How can you expand brackets? e.g: (x-4)(x+7)

The answer is of the form ax2+bx+c The a term is found by the product of the coefficients of the x in the brackets. e.g (2x+7)(-4x+6) would give -8x2 . However for this example, we will only use coefficients of 1. The coefficient of the x term (b) will be sum of the numbers after the x (e.g: (6x-4)(4x+3)). For the first bracket the b term is -4 and for the second bracket the b term is +3. The product of these numbers is -1, so this is the coefficient of the x term. The c term in the quadratic is the product of these numbers. Using the previous example, -4 x 3 = -12 so this is the c term. Putting these answers into our quadratic give us x2+3x-28.

ST
Answered by Sam T. Maths tutor

6053 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Frank buys a car at the start of 2015, for £12,000. Each year the value fo the car depreciates by 9%. What was the value of the car at the end of 2019?


There are n sweets in a bag, 6 of which are red. The rest of the sweets are blue. Jen removes 1 sweet from the bag. Jen then takes another sweet from the bag. The probability that Hannah takes two red sweets is 1/3. Show that n²-n-90=0.


Solve the following simultaneous equations: 3a + 2b = 36 equation ( 1), and 5a + 4b = 64 equation (2)


Make x the subject of 3y + 2x = 6y - x/2


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning