1.1 Integers and Rational Numbers

www.ck12.org Chapter 3. Polynomials and Exponents, Part 1CHAPTER3 Polynomials andExponents, Part 1Chapter Outline3.1 EXPONENTIAL PROPERTIES INVOLVING PRODUCTS3.2 MULTIPLYING TWO POLYNOMIALS3.3 SPECIAL PRODUCTS OF POLYNOMIALSAs we saw in the last section, polynomial expressions often involve variables with exponents. We learned how toadd and subtract and simplify these expressions in the last chapter. This chapter focuses on multiplying expressions.We will learn the properties of exponents which will will be important to simplify our expressions, and we will learnhow to multiply polynomials.Definition: An exponent is a power of a number which shows how many times that number is multiplied by itself.An example would be 2 3 . You would multiply 2 by itself 3 times, 2 × 2 × 2. The number 2 is the base and thenumber 3 is the exponent. The value 2 3 is called the power.Example 1: Write in exponential form: a · a · a · aSolution: You must count the number of times the base, a is being multiplied by itself. It’s being multiplied 4 timesso the solution is a 4Note: When you raise negative numbers to a power, you need to keep track of the negatives. Recall that(negative number) × (positive number) = negative number(negative number) × (negative number) = positive number57