Numerical or algebraic expression that represents an expression in which we have solved all of the calculations in parentheses. This expression is also used to refer to the process that consists, inversely, of representing a number or an expression in a form that breaks down its elements.
Expanded form is the opposite of factored form.
Examples
- Consider the expression \(4\left(x+ 12\right)\).
This expression includes two factors that we can expand by finding the product to get \(4x + 48\), which is then the expanded form of this product. - The decimal number \(14 837\) can be represented in expanded form like this:
\((1 × 10^4) + (4 × 10^3) + (8 × 10^2) + (3 × 10^1) + (7 × 10^0)\)