What is an Algebraic Expression?

In mathematics, it is an expression that is made up of variables and constants along with algebraic operations such as addition, subtraction, etc.. these Expressions are made up of terms. Algebraic expressions are the equations when the operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc., are operated upon any variable.

A combination of terms by the operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc is termed as An algebraic expression (or) a variable expression.

Examples: 2x + 4y – 7,  3x – 10, etc.

The above expressions are represented with the help of unknown variables, constants, and coefficients. The combination of these three terms is termed an expression. Unlike the algebraic equation, it has no sides or ‘is equals’ to sign.

Some of its examples include

• 2x + 2y – 5
• 4x – 20
• 4x + 7

we can say that 4x + 7 is an example of an algebraic expression. And here, 4x + 7 is a term

• x is a variable whose value is unknown and which can take any value.
• 4 is known as the coefficient of x, as it’s a constant value used with the variable term.
• 7 is the constant value term that has a definite value.

The basic concept of algebra taught us how to express an unknown value using letters such as x, y, z, etc.  These letters are termed here as variables. This expression can be a combination of both variables and constants.  Any value that is placed before and multiplied by a variable is termed a coefficient. An idea of expressing numbers using letters or alphabets without specifying their actual values is termed an algebraic expression.