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EZ as pi
Oct 18, 2016

It is a way for students to remember how to find the product of two binomials.

Explanation:

The 'foil' method, stands for "Firsts, Outers, Inners, Lasts".

It is a way for students to remember how to find the product of two binomials. The advantages might be:

  • It is a learnable process so that new or weak students have a way of knowing what to do next

  • It is a method which can be repeated in any example of 2 terms multiplied by 2 terms.

  • It is a reminder that 4 terms must be obtained from the multiplying.

  • It is an extension of the distributive property, where 2 terms are being distributed across a bracket.

For example:

#(x+3)(x-4)# will be multiplied to give

#(x xx x) + (x xx -4) + (3 xx x) + (3 xx -4)#
#"Firsts " + " outers" + " inners"+ " lasts"#

However it is limited to two binomials.

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