DefinitionThe name means First, Outer, Inner, Last, and it is a really neat way of multiplying expressions, taught to us at school but in my simple way we can do this. To multiply two binomials by using the FOIL method, you distribute each term from the first binomial across each term in the second, then combine like terms. The FOIL Method is also used to expand polynomial expressions, and to simplify algebraic equations. E.g., using the FOIL method, one multiplies the First terms x⋅x, Outer terms x⋅b, Inner terms a⋅x, and Last terms a⋅b and then combines those results to give x2+(a+b)x+ab for the product of the two binomials (x+a) and (x+b).
