I used to be really bad at math, and algebra is the hardest math I'd say. I've taken trigonometry, calculus 1, and calculus 2. can go ahead and tell you the best way to learn it is to learn all the a b c d rules and then I'll go ahead and tell you some common mistakes.
x^b + y^d can't be combined.
(a + b)^n does not equal a^n + b^n it is (a + b)(a + b) [due to PEMDAS]
2 * x/3 = 2x/3 whenever you're multiplying a number by a fraction the number goes on top
3 * 2/3 = 6/3 = 2
Difference of squares:: VERY IMPORTANT:: x^2 - y^2 ALWAYS equals (x - y)(x + y)
examples:
9 - 4 = 3^2 - 2^2 = (3 -2) (3+2) = 5
4x^2 - y^2 = (2x)^2 - y^2 = ((2x) - y) ((2x) + y)
Basically you can have a lot of fun with that, you use difference of squares a lot when you have to "reduce" a big complex fraction thingy.
5x - 3 = -3 + 5x why?
a + b = b + a
a - b = a + -b since this is still a - b so now you can flip the terms
-b + a = a - b
I forget a lot about circles and conic sections, that stuff was always kinda hard for me... and I haven't needed to use them in calculus sooo ehh..