Question

How many terms are in this expression: 4x + y – 3?

Answer 1

Hint: Here in this question, an expression is given which is a variable expression. We have to tell how many terms this expression contains. Term comprises the coefficient and the variable or constant alone. For example: In 4x + 5, 4x is one term and 5 is another term.

Complete step by step answer:
Let’s discuss the question now.
When we talk about algebraic expression, we should know some important definitions: variable, coefficient, term and constant. Variable is an alphabet whose value is unknown to us. Coefficient is a constant value which is in product with the variable. For example: In 5x, 5 is a coefficient of ‘x’. Constant is a value which is alone in the expression and it is fixed. For example: In 3x+8, 8 is a constant value. Term comprises a coefficient and variable(s) or constant alone. Terms are separated by symbols that’s why they are easily identified. For example: In 2xy + 3z, 2xy and 3z are terms.
There are mainly 3 types of algebraic expression. They are: monomial expression, binomial expression and polynomial expression. Algebraic expression which contains a single term is called a monomial expression. For example: 3x, $4{{y}^{2}}$ , 2xy etc. Algebraic expression containing two terms is called a binomial expression. For example: $2{{x}^{2}}+5$, 3y – 7 etc. Algebraic expression containing more than two terms is called a polynomial expression. For example: ax + by + ca, 4x + 6y + 9 etc.
In this question, 4x + y – 3 contains 3 terms i.e. 4x, y and -3.
This is our final answer.

Note:
When we talk about the number of terms, it can be calculated easily by counting. Before calculating the number of terms, one should know all the definitions used in algebraic expression. Students can make mistakes while counting terms like if the question is 3xyz – 2 then they will count as 3, x, y, z, -2 which is a completely wrong answer.