# Algebraic Notation

## Simplify the expressions using the normal conventions of algebra.

##### Collecting Like TermsLevel 1Level 2FactorisingDescriptionHelpMore Algebra

Can you write the following expressions in their simplest forms? Use the buttons provided to insert the squared and cubed symbols if required.

 $$a + a + a + a$$ $$b + b − b$$ $$b + b + c$$ $$c + d + c − d$$ $$d + e$$ $$5e + 3f + 3e$$ $$f \times g \times h$$ $$2g \times 3h$$ $$j \times j \times j$$ $$k \times k + m \times m$$ $$m \times m \times n$$ $$p \times 2p \times 3p$$
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This is Algebraic Notation level 1. You can also try:
Collecting Like Terms Level 2 Factorising

## Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.

## Transum.org

This web site contains over a thousand free mathematical activities for teachers and pupils. Click here to go to the main page which links to all of the resources available.

## More Activities:

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

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#### Hi-Low Predict

A version of the Play Your Cards Right TV programme. Calculate the probabilities of cards being higher or lower than the one shown. a fun way to practise applying probability and using fractions.

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## Go Maths

Learning and understanding Mathematics, at every level, requires learner engagement. Mathematics is not a spectator sport. Sometimes traditional teaching fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of interactive activities and this web site provides many of those. The Go Maths page is an alphabetical list of free activities designed for students in Secondary/High school.

## Maths Map

Are you looking for something specific? An exercise to supplement the topic you are studying at school at the moment perhaps. Navigate using our Maths Map to find exercises, puzzles and Maths lesson starters grouped by topic.

## Teachers

If you found this activity useful don't forget to record it in your scheme of work or learning management system. The short URL, ready to be copied and pasted, is as follows:

Quasimodo4711@freenet.de, Germany

Sunday, December 20, 2015

"Don't know what key should be used for the multiplication sign with a German keyboard?"

Transum,

Monday, December 21, 2015

"Hello Quasimodo4711 in Germany. None of the answers to this exercise require a multiplication sign. When two or more terms are multiplied together they can be shown without a sign. For example 6 times b is 6b and 5 times x times y times y is 5xy2."

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© Transum Mathematics :: This activity can be found online at:
www.transum.org/software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/Students/Algebraic_Notation.asp?

## Description of Levels

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Collecting Like Terms - This is where you would start. It is important to know which terms are 'like' and can be combined into one term.

Level 1 - Simplify simple expressions by writing them in a more compact form

Level 2 - Simplify some slightly more difficult expressions

Factorising - The next step is to understand how expressions can be simplified by factorising them.

More on this topic including many more exercises, lesson Starters, visual aids and investigations.

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## Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

## Video

The video above is from MathsWatch

## Example

In algebra it is common to use:

• ab in place of a × b
• 3a in place of a + a + a and 3 × a
• a² in place of a × a
• a³ in place of a × a × a
• a²b in place of a × a × b

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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