expand

In algebra, to expand is a process where we multiply different objects in an expression (that are in brackets) to form a new expression (that isn’t in brackets).

We can expand the expression 5(2x – 3) as an example.

   5(2x – 3)

= 5 × 2x – 5 × 3

= 10x – 15

Therefore, the new expression is 10x – 15.

The opposite of expand is factorise.