FOIL

Revision as of 11:00, 16 August 2008 by Isabella2296 (talk | contribs)

FOIL, standing for first, outside, inside, last, is a mnemonic device for remembering the distributive property when two binomials are multiplied.

\[(a+b)(c+d) = ac + ad + bc + bd\]

Here are a few examples.

\[(5x + 3)(2x - 6)\]

First we multiply the first terms, \[5x\] and \[2x\], yielding \[10x^2\].

Then, the outside terms, \[5x\] and \[-6\], giving us \[-30x\].

Next, the inside terms, \[3\] and \[2x\], which is \[6x\].

Finally, we multiply the last terms, \[-6\] and \[3\], which is \[-18\].

Thus, our answer is \[10x^2 - 30x + 6x - 18\], which, when simplified, gives us a final answer of \[\boxed{10x^2 - 24x - 18}\].

See also

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