(2x) + 3x(−1) + 2(2x) + 2(−1)
= 6x 2 − 3x + 4x − 2
= 6x 2 + x − 2

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Example
Expand the following expressions

a) (a + b)(a − b) b) (4t − 3)(4t + 3) c) (a + b)2

Solution:
a)
(a + b)(a − b) = a(a − b) + b(a − b)
= a2 − ab + ba − b 2 = a2 − ab + ab − b 2
= a2 − b 2
This answer above is called a difference of two squares.

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Solution(continued):
b)
(4t − 3)(4t + 3) = 4t(4t + 3) − 3(4t + 3)
= (4t)(4t) + (4t)(3) − 3(4t) − 3(3)
= 16t 2 − 12t + 12t − 9
= 16t 2 − 9

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Solution(continued):
c)
(a + b)2 = (a + b)(a − b) = a(a + b) + b(a + b)
= a2 + ab + ba + b 2 = a2 + ab + ab + b 2
= a2 + 2ab + b 2
This example is an important illustration of the fact that
(a + b)2 6= a2 + b 2

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