Terms

TERMS

A term is a constant or a variable or a product of a constant and one or more variables.

Example: 3x², 6x and -5 are called the terms of the expression 3x²+6x-5.

A term could be

       i.            A constant

    ii.            A variable

 iii.            A product of constant and a variable(or variables)

 iv.            A product of two or more variables

In the expression 4a²+7a+3, the terms are 4a², 7a and 3. The number of terms is 3.

Like Terms: Terms having the same variable or product of variables with same powers are called like terms.  Example: x, -5x, 9x are like terms as they have the same variable x.

Unlike Terms: Terms having different variable or product of variable with different powers are called unlike terms. Example: 6x, 6y are unlike terms.