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

6236 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

A price is decreased by 27% The new price is £1138.80 Work out the original price.


What is the value of x if (15*sqrt(x)) / sqrt(5) = 6*sqrt(5)


Write x^2 + 4x - 16 in the form (x+a)^2-b


Determine the nature of the roots of the quadratic equation x^2 + 6x + 8 = 0, and plot the graph of this function.


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