binomial – a mathematical expression that has two terms

(pronounced by-no-mee-uhl)

To remember the meaning of binomial, use the following mnemonic:

Buy a gnome a meal (binomial) from the two termites, and his expression (two term expression) will change. 

A binomial expression contains exactly two terms separated by a plus or minus sign, such as `(x + 4)`, `(3a - 2)`, or `(5y + 7)`.

Binomials are an important part of algebra because they are often used in expanding brackets, factorising expressions, and solving equations. When working with binomials, you may be asked to multiply them together, which means multiplying each term in the first bracket by each term in the second bracket.

For example:

`((x + 2) (x + 3))` expands to `(x^2 + 5x + 6)`

Note also that a monomial would be one term like `3x^2`.

Also trinomial would be three terms such as `3x + 5y^2 - 3`.