Distributive law

Definition

The rule that multiplying a sum or difference means multiplying every term within it: $a(b+c)=ab+ac$ .

Used by AQA and OCR

Specification A4 · Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3

Specification 6.01d · Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher), Paper 5 (Higher), Paper 6 (Higher)

The rule $a(b+c)=ab+ac$ , which says that a factor outside a bracket multiplies every term inside it.

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