Expand and simplify (x – 2)(2x + 3)

This question is 3 marks, looking for 2 marks of working and 1 for correct answer. This type of question is called expanding brackets. A simple way to do this is using the acronym FOIL (First, Outside, Inside, Last). To do this we break up the work into 4 bits. First we multiply the First term in each bracket (check if they know how to multiply two variables), always checking the sign. (2x) x (x)=2x²We then multiply the Outside terms and add/subtract this term depending in the sign. (3) x (x) = 3x, 2x² + 3x Do the same for the Inside terms and Last terms. 2x² + 3x - 4x - 6We now have 1 mark, next we simplify by collecting like terms for the next mark. 2x² - x - 6The final marks comes from providing the correctly sypmlified answer.