MA09-04 Maths Coming soon
Collecting Like Terms
MA09-04
This lesson is coming soon.
In this lesson
Simplify an algebraic expression by collecting like terms, keeping the correct sign attached to each term and never combining unlike terms.
What it covers
- Identify which terms in an expression are 'like' (same letter, same power) and which are not
- Collect like terms by adding or subtracting their coefficients
- Keep the sign that belongs to each term when rearranging or collecting, including a term with no explicit sign or one that is being subtracted
- Simplify an expression with more than one letter, only combining matching ones
Key words
For: AQA GCSE 8300, Edexcel GCSE 1MA1, Eduqas GCSE C300, Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1, OCR GCSE J560, Cambridge IGCSE 0580
On the specification
| Board | Spec | Statement |
|---|---|---|
| AQA GCSE 8300 | A4 | Notation, vocabulary and manipulation |
| Edexcel GCSE 1MA1 | A4 | Notation, vocabulary and manipulation |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | FA4 | Simplify and manipulate algebraic expressions (including those involving surds) by: collecting like terms; multiplying a single term over a bracket; taking out common factors; expanding products of two binomials; factorising quadratic expressions of the form x² + bx + c, including the difference of two squares; simplifying expressions involving sums, products and powers, including the laws of indices |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | HA4 | Simplify and manipulate algebraic expressions (including those involving surds and algebraic fractions) by: collecting like terms; multiplying a single term over a bracket; taking out common factors; expanding products of two or more binomials; factorising quadratic expressions of the form x² + bx + c, including the difference of two squares; factorising quadratic expressions of the form ax² + bx + c; completing the square; simplifying expressions involving sums, products and powers, including the laws of indices |
| Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1 | F2.2B | Collect like terms |
| OCR GCSE J560 | 6.01b | Simplify algebraic expressions by collecting like terms. |
| Cambridge IGCSE 0580 | C2.2 | Simplify expressions by collecting like terms. |
| Cambridge IGCSE 0580 | E2.2 | Simplify expressions by collecting like terms. |
For teachers
This GCSE Maths lesson teaches collecting like terms. By the end, students should be able to simplify an algebraic expression by collecting like terms, keeping the correct sign attached to each term and never combining unlike terms. It works through three worked examples and the mistakes examiners report.