2024-12-16 11:02 UTC
3/7
The most concise definition I've seen of "Term" is separated by operators (plus, minus, multiply, divide) and joined by grouping symbols (brackets, vinculum, exponents). I mention this because sometimes there's a context-specific definition, like in a "Collecting like terms" chapter, which only mentions plus and minus, and some people incorrectly read between the lines that they AREN'T separated by multiply and divide...
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@SmartmanApps@dotnet.social 2024-12-16 11:02
4/7 But in the context of collecting like terms we have ALREADY DONE ALL MULTIPLIES AND DIVIDES, hence they're not mentioned in those chapters. Some people then incorrectly read between the lines here that Terms AREN'T separated by multiply and divide, but we have already seen a definition which doesn't even mention signs at all(!), as per several textbooks. Terms are separated by ANY operators. We can see then that 3(x-y) is a SINGLE TERM, as the only operator is INSIDE BRACKETS...