Symbolab Algebra Cheat Sheet

Number Rules
• 𝑎⋅0=0 • 1⋅𝑎 =𝑎

Expand Rules
• −(𝑎 ± 𝑏) = −𝑎 ∓ 𝑏
• 𝑎 ⋅ (𝑏 + 𝑐) ⋅ (𝑑 + 𝑒) = 𝑎𝑏𝑑 + 𝑎𝑏𝑒 + 𝑎𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎𝑐𝑒
• −(−𝑎) = 𝑎
• 𝑎 ⋅ (𝑏 + 𝑐) = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎𝑐
• (𝑎 + 𝑏) ⋅ (𝑐 + 𝑑) = 𝑎𝑐 + 𝑎𝑑 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑏𝑑

Fraction Rules
0 𝑎
• 𝑎 = 0, 𝑎 ≠ 0 • =𝑎
1
•
𝑎
=1 𝑎 −1 1 𝑏
𝑎 • (𝑏 ) = 𝑎 =𝑎
𝑐 ( )
𝑎 −𝑐 𝑎 −1 𝑏 𝑐 𝑏
• (𝑏 ) = ((𝑏) ) = (𝑎) • 𝑎−1 = 𝑎
1

1 −𝑎 𝑎
• 𝑎−𝑏 = 𝑎𝑏 • =𝑏
−𝑏
−𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
• = −𝑏 • = −𝑏
𝑏 −𝑏
𝑎 𝑎⋅𝑐
• = 𝑏
( ) 𝑏
𝑏
( )
𝑐
𝑏 • 𝑐
= 𝑐⋅𝑎
𝑎
1 𝑐
• 𝑏 =𝑏
( )
𝑐

Absolute Rules
• |−𝑎| = 𝑎, 0 ≤ 𝑎 • |𝑎| = 𝑎, 0 ≤ 𝑎
• |−𝑎| = |𝑎| • |𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥| = 𝑎 ⋅ |𝑥|, 0 ≤ 𝑎

Exponent Rules
• 1𝑎 = 1 •
𝑛
√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑏 = √𝑎 ⋅ √𝑏
𝑛 𝑛

• 𝑎0 = 1, 𝑎 ≠ 0 • 𝑎1 = 𝑎
• (𝑎𝑏)𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛 𝑏 𝑛 • 0𝑎 = 0, 𝑎 ≠ 0
𝑎𝑚 1 𝑎𝑚
• = 𝑎𝑛−𝑚 , 𝑚 < 𝑛 • = 𝑎𝑚−𝑛 , 𝑛 < 𝑚
𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛
• (𝑎𝑏 )𝑐 = 𝑎𝑏⋅𝑐 • 𝑎𝑏+𝑐
= 𝑎𝑏 ⋅ 𝑎𝑐
𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑐 • 𝑎𝑏⋅𝑐 = (𝑎𝑏 )𝑐
• (𝑏 ) = 𝑏 𝑐 𝑚 𝑚
•
𝑛
• 𝑎𝑐 ⋅ 𝑏 𝑐 = (𝑎 ⋅ 𝑏)𝑐 𝑎 𝑛 = ( √𝑎 )
Factor Rules
• 𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2 = (𝑥 − 𝑦) ⋅ (𝑥 + 𝑦)
• 𝑥 3 + 𝑦 3 = (𝑥 + 𝑦) ⋅ (𝑥 2 − 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2 )
• 𝑥 𝑛 − 𝑦 𝑛 = (𝑥 − 𝑦) ⋅ (𝑥 𝑛−1 + 𝑥 𝑛−2 𝑦 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑦 𝑛−2 + 𝑦 𝑛−1 )
• 𝑥 𝑛 + 𝑦 𝑛 = (𝑥 + 𝑦) ⋅ (𝑥 𝑛−1 − 𝑥 𝑛−2 𝑦 + ⋯ − 𝑥𝑦 𝑛−2 + 𝑦 𝑛−1 ), 𝑛 is odd
• 𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2⋅𝑛 − 𝑏 = (√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 𝑛 + √𝑏)(√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 𝑛 − √𝑏)
• 𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 4 − 𝑏 = (√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2 + √𝑏)(√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2 − √𝑏)
• 𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2⋅𝑛 − 𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 2⋅𝑚 = (√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 𝑛 + √𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 𝑚 )(√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 𝑛 − √𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 𝑚 )
• 𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 4 − 𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 4 = (√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2 + √𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 2 )(√𝑎 ⋅ 𝑥 2 − √𝑏 ⋅ 𝑦 2 )

Factorial Rules
• 0! = 1
• 𝑛! = 1 ⋅ 2 ⋯ (𝑛 − 1) ⋅ 𝑛
𝑛! 1
• (𝑛+𝑚)! = (𝑛+1)⋅(𝑛+2)⋯(𝑛+𝑚)
𝑛!
• (𝑛−𝑚)!
= 𝑛 ⋅ (𝑛 − 1) ⋯ (𝑛 − 𝑚 + 1), 𝑚 < 𝑛

Log Rules
• log(0) =Undefined • log(1) = 0
• log 𝑎 (𝑎) = 1 • log 𝑎 (𝑥 𝑏 ) = 𝑏 ⋅ log 𝑎 (𝑥)
1 1
• log 𝑎𝑏 (𝑥) = ⋅ log 𝑎 (𝑥) • log 𝑎 ( ) = − log 𝑎 (𝑥)
𝑏 𝑥
• log 1 (𝑥) = − log 𝑎 (𝑥) • log (𝑥) =
𝑥𝑛
1
𝑎 𝑛
1 𝑛 • log 𝑥 (𝑥 𝑛 ) = 𝑛
• log 𝑥 ((𝑥) ) = −𝑛
ln(𝑏) • 𝑎log𝑎(𝑏) = 𝑏
• log 𝑎 (𝑏) = ln(𝑎)

Undefined
𝑥
• 00 =Undefined • =Undefined
0
• log 𝑎 (𝑏) =Undefined, 𝑎 ≤ 0 • log 𝑎 (𝑏) =Undefined, 𝑏 ≤ 0
• log1 (𝑎) =Undefined

Complex Number Rules

• 𝑖 2 = −1
• √−1 = 𝑖
• √−𝑎 = √−1 ⋅ √𝑎