Thursday, January 9, 2014

Writing Algebraic Expressions From Word Phrases

This can be challenging, however it is important to take your time and make sense of the problem.  Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules (like integers) to interpret the word phrases into algebraic expressions, so we need to practice.  One of the harder phrases involve subtraction.  Look at the list below and be sure to study these phrases.


    • A number less 9.........................n - 9
    • A number less than 9.................9 - n
    • A number is less than 9..............n < 9

1 comment:

  1. Of course! Here are some verb phrases along with their equivalent algebraic expressions:

    Twice a number x: 2x

    The sum of a number x and 5: x + 5

    A number greater than 10: x > 10 (where "x" is the number)

    Half of a number y: y / 2

    The product of two numbers, a and b: a * b

    The difference between a number c and 8: c - 8

    A number increased by 3: x + 3

    The sum of three consecutive numbers, a, a+1, a+2: a + (a + 1) + (a + 2)

    Triple the sum of two numbers, p and q: 3 * (p + q)

    The square of a number m: m^2

    A number n decreased by 7: n - 7

    The difference between the square of two numbers, x^2 and y^2: x^2 - y^2

    The square root of a number z: √z

    The sum of the first n natural numbers: 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n

    Twice the difference between two numbers, p and q: 2 * (p - q)

    Remember that these algebraic expressions represent mathematical relationships in terms of variables. Each verb phrase is translated into a specific algebraic expression according to the operation or relationship being described.

    _______________________
    Stabilit America

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