Question

How do you write `(x-5)(x+2)` in standard form?

Answer 1

`x^2 - 3x - 10`

Explanation:

Each term in the 2nd bracket must be multiplied by each term in the 1st. This can be done as follows.

`color(blue)"(x -5 )"(x + 2)`

= `color(blue)"x" (x + 2 )color(blue)"-5"(x + 2 ) = x^2 + 2x - 5x - 10`

now collect like terms

`rArr (x - 5 )(x + 2 ) = x^2 - 3x - 10 " is in standard form "`

Writing an answer in standard form means , start with the term that has the highest power of the variable, `" in this case " x^2`followed by terms with decreasing powers until the last term, usually a constant.