How are points calculated?

I'm new to Chess and Chess.com.. 

As I play chess, I'm looking at the points awarded and taken away at the end of the match and I simply do not understand how the points are distributed.. Every game I win, I'm awarded on average 8 points.. But when I lose, my opponent gets anywhere between 9 to 17 points.. I would play an amazing hand, just dominate, and get 7 points. But the next hand, it'll be a close game, neck and neck and I'll loose or I run out of time (happens more often than not) and they're awarded massive points. It's frustrating and I'd like for someone to break it down for me please. 

The site uses the Glicko rating system which includes a measure of rating uncertainty called the rating deviation (RD) value. Players with her games in a rating pool will have a higher RD value and see larger rating changes. As more games get played, the RD value decreases as does the magnitude of rating changes. RD can also increase with longer gaps in play.

https://support.chess.com/article/210-how-do-ratings-work-on-chess-com

I won and my score increased by 7 points, my opponents score decreased by 11 points. Why?

Click on the link in post #2. Within that article you will find another link if you wish more information and another link if you wish to see and read about the formulas.

Test

Usually, if the opponent is of equal rating, you'll both gain or lose 8 points.
I don't know the exact cut off, but I think around 50 points rating difference, it changes to around 7 points for a win and 9 points for a loss for the higher rated opponent, and 9 for the win and 7 for the loss for the lower rated opponent.
Around 100 points difference, it's like 6 points for the win or 10 points for the loss for the higher rated opponent and vice versa.
I think it keeps going until either 16 points or 32 points if the difference is extreme.
If I (2300) played a new player (say 500). I'd have 0 points for a win, probably -12 for a draw and -20 or -32 for a loss. I don't recall the exact numbers once the rating gap gets extreme as usually opponents are matched within 150 points or so on a regular basis.
If there's a lop-sided change. eg. you gain 8 points for the win, but the opponent loses like 50 or 100 points -- this usually means they had a "provisional" or new/unstable rating due to long periods of inactivity or they're a brand new account -- so the system is trying to fast track them to where they should be until they have enough games to have a reliable rating.