Algebraic Expression - Term

Terms

A term can be any of the following:

• a constant: e.g. 3, 10, π,
• the product of a number (coefficient) and a variable: e.g. –3x, 11y,
• the product of two or more variables: e.g. x², xy, 2y², 7xy

Like terms are terms that differ only in their numerical coefficients. For example: 3a, 22a, are like terms.

Expressions

An expression is made up of one or more terms.

For example:

3w + 4xy + 5

An expression can be term or a collection of terms separated by addition or subtraction operators. Some examples of expressions, with the numbers of terms, are listed below:

Expression	Number of Terms	Description
6x	1	A number multiplied by a variable. The number is always written first followed by the variable(s).
3w – 8	2	Terms separated by –
7b + 5t – 6	3	Terms separated by + and –
	1	All multiplication and division, no + or – symbol

Example:

Determine the number of terms in the following expressions:

a) 5xyz

b) 3x + 2y – 2x + 6

Solution:

a) 5xyz has one term

b) 3x + 2y – 2x + 6 has four terms