Question

What is the standard form of a polynomial `(a+3)(a-1)`?

Answer 1

See the entire solution process below:

Explanation:

To put this expression in the standard form multiply these two terms by multiplying each individual term in the left parenthesis by each individual term in the right parenthesis.

`(color(red)(a) + color(red)(3))(color(blue)(a) - color(blue)(1))` becomes:

`(color(red)(a) xx color(blue)(a)) - (color(red)(a) xx color(blue)(1)) + (color(red)(3) xx color(blue)(a)) - (color(red)(3) xx color(blue)(1))`

`a^2 - 1a + 3a - 3`

We can now combine like terms:

`a^2 + (-1 + 3)a - 3`

`a^2 + 2a - 3`