What Is Expanded Form in Math?

By Staff WriterLast Updated April 10, 2020

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In math, expanded form can refer to any type of expression, equation or notation that is completely broken down into its individual parts. Expanded form is commonly used in teaching students place value and factoring.

In discussion of place value, expanded form is when a number is broken down into each place value with an addition sign placed between each number. For example, 356 would be 300+50+6 in expanded form. When an expression is factored, it changes the expression into expanded form. x²-4 would factor into the expanded form of (x-2)(x+2). The expanded form of quadratic equations is often more useful in graphing than the standard form.