Lecture 2

Monomials and Polynomials

Definitions

Monomial: A product of numerical numbers and letters is said to be a mono-

mial. In particular, a number or a letter alone is also a monomial, for example,
16, 32x, and 2ax2 y, etc.
Coefficient: In each monomial, the part consisting of numerical numbers and
the letters denoting constants is said to be the coefficient of the monomial, like 32
in 32x, 2a in 2ax2 y, etc.
Degree of a Monomial: In a monomial, the sum of all indices of the letters
denoting variables is called the degree of the monomial. For example, the degree
of 3abx2 is 2, and the degree of 7a4 xy 2 is 3.
Polynomial: The sum of several monomials is said to be a polynomial, its each
monomial is called a term, the term not containing letters is said to be the con-
stant term of the polynomial. The maximum value of the degree of terms in the
polynomial is called degree of the polynomial, for example, the degree is 2 for
3x2 + 4x + 1, and 5 for 2x2 y 3 + 2y. A polynomial is called homogeneous when
all its terms have the same degree, like 3x2 + xy + 4y 2 .
Arrangement of Terms: When arranging the terms in a polynomial, the terms
can be arranged such that their degrees are in either ascending or descending order,
and the sign before a term should remain attached to when moving it. For example,
the polynomial x3 y 3 −1−2xy 2 −x3 y should be arranged as x3 y 3 −x3 y−2xy 2 −1
or −1 − 2xy 2 − x3 y + x3 y 3 .
Like Terms: Two terms are called like terms if they have the same construction
except for their coefficients, like in 4ax2 y and 5bx2 y.
Combining Like Terms: When doing addition, subtraction to two like terms,
it means doing the corresponding operation on their coefficients. For example,
4ax2 y + 5bx2 y = (4a + 5b)x2 y and 4ax2 y − 5bx2 y = (4a − 5b)x2 y.
Operations on Polynomials

Addition: Adding two polynomials means:

(i) take all terms in the two polynomials as the terms of the sum;
(ii) combine all the like terms if any;
(iii) arrange all the combined terms according to the order of ascending or de-
scending degree.
Subtraction: Let P and Q be two polynomials. Then P − Q means
(i) change the signs of all terms in Q to get −Q at first;
(ii) take all terms in the two polynomials P and −Q as the terms of P − Q;
(iii) combine all the like terms if any;
(iv) arrange all the combined terms according to the rule mentioned above.
Rule for Removing or Adding Brackets:
The rule for removing or adding brackets is the distributive law. For example, to
remove the brackets in the expression −2x(x3 y − 4x2 y 2 + 4), then
−2x(x3 y − 4x2 y 2 + 4) = −2x4 y + 8x3 y 2 − 8x,
and to add a pair of bracket for containing the terms of the expression −4x5 y 2 +
6x4 y − 8x2 y 2 and pick out their common factor with negative coefficient, then
−4x5 y 2 + 6x4 y − 8x2 y 2 = −2x2 y(2x3 y − 3x2 + 4y).
Multiplication:
(i) For natural numbers m and n,
am · an = am+n ; (am )n = amn ; (ab)n = an bn ;
(ii) When two monomials are multiplied, the coefficient of the product is the
product of the coefficients, the letters are multiplied according to the rules
in (i);
(iii) When two polynomials are multiplied, by using the distributive law, get a
sum of products of a monomial and a polynomial first, and then use the
distributive law again, get a sum of products of two monomials;
(iv) Three basic formulae in multiplication:
(i) (a − b)(a + b) = a2 − b2 ;
(ii) (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2 ;
(iii) (a − b)2 = a2 − 2ab + b2 .

Examples

Example 1. Simplify 3a + {−4b − [4a − 7b − (−4a − b)] + 5a}.

Solution
3a + {−4b − [4a − 7b − (−4a − b)] + 5a}
= 3a + {−4b − [8a − 6b] + 5a} = 3a + {−3a + 2b} = 2b.
or

3a + {−4b − [4a − 7b − (−4a − b)] + 5a}

= 8a − 4b − [4a − 7b − (−4a − b)] = 4a + 3b + (−4a − b) = 2b.

Note: We can remove the brackets from the innermost to outermost layer, or
vice versa.

Example 2. Simplify the expression 4{(3x − 2) − [3(3x − 2) + 3]} − (4 − 6x).

Solution Taking 3x − 2 as whole as one number y in the process of the

simplification first, we have

4{(3x − 2) − [3(3x − 2) + 3]} − (4 − 6x) = 4{y − [3y + 3]} + 2y

= 4{−2y − 3} + 2y = −6y − 12 = −6(3x − 2) − 12 = −18x.

Example 3. Evaluate −9xn−2 − 8xn−1 − (−9xn−2 ) − 8(xn−2 − 2xn−1 ), where

x = 9, n = 3.

Solution −9xn−2 − 8xn−1 − (−9xn−2 ) − 8(xn−2 − 2xn−1 ) = 8xn−1 −

n−2
8x . By substituting x = 9, n = 3, it follows that

the expression = 8xn−1 − 8xn−2 = 8 × (81 − 9) = 576.

Example 4. Given x3 + 4x2 y + axy 2 + 3xy − bxc y + 7xy 2 + dxy + y 2 = x3 + y 2

for any real numbers x and y, find the value of a, b, c, d.

Solution 4x2 y and −bxc y must be like terms and their sum is 0, so

b = 4, c = 2.

axy 2 + 7xy 2 = 0 and 2xy + dxy = 0 for every x and y yields a + 7 = 0 and
3 + d = 0, so
a = −7, d = −3.
Thus, a = −7, b = 4, c = 2, d = −3.

Example 5. Given that m, x, y satisfy (i) 32 (x − 5)2 + 5m2 = 0; (ii) −2a2 by+1
and 3a2 b3 are like terms, find the value of the expression
½ · ¸ ¾
3 2 2 7 2 1 2 3 2 2 2
x y + 5m − − x y + − xy − x y − 3.475xy − 6.275xy .
8 16 4 16
 Solution The condition (i) implies (x−5)2 = 0, 5m2 = 0, so x = 5, m = 0.
The condition (ii) implies y + 1 = 3, i.e. y = 2. Therefore
½ · ¸ ¾
3 2 2 7 2 1 2 3 2 2 2
x y + 5m − − x y + − xy − x y − 3.475xy − 6.275xy
8 16 4 16
½ ¾
3 2 7 2 1 2 3 2 2 2
= x y − − x y − xy − x y − 3.475xy − 6.275xy
8 16 4 16
3 2 7 2 1 2 3 2
= x y + x y + xy + x y + 3.475xy 2 + 6.275xy 2
8 16 4 16
µ ¶ µ ¶
3 7 3 1 19 11
= + + x2 y + +3 +6 xy 2
8 16 16 4 40 40
= x2 y + 10xy 2 = (52 )(2) + 10(5)(22 ) = 250.
Example 6. Given that P (x) = nxn+4 +3x4−n −2x3 +4x−5, Q(x) = 3xn+4 −
x4 + x3 + 2nx2 + x − 2 are two polynomials. Determine if there exists an integer
n such that the difference P − Q is a polynomial with degree 5 and six terms.
Solution P (x)−Q(x) = (n−3)xn+4 +3x4−n +x4 −3x3 −2nx2 +3x−3.
When n + 4 = 5, then n = 1, so that 3x4−n − 3x3 = 0, the difference has
only 5 terms.
When 4 − n = 5, then n = −1, so that P (x) − Q(x) = 3x5 + x4 − 7x3 +
2
2x + 3x − 3 which satisfies the requirement. Thus, n = −1.

Example 7. Expand (x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3)(x − 4).

Solution
(x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3)(x − 4) = [(x − 1)(x − 4)] · [(x − 2)(x − 3)]
= (x2 − 4x − x + 4)(x2 − 3x − 2x + 6)
= [(x2 − 5x + 5) − 1][(x2 − 5x + 5) + 1]
= (x2 − 5x + 5)2 − 1 = x4 + 25x2 + 25 − 10x3 + 10x2 − 50x − 1
= x4 − 10x3 + 35x2 − 50x + 24.
1 2 1
Example 8. Expand (5xy − 3x2 + y )(5xy + 3x2 − y 2 )
2 2
Solution Considering the formula (a − b)(a + b) = a2 − b2 , we have
1 1
(5xy − 3x2 + y 2 )(5xy + 3x2 − y 2 )
2 2
· µ ¶¸ · µ ¶¸
1 1
= 5xy − 3x2 − y 2 · 5xy + 3x2 − y 2
2 2
 µ ¶2 · ¸
1 1 1
= (5xy)2 − 3x2 − y 2 = 25x2 y 2 − (3x2 )2 − 2(3x2 )( y 2 ) + ( y 2 )2
2 2 2
· ¸
1 1
= 25x2 y 2 − 9x4 − 3x2 y 2 + y 4 = −9x4 + 28x2 y 2 − y 2 .
4 4
x3 + x + 1
Example 9. Given x2 − x − 1 = 0, simplify to a polynomial form.
x5
Solution x2 − x − 1 = 0 yields x + 1 = x2 , so

x3 + x + 1 x3 + x2 x+1 1 x2 − x
5
= 5
= 3
= = = x − 1.
x x x x x

Testing Questions

1. In the following expressions, which is (are) not monomial?

x 1 3
(A) (B) −0.5(1 + ) (C) 2
5 x x

2. The degree of sum of two polynomials with degree 4 each must be

(A) 8, (B) 4, (C) less than 4, (D) not greater than 4.
3. While doing an addition of two polynomials, Adam mistook “add the poly-
nomial 2x2 + x + 1” as “subtract 2x2 + x + 1”, and hence his result was
5x2 − 2x + 4. Find the correct answer.
4. Given that the monomials 0.75xb y c and −0.5xm−1 y 2n−1 are like terms, and
their sum is 1.25axn y m , find the value of abc.
1 2 3
5. If x5 , x + , 1 + + 2 are multiplied together, the product is a polynomial,
x x x
then degree of the product is
(A) 4, (B) 5, (C) 6, (D) 7, (E) 8.
6. Find a natural number n, such that 28 + 210 + 2n is a perfect square number.
7. Given 3x2 + x = 1, find the value of 6x3 − x2 − 3x + 2010.
a b c
8. If x = = = , then the value of x is
b+c a+c a+b
1 1 3
(A) , (B) −1, (C) , or −1, (D) .
2 2 2
 1 1 2x + 4xy − 2y
9. If − = 4, find the value of .
x y x − y − 2xy

Testing Questions (HW)

1. (UKMO/1995(B)) Nine squares are arranged to form a rectangle as shown.

The smallest square has side of length 1. How big is the next smallest
square? and how about the area of the rectangle?
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2. Let P (x) = ax7 +bx3 +cx−5, where a, b, c are constants. Given P (−7) = 7,
find the value of P (7).
1 1 1 1
3. If a, b, c are non-zero real numbers, satisfying + + = , prove
a b c a+b+c
that among a, b, c there must be two opposite numbers.
4. If xy = a, xz = b, yz = c and abc 6= 0, find the value of x2 + y 2 + z 2 in
terms of a, b, c.

5. Given a4 + a3 + a2 + a + 1 = 0. Find the value of a2000 + a2010 + 1.

6. If (x2 − x − 1)n = a2n x2n + a2n−1 x2n−1 + · · · + a2 x2 + a1 x + a0 , find the
value of a0 + a2 + a4 + · · · + a2n .