MathHandbook

ofFormulas,ProcessesandTricks
([Link])

AlgebraandPreCalculus

Preparedby:[Link],FSA,MAAA

Version2.8

April19,2016

Copyright200816,EarlWhitney,[Link]
 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter1:Basics
9 OrderofOperations(PEMDAS,ParentheticalDevice)
10 GraphingwithCoordinates(Coordinates,PlottingPoints)
11 LinearPatterns(Recognition,ConvertingtoanEquation)
12 IdentifyingNumberPatterns
13 CompletingNumberPatterns
14 BasicNumberSets(SetsofNumbers,BasicNumberSetTree)

Chapter2:Operations
15 OperatingwithRealNumbers(AbsoluteValue,Add,Subtract,Multiply,Divide)
16 PropertiesofAlgebra(Addition&Multiplication,Zero,Equality)

Chapter3:SolvingEquations
18 SolvingMultiStepEquations
19 TipsandTricksinSolvingMultiStepEquations

Chapter4:Probability&Statistics
20 ProbabilityandOdds
21 ProbabilitywithDice
22 Combinations
23 StatisticalMeasures

Chapter5:Functions
24 IntroductiontoFunctions(Definitions,LineTests)
25 SpecialIntegerFunctions
26 OperationswithFunctions
27 CompositionofFunctions
28 InversesofFunctions
29 TransformationTranslation
30 TransformationVerticalStretchandCompression
31 TransformationHorizontalStretchandCompression
32 TransformationReflection
33 TransformationSummary
34 BuildingaGraphwithTransformations

Version 2.8 Page 2 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter6:LinearFunctions
35 SlopeofaLine(MathematicalDefinition)
36 SlopeofaLine(RiseoverRun)
37 SlopesofVariousLines(8Variations)
38 VariousFormsofaLine(Standard,SlopeIntercept,PointSlope)
39 SlopesofParallelandPerpendicularLines
40 Parallel,PerpendicularorNeither
41 Parallel,CoincidentorIntersecting

Chapter7:Inequalities
42 PropertiesofInequality
43 GraphsofInequalitiesinOneDimension
44 CompoundInequalitiesinOneDimension
45 InequalitiesinTwoDimensions
46 GraphsofInequalitiesinTwoDimensions
47 AbsoluteValueFunctions(Equations)
48 AbsoluteValueFunctions(Inequalities)

Chapter8:SystemsofEquations
49 GraphingaSolution
50 SubstitutionMethod
51 EliminationMethod
52 ClassificationofSystemsofEquations
53 LinearDependence
54 SystemsofInequalitiesinTwoDimensions
55 ParametricEquations

Chapter9:Exponents(Basic)andScientificNotation
56 ExponentFormulas
57 ScientificNotation(Format,Conversion)
58 AddingandSubtractingwithScientificNotation
59 MultiplyingandDividingwithScientificNotation

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 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter10:PolynomialsBasic
60 IntroductiontoPolynomials
61 AddingandSubtractingPolynomials
62 MultiplyingBinomials(FOIL,Box,NumericalMethods)
63 MultiplyingPolynomials
64 DividingPolynomials
65 FactoringPolynomials
66 SpecialFormsofQuadraticFunctions(PerfectSquares)
67 SpecialFormsofQuadraticFunctions(DifferencesofSquares)
68 FactoringTrinomialsSimpleCaseMethod
69 FactoringTrinomialsACMethod
70 FactoringTrinomialsBruteForceMethod
71 FactoringTrinomialsQuadraticFormulaMethod
72 SolvingEquationsbyFactoring

Chapter11:QuadraticFunctions
73 IntroductiontoQuadraticFunctions
74 CompletingtheSquare
75 TableofPowersandRoots
76 TheQuadraticFormula
77 QuadraticInequalitiesinOneVariable
79 FittingaQuadraticthroughThreePoints

Chapter12:ComplexNumbers
80 ComplexNumbersIntroduction
81 OperationswithComplexNumbers
82 TheSquareRootofi
83 ComplexNumbersGraphicalRepresentation
84 ComplexNumberOperationsinPolarCoordinates
85 ComplexSolutionstoQuadraticEquations

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 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter13:Radicals
86 RadicalRules
87 SimplifyingSquareRoots(ExtractingSquares,ExtractingPrimes)
88 SolvingRadicalEquations
89 SolvingRadicalEquations(PositiveRoots,TheMissingStep)

Chapter14:Matrices
90 AdditionandScalarMultiplication
91 MultiplyingMatrices
92 MatrixDivisionandIdentityMatrices
93 Inverseofa2x2Matrix
94 CalculatingInversesTheGeneralCase(GaussJordanElimination)
95 DeterminantsTheGeneralCase
96 CramersRule2Equations
97 CramersRule3Equations
98 AugmentedMatrices
99 2x2AugmentedMatrixExamples
100 3x3AugmentedMatrixExample

Chapter15:ExponentsandLogarithms
101 ExponentFormulas
102 LogarithmFormulas
103 e
104 TableofExponentsandLogs
105 ConvertingBetweenExponentialandLogarithmicForms
106 ExpandingLogarithmicExpressions
107 CondensingLogarithmicExpressions
108 CondensingLogarithmicExpressionsMoreExamples
109 GraphinganExponentialFunction
110 FourExponentialFunctionGraphs
111 GraphingaLogarithmicFunction
114 FourLogarithmicFunctionGraphs
115 GraphsofVariousFunctions
116 ApplicationsofExponentialFunctions(Growth,Decay,Interest)
117 SolvingExponentialandLogarithmicEquations

Version 2.8 Page 5 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter16:PolynomialsIntermediate
118 PolynomialFunctionGraphs
119 FindingExtremawithDerivatives
120 FactoringHigherDegreePolynomialsSumandDifferenceofCubes
121 FactoringHigherDegreePolynomialsVariableSubstitution
122 FactoringHigherDegreePolynomialsSyntheticDivision
123 ComparingSyntheticDivisionandLongDivision
124 ZerosofPolynomialsDevelopingPossibleRoots
125 ZerosofPolynomialsTestingPossibleRoots
126 IntersectionsofCurves(GeneralCase,TwoLines)
127 IntersectionsofCurves(aLineandaParabola)
128 IntersectionsofCurves(aCircleandanEllipse)

Chapter17:RationalFunctions
129 DomainsofRationalFunctions
130 HolesandAsymptotes
131 GraphingRationalFunctions
131 SimpleRationalFunctions
132 SimpleRationalFunctionsExample
133 GeneralRationalFunctions
135 GeneralRationalFunctionsExample
137 OperatingwithRationalExpressions
138 SolvingRationalEquations
139 SolvingRationalInequalities

Chapter18:ConicSections
140 IntroductiontoConicSections
141 ParabolawithVertexattheOrigin(StandardPosition)
142 ParabolawithVertexatPoint(h, k)
143 ParabolainPolarForm
144 Circles
145 EllipseCenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)
146 EllipseCenteredatPoint(h, k)
147 EllipseinPolarForm
148 HyperbolaCenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)
149 HyperbolaCenteredatPoint(h, k)
150 HyperbolainPolarForm
151 HyperbolaConstructionOvertheDomain:0to2
152 GeneralConicEquationClassification
153 GeneralConicFormulaManipulation(Steps,Examples)
154 ParametricEquationsofConicSections

Version 2.8 Page 6 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

Page Description

Chapter19:SequencesandSeries
155 IntroductiontoSequencesandSeries
156 FibonacciSequence
157 SummationNotationandProperties
158 SomeInterestingSummationFormulas
159 ArithmeticSequences
160 ArithmeticSeries
161 PythagoreanMeans(Arithmetic,Geometric)
162 PythagoreanMeans(Harmonic)
163 GeometricSequences
164 GeometricSeries
165 AFewSpecialSeries(,e,cubes)
166 PascalsTriangle
167 BinomialExpansion
168 GammaFunctionandn !
169 GraphingtheGammaFunction

170 Index

UsefulWebsites
[Link],basedonthe
author'sextensiveexperienceinprofessionalmathematicsinabusinesssettingandinmath
[Link],PCApps,sampletests,andmore.
[Link]

[Link]
definitions,explanationsandexamplesforelementaryandadvancedmathtopics.
[Link]

PurpleMathAgreatsitefortheAlgebrastudent,itcontainslessons,reviewsandhomework
[Link]
Evaluationtoseewhereyouneedtoimprove.
[Link]

[Link],includingagoodsearchfunction.
[Link]

Version 2.8 Page 7 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra Handbook
Table of Contents

SchaumsOutlines
[Link]
inthisseriesprovidesexplanationsofthevarioustopicsinthecourseandasubstantialnumberof
[Link],sothestudent
canseeexamplesofhowtheyshouldbesolved.

[Link],Barnes&Noble,Bordersandotherbooksellers.

Note: This study guide was prepared to be a companion to most books on the subject of High
School Algebra. In particular, I used the following texts to determine which subjects to include
in this guide.
Algebra 1 , by James Schultz, Paul Kennedy, Wade Ellis Jr, and Kathleen Hollowelly.
Algebra 2 , by James Schultz, Wade Ellis Jr, Kathleen Hollowelly, and Paul Kennedy.
Although a significant effort was made to make the material in this study guide original, some
material from these texts was used in the preparation of the study guide.

Version 2.8 Page 8 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
OrderofOperations

Tothenonmathematician,theremayappeartobemultiplewaystoevaluateanalgebraic
[Link],howwouldoneevaluatethefollowing?
347 65
Youcouldworkfromlefttoright,oryoucouldworkfromrighttoleft,oryoucoulddoany
[Link],mathematiciansdo
notlikethisambiguity,sotheydevelopedasetofrulestomakesurethatanytwopeople
evaluatinganexpressionwouldgetthesameanswer.

PEMDAS
Inordertoevaluateexpressionsliketheoneabove,mathematicianshavedefinedanorderof
[Link]
[Link],youcouldusethemnemonic
phrasePleaseExcuseMyDearAuntSallyormakeupyourownwaytomemorizetheorderof
[Link]:

P AnythinginParenthesesisevaluatedfirst.
Usuallywhentherearemultiple
E ItemswithExponentsareevaluatednext. operationsinthesamecategory,
M Multiplicationand forexample3multiplications,
D Divisionareperformednext. theycanbeperformedinany
order,butitiseasiesttowork
A Additionand
fromlefttoright.
S Subtractionareperformedlast.

[Link]
[Link]
itemshighestintheorderofoperations;thensolvingtheproblembecomesmorenatural.
UsingPEMDASandthisparentheticaldevice,wesolvetheexpressionaboveasfollows:

InitialExpression: 3 4 7 65 Note:Anyexpressionwhichis
ambiguous,liketheoneabove,is
Addparentheses/brackets: 347 6 5 [Link]
SolveusingPEMDAS: 84 6 25 toensurethatanyexpressionsthey
writeareeasilyunderstoodbyothers
84 150 [Link]
FinalAnswer 234 andbracketsisagoodwaytomake
yourworkmoreunderstandable.

Version 2.8 Page 9 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphingwithCoordinates

Graphsintwodimensionsareverycommoninalgebraandareoneofthemostcommon
algebraapplicationsinreallife.
y

Coordinates
Quadrant2 Quadrant1
Theplaneofpointsthatcanbegraphedin2dimensionsis
calledtheRectangularCoordinatePlaneortheCartesian x
CoordinatePlane(namedaftertheFrenchmathematician
andphilosopherRenDescartes). Quadrant3 Quadrant4

Twoaxesaredefined(usuallycalledthexandyaxes).
Eachpointontheplanehasanxvalueandayvalue,writtenas:(xvalue,yvalue)
Thepoint(0,0)iscalledtheorigin,andisusuallydenotedwiththeletterO.
Theaxesbreaktheplaneinto4quadrants,asshownabove.TheybeginwithQuadrant1
wherexandyarebothpositiveandincreasenumericallyinacounterclockwisefashion.

PlottingPointsonthePlane
Whenplottingpoints,
thexvaluedetermineshowfarright(positive)orleft(negative)oftheoriginthepointis
plotted.
Theyvaluedetermineshowfarup(positive)ordown(negative)fromtheoriginthepointis
plotted.

Examples:
Thefollowingpointsareplottedinthefigureto
theright:
A=(2,3) inQuadrant1
B=(3,2) inQuadrant2
C=(2,2) inQuadrant3
D=(4,1) inQuadrant4
O=(0,0) isnotinanyquadrant

Version 2.8 Page 10 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
LinearPatterns

RecognizingLinearPatterns

[Link]
[Link],[Link]
advancedanalysisgenerallyusestheverticalformat.

Considerthispattern:
xvalue 0 1 2 3 4 5
yvalue 6 9 12 15 18 21

Toanalyzethepattern,[Link]
[Link],wecanproceedtoconvertingthe
[Link],[Link],wemaychoose
tocontinuebycalculatingdifferencesofthefirstdifferences,whicharecalledsecond
differences,andsoonuntilwegetapatternwecanworkwith.

Intheexampleabove,wegetaconstantsetoffirstdifferences,whichtellsusthatthepattern
isindeedlinear.
xvalue 0 1 2 3 4 5
yvalue 6 9 12 15 18 21

FirstDifferences 3 3 3 3 3

ConvertingaLinearPatterntoanEquation
Note:Ifthetabledoesnothavea
Creatinganequationfromthepatterniseasyifyouhave valueforx=0,youcanstillobtain
constantdifferencesandayvalueforx=[Link], [Link]
Theequationtakestheform ,where tableleftorrightuntilyouhavean
mistheconstantdifferencefromthetable,and xvalueof0;thenusethefirst
bistheyvaluewhenx=0. differencestocalculatewhatthe
correspondingyvaluewouldbe.
Intheexampleabove,thisgivesustheequation: . Thisbecomesyourvalueofb.

Finally,[Link],if 4,theaboveequationgives
34 6 18,[Link]
correct.

Version 2.8 Page 11 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED

Algebra
IdentifyingNumberPatterns

Whenlookingatpatternsinnumbers,isisoftenusefultotakedifferencesofthenumbersyou
[Link],takedifferencesagain.

n
3
2
1 Whenfirstdifferencesareconstant,thepatternrepresentsa
2
1 [Link],theequationis:y=2x5 .The
2
3 constantdifferenceisthecoefficientofxintheequation.
2
5
2
7

n 2
2 Whenseconddifferencesareconstant,thepatternrepresentsa
3
5 2
5 [Link],theequationis:y=x 2 +1 .The
10 2
7 constantdifference,dividedby2,givesthecoefficientofx2inthe
17 2
9 equation.
26 2
11
37

Whentakingsuccessivedifferencesyieldspatternsthatdonotseemtolevelout,thepattern
maybeeitherexponentialorrecursive.

n 2
5 Inthepatterntotheleft,noticethatthefirstandsecond
2
7 2 [Link]
4
11 4 [Link]
8
19 8
16 [Link],theequationis:y=2 x +3 .
35 16
32
67

n 2 Inthepatterntotheleft,noticethatthefirstandsecond
2 [Link]
1
3 1 thishappens,[Link]
2
5 1 [Link],the
3
8 2 equationis:y n =y n1 +y n2 ,meaningthattogeteachnewterm,
5
13 3
8 youaddthetwotermsbeforeit.
21

Version 2.8 Page 12 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED

Algebra
CompletingNumberPatterns

[Link],workfromtherighttotheleft,fillingin
thehighestorderdifferencesfirstandworkingbackwards(left)[Link]
examples.

Example1 Example2

n Considerintheexamplesthesequencesofsix n
1 [Link] 2
6 askedtofindtheninthtermofeachsequence. 3
25 5
62 8
123 13
214 21

n 2
3
Step1:[Link] n 2
3

1 differencesuntilyougetacolumnofconstant 2
7 1
6 12 differences(Example1)oracolumnthatappearsto 3 1
19 6 2 0
25 18 repeatapreviouscolumnofdifferences(Example2). 5 1
37 6 3 1
62 24 8 2
61 6 5 1
123 30 13 3
91 8
214 21

n 2
3
Step2:Inthelastcolumnofdifferencesyoucreated, n 2
3

1 continuetheconstantdifferences(Example1)orthe 2
7 1
6 12 repeateddifferences(Example2)downthetable. 3 1
19 6 2 0
25 18 Createasmanyentriesasyouwillneedtosolvethe 5 1
37 6 3 1
62 24 [Link],ifyouaregiven6termsand 8 2
61 6 5 1
123 30 askedtofindthe9thterm,youwillneed3(=96) 13 3
91 6 8 2
214 additionalentriesinthelastcolumn. 21
6 3
6 5

n 2 3 Step3:Workbackwards(fromrighttoleft),fillingin n 2 3
1 eachcolumnbyaddingthedifferencesinthecolumn 2
7 1
6 12 totheright. 3 1
19 6 2 0
25 18 5 1
37 6 Intheexampletotheleft,thecalculationsare 3 1
62 24 8 2
61 6 performedinthefollowingorder: 5 1
123 30 13 3
91 6 2
8 2
214 36 Column :30+6=36;36+6=42;42+6=48 21 5
127 6 13 3
341 42 34 8
169 6 Column:91+36=127;127+42=169;169+48=217 21 5
510 48 55 13
217 34
727 Columnn:214+127=341;341+169=510;510+217=727 89

Thefinalanswerstotheexamplesaretheninthitemsineachsequence,theitemsinboldred.

Version 2.8 Page 13 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
BasicNumberSets

NumberSet Definition Examples

NaturalNumbers(or, Numbersthatyouwouldnormally 1,2,3,4,5,6,

CountingNumbers) countwith.

Addthenumberzerotothesetof
WholeNumbers 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,
NaturalNumbers

Wholenumbersplusthesetof
Integers 3,2,1,0,1,2,3,
negativeNaturalNumbers

Anynumberthatcanbeexpressed Allintegers,plusfractionsand
mixednumbers,suchas:
RationalNumbers intheform ,whereaandbare
2 17 4
integersand 0. , , 3
3 6 5

Anynumberthatcanbewrittenin Allrationalnumbersplusroots
RealNumbers decimalform,evenifthatformis andsomeothers,suchas:
infinite. 2,12,,e

BasicNumberSetTree
RealNumbers

Rational Irrational

Integers Fractionsand
MixedNumbers

Whole Negative
Numbers Integers

Natural Zero
Numbers

Version 2.8 Page 14 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
OperatingwithRealNumbers

AbsoluteValue

[Link]
absolutevalueofanumberistoeliminateitssign.Absolutevaluesarealwayspositiveor0.

| 5| 5 |3| 3 |0| 0 |1.5| 1.5

AddingandSubtractingRealNumbers

AddingNumberswiththeSameSign: AddingNumberswithDifferentSigns:
Addthenumberswithoutregard Ignorethesignsandsubtractthe

tosign. smallernumberfromthelargerone.

Givetheanswerthesamesignas Givetheanswerthesignofthenumber

theoriginalnumbers. withthegreaterabsolutevalue.

Examples: Examples:
6 3 9 6 3 3
12 6 18 7 11 4

SubtractingNumbers:

Changethesignofthenumberornumbersbeingsubtracted.
Addtheresultingnumbers.
Examples:
6 3 6 3 3
13 4 13 4 9

MultiplyingandDividingRealNumbers

NumberswiththeSameSign: NumberswithDifferentSigns:
Multiplyordividethenumbers Multiplyordividethenumberswithout
withoutregardtosign. regardtosign.

Givetheanswera+sign. Givetheanswerasign.

Examples: Examples:

6 3 18 18 6 3 18

12 3 4 4 12 3 4

Version 2.8 Page 15 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
PropertiesofAlgebra

[Link],b,andc:

Property DefinitionforAddition DefinitionforMultiplication

ClosureProperty isarealnumber isarealnumber

IdentityProperty 0 0 1 1

1 1
InverseProperty 0 0, 1

CommutativeProperty

AssociativeProperty

DistributiveProperty

[Link]:

Multiplicationby0 0 0 0

0DividedbySomething 0, 0

Divisionby0 is undefined even if a 0

Version 2.8 Page 16 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
PropertiesofAlgebra

[Link],b,andc:

Property Definition

AdditionProperty ,

SubtractionProperty ,

MultiplicationProperty ,

DivisionProperty 0,

[Link],b,andc:

Property Definition

ReflexiveProperty

SymmetricProperty ,

TransitiveProperty ,

SubstitutionProperty If , then either can be substituted for the

other in any equation (or inequality).

Version 2.8 Page 17 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SolvingMultiStepEquations

ReversePEMDAS
[Link]
[Link]
evaluatingit,soreversingthePEMDASorderofoperationsseemsappropriate.

Theguidingprinciplesintheprocessare:
Eachstepworkstowardisolatingthevariableforwhichyouaretryingtosolve.
EachstepundoesanoperationinReversePEMDASorder:
Inverses
Subtraction Addition Note:Logarithmsarethe
Inverses inverseoperatortoexponents.
Division Multiplication Thistopicistypicallycoveredin

Exponents Inverses
Logarithms
thesecondyearofAlgebra.

Parentheses Inverses
RemoveParentheses(andrepeatprocess)

[Link],you
[Link],toundoaddition,yousubtract;toundodivision,
[Link]:

Example1 Example2
Solve: 3 4 14 Solve: 2 2 5 3 5
Step1:Add4 4 4 Step1:Add3 3 3

Result: 3 18 Result: 2 2 5 2

Step2:Divideby3 3 3 Step2:Divideby2 2 2
Result: 6
Result: 2 5 1
Noticethatweaddandsubtractbeforewe Step3:Removeparentheses

[Link]. Result: 2 5 1
Step4:Subtract5 5 5

Result: 2 6
Withthisapproach,youwillbeableto
Step5:Divideby2 2 2
[Link]
yougetbetteratit,youwillbeabletouse Result: 3
someshortcutstosolvetheproblemfaster.
Sincespeedisimportantinmathematics,learningafewtipsandtrickswithregardtosolving
equationsislikelytobeworthyourtime.

Version 2.8 Page 18 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
TipsandTricksinSolvingMultiStepEquations

FractionalCoefficients
[Link]
stumblingblocksoccur,[Link]
shownbelowinvolvesusingthereciprocalofafractionalcoefficientasamultiplierinthe
solutionprocess.(Rememberthatacoefficientisanumberthatismultipliedbyavariable.)

Example1

Solve: 8 Explanation:Since isthereciprocalof ,

whenwemultiplythem,weget1,and
Multiplyby : 1 .Usingthisapproach,wecanavoid
dividingbyafraction,whichismoredifficult.
Result: 8 12

Example2 Explanation: 4isthereciprocalof ,so

Solve: 2 whenwemultiplythem,[Link]
theuseofparenthesesaroundthenegative
Multiplyby 4: 4 4 numbertomakeitclearwearemultiplying
Result: 2 4 8 andnotsubtracting.

AnotherApproachtoParentheses
IntheReversePEMDASmethod,parentheses Example3
arehandledafterallotheroperations. Solve: 2 2 5 3 5
Sometimes,itiseasiertooperateonthe Step1:Eliminateparentheses
[Link],youmaybeable Result: 4 10 3 5
torestatetheprobleminaneasierformbefore Step2:Combineconstants
solvingit.
Result: 4 7 5
Example3,atright,isanotherlookatthe Step3:Subtract7 7 7
probleminExample2onthepreviouspage. Result: 4 12
Usewhicheverapproachyoufindmosttoyour Step4:Divideby4 4 4
[Link]. Result: 3

Version 2.8 Page 19 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ProbabilityandOdds

Probability

[Link]
[Link],

Example1:Theprobabilityofaflippedcoinlandingasaheadis1/[Link]
[Link],thereisonechanceoutoftwothat
thecoinwillshowaheadwhenitlands.

1 1

2 2

Example2:Inajar,thereare15bluemarbles,[Link]
probabilityofselectingaredmarblefromthejar?Inthisexample,thereare32totalmarbles,10of
whicharered,sothereisa10/32(or,whenreduced,5/16)probabilityofselectingaredmarble.

10 10 5

32 32 16

Odds

Oddsaresimilartoprobability,exceptthatwemeasurethenumberofchancesthataneventwilloccur
relativetothenumberofchancesthattheeventwillnotoccur.

Intheaboveexamples,

1 1 10 10 5

1 1 22 22 11

Notethatthenumeratorandthedenominatorinanoddscalculationaddtothetotalnumberof
possibleoutcomesinthedenominatorofthecorrespondingprobabilitycalculation.

Tothebeginningstudent,theconceptofoddsisnotasintuitiveastheconceptofprobabilities;
however,theyareusedextensivelyinsomeenvironments.

Version 2.8 Page 20 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ProbabilitywithDice

SingleDie
Probabilitywithasingledieisbasedonthenumberofchancesofaneventoutof6possible
[Link]:

2 5

TwoDice
Probabilitywithtwodiceisbasedonthenumberofchancesofaneventoutof36possible
outcomesonthedice.Thefollowingtableofresultswhenrolling2diceishelpfulinthisregard:

1stDie
2ndDie 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Theprobabilityofrollinganumberwithtwodiceisthenumberoftimesthatnumberoccursin
thetable,dividedby36.Herearetheprobabilitiesforallnumbers2to12.

2 5 8 11

3 6 9 12

4 7 10

Version 2.8 Page 21 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
Combinations

SingleCategoryCombinations

Thenumberofcombinationsofitemsselectedfromaset,severalatatime,canbecalculated
relativelyeasilyusingthefollowingtechnique:

Technique:[Link],startwiththenumberof
totalitemsintheset,andcountdownsothetotalnumberofitemsbeingmultipliedis
[Link],startwiththe
numberofitemsbeingselectedandcountdownto1.

Example:Howmany Example:Howmany Example:Howmany
combinationsof3itemscan combinationsof4itemscan combinationsof2itemscan
beselectedfromasetof8 beselectedfromasetof13 beselectedfromasetof30
items?Answer: items?Answer: items?Answer:

876 13 12 11 10 30 29
56 715 435
321 4321 21

MultipleCategoryCombinations

Whencalculatingthenumberofcombinationsthatcanbecreatedbyselectingitemsfrom
severalcategories,thetechniqueissimpler:

Technique:Multiplythenumbersofitemsineachcategorytogetthetotalnumberof
possiblecombinations.

Example:Howmanydifferent Example:Howmanydifferent Example:Howmanydesigns

pizzascouldbecreatedifyou outfitscanbecreatedifyou foracarcanbecreatedifyou
have3kindsofdough,4kinds have5pairsofpants,8shirts canchoosefrom12exterior
ofcheeseand8kindsof and4jackets? colors,3interiorcolors,2
toppings? interiorfabricsand5typesof
Answer: Answer: wheels?Answer:

3 4 8 96 5 8 4 160 12 3 2 5 360

Version 2.8 Page 22 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
StatisticalMeasures

[Link]:

Concept Description Calculation Example1 Example2

DataSet Numbers 35,35,37,38,45 15,20,20,22,25,54

Addthevaluesand
35 35 37 38 45 15 18 22 22 25 54
Mean Average dividethetotalbythe 38 26
5 6
numberofvalues
Arrangethevaluesfrom
(1)
Median Middle lowtohighandtakethe 37 21(1)
middlevalue(1)
Thevaluethatappears
Mode Most mostofteninthedata 35 20
set
Thedifferencebetween
Range Size thehighestandlowest 4535=10 5415=39
valuesinthedataset
Valuesthatlookvery
(2)
Outliers Oddballs differentfromtheother none 54
valuesinthedataset

Notes:
(1) Ifthereareanevennumberofvalues,themedianistheaverageofthetwomiddlevalues.InExample2,themedianis21,
whichistheaverageof20and22.
(2) [Link]
definitionofoutliers,differentanalystsmaychoosedifferentcriteriaforthesamedataset.

Version 2.8 Page 23 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
IntroductiontoFunctions

Definitions
ARelationisarelationshipbetweenvariables,usuallyexpressedasanequation.
Inatypicalxyequation,theDomainofarelationisthesetofxvaluesforwhichy
[Link],intherelation thedomainis 0
becausethesearethevaluesofxforwhichasquarerootcanbetaken.
Inatypicalxyequation,theRangeofarelationisthesetofyvaluesthatresultforall
[Link],intherelation therangeis 0because
thesearethevaluesofythatresultfromallthevaluesofx.
AFunctionisarelationinwhicheachelementinthedomainhasonlyone
correspondingelementintherange.
AOnetoOneFunctionisafunctioninwhicheachelementintherangeisproducedby
onlyoneelementinthedomain.

FunctionTestsin2Dimensions
VerticalLineTestIfaverticallinepassesthroughthegraphofarelationinanytwolocations,
[Link]
ofarelationintwolocations,itisafunction.
HorizontalLineTestIfahorizontallinepassesthroughthegraphofafunctioninanytwo
locations,[Link]
passesthroughthegraphofafunctionintwolocations,itisaonetoonefunction.

Examples:

Figure1: Figure2: Figure3:

Notafunction. Isafunction,butnotaone Isaonetoonefunction.

Failsverticallinetest. toonefunction. Passesverticallinetest.
Passesverticallinetest. Passeshorizontallinetest.
Failshorizontallinetest.

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 Algebra
SpecialIntegerFunctions

GreatestIntegerFunction
AlsocalledtheFloorFunction,thisfunctiongivesthe
[Link]
aretwocommonnotationsforthis,asshowninthe
examplesbelow.

Notationandexamples:
3.5 3 2.7 3 6 6
2.4 2 7.1 8 0 0

Inthegraphtotheright,noticethesoliddotsontheleftofthesegments(indicatingthepointsare
included)andtheopenlinesontherightofthesegments(indicatingthepointsarenotincluded).

LeastIntegerFunction
AlsocalledtheCeilingFunction,thisfunctiongivesthe
[Link]
commonnotationforthisisshownintheexamples
below.

Notationandexamples:
3.5 4 2.7 2 6 6

Inthegraphtotheright,noticetheopendotsonthe
leftofthesegments(indicatingthepointsarenotincluded)andthecloseddotsontherightofthe
segments(indicatingthepointsareincluded).

NearestIntegerFunction
AlsocalledtheRoundingFunction,thisfunctiongives
thenearestintegertoanumber(roundingtotheeven
numberwhenavalueendsin.5).Thereisnoclean
notationforthis,asshownintheexamplesbelow.

Notationandexamples:
3.5 4 2.7 3 6 6
Inthegraphtotheright,noticetheopendotsonthe
leftofthesegments(indicatingthepointsarenot
included)andthecloseddotsontherightofthesegments(indicatingthepointsareincluded).

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 Algebra
OperationswithFunctions

FunctionNotation

[Link]
[Link],functionstendtousethelettersf,
g,andhasnamesofthefunction.

OperationswithFunctions

AddingFunctions Thedomainofthecombination
offunctionsistheintersection
SubtractingFunctions ofthedomainsofthetwo
[Link],
MultiplyingFunctions thecombinedfunctionhasa
valueinitsdomainifandonlyif
thevalueisinthedomainof
DividingFunctions , 0
eachindividualfunction.

Examples:
Let: 1Then:

1 2
1

1, 1

Notethatin thereistherequirement [Link] 1 0inthe

denominatorwouldrequiredividingby0,producinganundefinedresult.

OtherOperations
Otheroperationsofequalityalsoholdforfunctions,forexample:

Version 2.8 Page 26 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
CompositionofFunctions

InaCompositionofFunctions,firstonefunctionisperformed,[Link]
notationforcompositionis,forexample: or .Inbothofthesenotations,
thefunctiongisperformedfirst,andthenthefunctionfisperformedontheresultofg.
Alwaysperformthefunctionclosesttothevariablefirst.

DoubleMapping
[Link]
[Link],fmapsfromtherangeofgtotherangeoff:
Rangeofg
Domainofg Rangeoff
Domainoff
g f

TheWordsMethod
Intheexample,
Example:Let Thefunction sayssquaretheargument.
and 1 Thefunction saysadd1totheargument.
Sometimesitiseasiertothinkofthefunctionsin
Then:
wordsratherthanintermsofanargumentlikex.
And:
saysadd1first,thensquaretheresult.
sayssquarefirst,thenadd1totheresult.

Usingthewordsmethod,

Calculate: o 12 Calculate: o 2

g:add1toit 12 1 f:squareit 2 4

f:squareit g:add1toit 4 1

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 Algebra
InversesofFunctions

Inorderforafunctiontohaveaninverse,[Link]
forafunctiontobeaninverseis:

Thenotation isusedfortheInverseFunctionof .

Anotherwayofsayingthisisthatif ,then forall inthedomainof .

DerivinganInverseFunction
[Link]
originalfunctionisexpressedintermsof .
[Link]
thisbygraphingthefunctionandapplyingtheverticalandhorizontallinetests.
Substitutethevariableyfor .
[Link],changeallthexstoysandalltheystoxs.
Solveforthenewyintermsofthenewx.
(Optional)Switchtheexpressionsoneachsideoftheequationifyoulike.
Replacethevariableywith the function notation .
Checkyourwork.
Examples:
Derivetheinverseof: 2 1
Derivetheinverseof: 2
Substitute for : 2 1
Substitute for : 2
Exchangevariables: 2 1
Exchangevariables: 2
Add1: 1 2

Subtract2: 2
Divideby2:
Multiplyby3: 3 6
Switchsides:
Switchsides: 3 6
ChangeNotation:
ChangeNotation:
Tochecktheresult,notethat:
Tochecktheresult,notethat:
1 1 2 1 1
o 3 6 3 2 6 o
3
2 2

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 Algebra
TransformationTranslation

[Link]
[Link],atranslationcan
bethoughtofasleavingthegraphwhereitisandmovingtheaxesaroundontheplane.
InAlgebra,thetranslationsofprimaryinterestaretheverticalandhorizontaltranslationsofa
graph.

VerticalTranslation
Startingform:
VerticalTranslation:

Ateachpoint,thegraphofthetranslationis unitshigheror
lowerdependingonwhether [Link]
letter [Link]
algebra, usuallyrepresentsayvalueofsomeimportance.
Note:
Apositive shiftsthegraphup.
Anegative shiftsthegraphdown.

HorizontalTranslation
Startingform:
HorizontalTranslation:

Ateachpoint,thegraphofthetranslationis unitsto
theleftorrightdependingonwhether ispositiveor
[Link] isusedasaconventionwhen
[Link], usuallyrepresentsan
xvalueofsomeimportance.
Note:
Apositive shiftsthegraphtotheleft.
Anegative shiftsthegraphtotheright.
Forhorizontaltranslation,thedirectionofmovementofthegraphiscounterintuitive;be
carefulwiththese.

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 Algebra
TransformationVerticalStretchandCompression

AVerticalStretchorCompressionisastretchorcompressionintheverticaldirection,relative
[Link]
viewofaverticalstretchorcompressionwouldbeachangeinthescaleoftheyaxis.

VerticalStretch
Startingform:
VerticalStretch: , 1

Ateachpoint,thegraphisstretchedverticallybyafactorof
.Theresultisanelongatedcurve,onethatexaggeratesall
ofthefeaturesoftheoriginal.

VerticalCompression
Startingform:
VerticalCompression: , 1

Ateachpoint,thegraphiscompressedverticallybya
factorof .Theresultisaflattenedoutcurve,onethat Note:Theformsoftheequations
mutesallofthefeaturesoftheoriginal. forverticalstretchandvertical
[Link]

onlydifferenceisthevalueof" ".


Valueof" "in
ResultingCurve

0 reflection
xaxis
1 compression
originalcurve
1 stretch

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 Algebra
TransformationHorizontalStretchandCompression

AHorizontalStretchorCompressionisastretchorcompressioninthehorizontaldirection,
[Link]
alternativeviewofahorizontalstretchorcompressionwouldbeachangeinthescaleofthex
axis.

HorizontalStretch
Startingform:
HorizontalStretch: ,

Ateachpoint,thegraphisstretchedhorizontally
byafactorof .Theresultisawidenedcurve,one
thatexaggeratesallofthefeaturesoftheoriginal.

HorizontalCompression
Startingform: Note:Theformsoftheequations
HorizontalCompression: , forthehorizontalstretchandthe
horizontalcompressionarethe
Ateachpoint,thegraphiscompressedhorizontallybya [Link]
factorof .Theresultisaskinniercurve,onethatmutes valueof" ".
allofthefeaturesoftheoriginal.
Valueof" "in
ResultingCurve


0 reflection

horizontal line

1 stretch

originalcurve

1 compression

Note:Forhorizontalstretchandcompression,thechangeinthegraphcausedbythevalue
ofbiscounterintuitive;becarefulwiththese.

Version 2.8 Page 31 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
TransformationReflection

[Link]
graphbutcanmakeitlookbackwards.
InAlgebra,thereflectionsofprimaryinterestarethereflectionsacrossanaxisintheplane.

XAxisReflection YAxis Reflection

Startingform: Startingform:

xaxisReflection: yaxisReflection:

Notethefollowing: Notethefollowing:
Ateachpoint,thegraphis Ateachpoint,thegraphis
reflectedacrossthexaxis. reflectedacrosstheyaxis.
Theformofthetransformationis Theformofthetransformationis
thesameasaverticalstretchor thesameasahorizontalstretch
compressionwith . orcompressionwith .
Theflipofthegraphoverthex Theflipofthegraphoverthey
axisis,ineffect,avertical axisis,ineffect,ahorizontal
transformation. transformation.

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 Algebra
TransformationsSummary

Startingform:
Forpurposesofthefollowingtable,thevariableshandkarepositivetomaketheformsmore
likewhatthestudentwillencounterwhensolvingproblemsinvolvingtransformations.

TransformationSummary
FormofTransformation ResultofTransformation

Verticaltranslationupkunits.
Verticaltranslationdownkunits.

Horizontaltranslationlefthunits.
Horizontaltranslationrighthunits.

, 1 Verticalstretchbyafactorof .
, 1 Verticalcompressionbyafactorof .

, 1 Horizontalcompressionbyafactorof .
, 1 Horizontalstretchbyafactorof .

Reflectionacrossthexaxis(vertical).
Reflectionacrosstheyaxis(horizontal).

Transformationsbasedonthevalues
ofaandb(stretches,
compressions,reflections)canbe
representedbythesegraphics.

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 Algebra
BuildingaGraphwithTransformations

[Link],
wewillbuildthegraphof 2 3 4.

Step1:Startwiththebasic Step2:Translate3unitsto Step3:Stretchverticallyby

quadraticequation: therighttogetequation: afactorof2togetequation:

Step4:Reflectoverthe Step5:Translateup4 FinalResult:Showthegraph

xaxistogetequation: unitstogetequation: ofthefinalequation:

Version 2.8 Page 34 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SlopeofaLine

[Link]
rising,theslopeispositive;ifitisfalling,[Link]
thesymbolforslope.

Thetwomostusefulwaystocalculatetheslopeofalinearediscussedbelow.

MathematicalDefinitionofSlope
Thedefinitionisbasedontwopointswith
coordinates , and , .Thedefinition,
then,is:

Comments:
Youcanselectany2pointsontheline.
Atablesuchastheoneatrightcanbehelpfulfordoing
yourcalculations. xvalue yvalue
Point2
Notethat impliesthat .
Point1
So,itdoesnotmatterwhichpointyouassignasPoint1
[Link],neitherdoes Difference
itmatterwhichpointisfirstinthetable.
ItisimportantthatonceyouassignapointasPoint1andanotherasPoint2,thatyouuse
theircoordinatesintheproperplacesintheformula.

Examples:
Forthetwolinesinthefigureabove,wegetthefollowing:
RedLine xvalue yvalue
GreenLine xvalue yvalue
PointA 1 4 PointD 4 2

PointC 3 4 PointB 4 2

Difference 4 8 Difference 8 4

GreenLine: RedLine:

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 Algebra
SlopeofaLine(contd)

RiseoverRun
Anequivalentmethodofcalculatingslopethatismore
[Link]
method,ithelpstodrawverticalandhorizontallines
thatindicatethehorizontalandverticaldistances
betweenpointsontheline.

Theslopecanthenbecalculatedasfollows:

Theriseofalineishowmuchitincreases(positive)ordecreases(negative)betweentwo
[Link](positive)ortheleft(negative)between
thesametwopoints.

Comments:
Youcanselectany2pointsontheline.
Itisimportanttostartatthesamepointinmeasuringboththeriseandtherun.
Agoodconventionistoalwaysstartwiththepointontheleftandworkyourwaytothe
right;thatway,therun(i.e.,thedenominatorintheformula)[Link]
exceptiontothisiswhentheruniszero,inwhichcasetheslopeisundefined.
Ifthetwopointsareclearlymarkedasintegersonagraph,theriseandrunmayactuallybe
[Link]
[Link],whencounting,makesureyougettherightsignfortheslope
oftheline,e.g.,movingdownasthelinemovestotherightisanegativeslope.

Examples:

Forthetwolinesinthefigureabove,wegetthefollowing:

GreenLine: Noticehowsimilarthe
calculationsintheexamples
areunderthetwomethods
RedLine: ofcalculatingslopes.

Version 2.8 Page 36 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SlopesofVariousLines

lineisvertical

Whenyoulookataline,you
4 shouldnoticethefollowing
2 aboutitsslope: 1
5 3
2
lineissteepandgoingdown Whetheritis0,positive,
lineissteepandgoingup
negativeorundefined.
Ifpositiveornegative,
whetheritislessthan1,
about1,orgreaterthan1.

Thepurposeofthegraphson
thispageistohelpyougetafeel
forthesethings.

Thiscanhelpyoucheck: 1
1
Givenaslope,whetheryou linegoesupata45angle
linegoesdownata45angle drewthelinecorrectly,or
Givenaline,whetheryou
calculatedtheslope
correctly.

3 2

17 11
lineisshallowandgoingdown lineisshallowandgoingup

0
lineishorizontal

Version 2.8 Page 37 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
VariousFormsofaLine

TherearethreeformsofalinearequationwhicharemostusefultotheAlgebrastudent,each
[Link]
movebetweenformsisaveryusefulskillinAlgebra,andshouldbepracticedbythestudent.

StandardForm
TheStandardFormofalinearequationis: StandardFormExamples
3 2 6

whereA,B,andCarerealnumbersandAandBarenotbothzero. 2 7 14
Usuallyinthisform,theconventionisforAtobepositive.

Why,youmightask,isthisStandardForm?Onereasonisthatthisformiseasilyextendedto
additionalvariables,[Link],infourvariables,theStandard
Formwouldbe: .Anotherreasonisthatthisformeasilylendsitself
toanalysiswithmatrices,whichcanbeveryusefulinsolvingsystemsofequations.

SlopeInterceptForm
SlopeInterceptExamples
TheSlopeInterceptFormofalinearequationistheonemost
[Link]: 3 6
3
14
4
wheremistheslopeandbistheyinterceptoftheline(i.e.,the
valueatwhichthelinecrossestheyaxisinagraph).mandbmustalsoberealnumbers.

PointSlopeForm
ThePointSlopeFormofalinearequationistheoneusedleastby
thestudent,[Link] PointSlopeExamples
particular,asyoumightexpect,itisusefulifthestudentisaskedfor 3 2 4
theequationofalineandisgiventhelinesslopeandthe 2
[Link]: 7 5
3

wheremistheslopeand , [Link]
equationsformedusingdifferentpointsonthesamelinewillbeequivalent.

Version 2.8 Page 38 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SlopesofParallelandPerpendicularLines

ParallelLines
Twolinesareparalleliftheirslopesareequal.
In form,ifthevaluesof are
thesame.
Example: 2 3 and
2 1
InStandardForm,ifthecoefficientsof and
areproportionalbetweentheequations.
Example:3 2 5 and
6 4 7
Also,ifthelinesarebothvertical(i.e.,their
slopesareundefined).
Example: 3 and
2

PerpendicularLines
Twolinesareperpendiculariftheproductoftheir
slopesis .Thatis,iftheslopeshavedifferent
signsandaremultiplicativeinverses.
In form,thevaluesof
multiplytoget 1..
Example: 6 5 and
3

InStandardForm,ifyouaddtheproductof
thexcoefficientstotheproductofthey
coefficientsandgetzero.
Example:4 6 4 and
3 2 5because 4 3 6 2 0

Also,ifonelineisvertical(i.e., isundefined)andonelineishorizontal(i.e., 0).

Example: 6 and
3

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 Algebra
Parallel,PerpendicularorNeither

Thefollowingflowchartcanbeusedtodeterminewhetherapairoflinesareparallel,
perpendicular,orneither.

First,putbothlinesin:
form.

Arethe
yes Result:The
slopesofthe
linesare
twolinesthe
parallel.
same?

no

Isthe Result:Thelines
yes
productof are
thetwo perpendicular.

slopes =1?

no

Result:The

linesare
neither.

Version 2.8 Page 40 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
Parallel,CoincidentorIntersecting

Thefollowingflowchartcanbeusedtodeterminewhetherapairoflinesareparallel,
coincident,[Link],eventhoughtheymay
[Link],coincidentlinesarenotparallelbecauseparallellines
neverintersectandcoincidentlinesintersectatallpointsontheline.

First,putbothlinesin:
form.

Arethe Arethey Result:The

yes yes
slopesofthe interceptsof linesare
twolinesthe thetwolines coincident.
same? thesame?

no no

Result:The Result:The
linesare linesare
intersecting. parallel.

Theintersectionofthetwolinesis:
Forintersectinglines,thepointofintersection.
Forparallellines,theemptyset, .
Forcoincidentlines,allpointsontheline.

Version 2.8 Page 41 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
PropertiesofInequality

Foranyrealnumbersa,b,andc:

Property Definition

Addition ,
Property
,

Subtraction ,
Property
,

Multiplication For 0, For 0,

Property
, ,

, ,

Division For 0, For 0,

Property
, ,

, ,

Note:allpropertieswhichholdfor<alsoholdfor,andallpropertieswhichholdfor>
alsoholdfor.

[Link]
fromthemcanbedescribedasfollows:Whenyoumultiplyordivideaninequalitybya
negativenumber,[Link],<becomes>,>becomes<,etc.

Inaddition,itisusefultonotethatyoucanfliparoundanentireinequalityaslongasyoukeep
[Link]:
Onewaytorememberthis
4 isthesameas 4
isthatwhenyoufliparound
aninequality,youmustalso
3 2 isthesameas 3 2
fliparoundthesign.

Version 2.8 Page 42 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphsofInequalitiesinOneDimension

[Link],ifitis
clearthatthegraphisonedimensional,thegraphscanbeshowninrelationtoanumberline
butnotspecificallyonit(examplesofthisareonthenextpage).

OneDimensionalGraphComponents
Theendpoint(s)Theendpointsfortherayorsegmentinthegraphareshownaseither
openorclosedcircles.
o Ifthepointisincludedinthesolutiontotheinequality(i.e.,ifthesignisor),the
circleisclosed.
o Ifthepointisnotincludedinthesolutiontotheinequality(i.e.,ifthesignis<or>),
thecircleisopen.
ThearrowIfallnumbersinonedirectionofthenumberlinearesolutionstothe
inequality,anarrowpointsinthatdirection.
o For<orsigns,thearrowpointstotheleft().
o For>orsigns,thearrowpointstotheright().
Thelineinasimpleinequality,[Link]
twoendpoints,alineisdrawnfromonetotheother.

Examples:

Version 2.8 Page 43 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
CompoundInequalitiesinOneDimension

[Link],
therearetwoinequalities,[Link]
describedbeloweasilyextendtocaseswheretherearemorethantwoinequalities.

CompoundInequalitieswiththeWordAND
AnexampleofcompoundinequalitieswiththewordANDwouldbe:
12 2 or 1 Thesearethesameconditions,
(SimpleForm) (CompoundForm) expressedintwodifferentforms.

Graphically,ANDinequalitiesexistatpointswherethegraphsoftheindividualinequalities
[Link]
examplesofgraphsofcompoundinequalitiesusingthewordAND.

AtypicalANDexample:Theresultisa ANDcompoundinequalitiessometimesresult
segmentthatcontainsthepointsthatoverlap [Link]
thegraphsoftheindividualinequalities. numbersmeetbothconditionsatthesametime.

CompoundInequalitieswiththeWordOR
Graphically,[Link]
[Link]
compoundinequalitiesusingthewordOR.

AtypicalORexample:Theresultisapairof ORcompoundinequalitiessometimesresultin
raysextendinginoppositedirections,witha [Link]
gapinbetween. numbermeetsatleastoneoftheconditions.

Version 2.8 Page 44 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
InequalitiesinTwoDimensions

Graphinganinequalityintwodimensionsinvolvesthefollowingsteps:
Graphtheunderlyingequation.
Makethelinesolidordottedbasedonwhethertheinequalitycontainsan=sign.
o Forinequalitieswith<or>thelineisdotted.
o Forinequalitieswithorthelineissolid.
Determinewhethertheregioncontainingthesolutionsetisabovethelineorbelowthe
line.
o Forinequalitieswith>ortheshadedregionisabovetheline.
o Forinequalitieswith<ortheshadedregionisbelowtheline.
Shadeintheappropriateregion.

Example:
Graphthesolutionsetofthefollowingsystemofinequality: 1

Step1:Graphtheunderlying
equation.

Step2:Determinewhethertheline
shouldbesolidordotted:
1 the>signdoesnot
contain=,sothelineisdotted

Step3:Determinetheregiontobe
shadedbasedonthesigninthe
equation:
1 the>signindicates
shadingabovetheline

Thesolutionsetistheshadedarea.

Version 2.8 Page 45 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra

GraphsofInequalitiesinTwoDimensions

DashedLine DashedLine

BelowtheLine AbovetheLine

SolidLine SolidLine
BelowtheLine AbovetheLine

Version 2.8 Page 46 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
AbsoluteValueFunctions

Equations
[Link]
aVinagraph,[Link]
theform:
| | | |
where,
the sign indicates whether the graph opens up ( sign) or down ( sign).
| |istheabsolutevalueoftheslopesofthelinesinthegraph.
(h,k)isthelocationofthevertex(i.e.,thesharppoint)inthegraph.

Examples:

Equation: | 1| 2
Vertex = 1, 2

1; |slopes| 1
Graph opens up



Equation: | 2 1 | 3
Vertex = 1, 3
2; |slopes| 2
Graph opens up

Equation: 3

Vertex = ,3

; |slopes|
Graph opens down

Version 2.8 Page 47 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
AbsoluteValueFunctions(contd)

Inequalities
Sinceapositivenumberandanegativenumbercanhavethesameabsolutevalue,inequalities
[Link]:

Thefirstnewequationissimplytheoriginal
3 4
equationwithouttheabsolutevaluesign.
| 3| 4
Inthesecondnewequation,twothings
Signthatdetermines 3 4 change:(1)thesignflips,and(2)thevalueon
useofANDorOR therightsideoftheinequalitychangesitssign.

Atthispointtheabsolutevalueproblemhasconvertedintoapairofcompoundinequalities.

Equation1 Equation2
Solve: 3 4 Solve: 3 4
Step1:Add3 3 3 Step1:Add3 3 3
Result: 7 Result: 1

Next,[Link]
touse,lookatthesignintheinequality;then
Note:theEnglishispoor,butthemath
UsethewordANDwithlessthandsigns.
iseasiertorememberwiththistrick!
UsethewordORwithgreatorsigns.

Thesolutiontotheaboveabsolutevalueproblem,then,isthesameasthesolutiontothe
followingsetofcompoundinequalities:
7 1 Thesolutionsetisallxintherange(1,7)

Note:[Link],
useparentheses()wheneveranendpointisnotincludedinthesolutionset,and
usesquarebrackets[]wheneveranendpointisincludedinthesolutionset.
Alwaysuseparentheses()withinfinitysigns( ).

Examples:
Therange: 6 2 Therange: 2
Notation: 2, 6 Notation: , 2

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 Algebra
SystemsofEquations

Asystemofequationsisasetof2ormoreequationsforwhichwewishtodetermineall
[Link],therewillbethesamenumberofequations
[Link],sometimesthereis
eithernosolutionorthereisaninfinitenumberofsolutions.

[Link]
below.

GraphingaSolution

Inthesimplestcases,[Link]
equationintwounknownsisaline,[Link]
arepossiblewith2lines:

[Link],thepointofintersectionistheonlysolution.
[Link],allpointsonthelinearesolutions(note:thisis
aninfiniteset).
[Link],therearenosolutions.

Examples

SolutionSet: SolutionSet: SolutionSet:

Thepointofintersection Theemptyset; Allpointsontheline.
canbereadoffthegraph; theseparallellines Althoughtheequationslook
thepoint(2,0). willnevercross. different,theyactually
describethesameline.

Version 2.8 Page 49 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SystemsofEquations(contd)

SubstitutionMethod
IntheSubstitutionMethod,weeliminateoneofthevariablesbysubstitutingintooneofthe
[Link]
[Link].

Example:Solveforxandyif:
and:2 .

Step1:[Link]
[Link],weseeasingleyinthefirstequation;thisisaprime
candidateforsubstitution.
Wewillsubstitute fromthefirstequationfor inthesecondequation.

Step2:Performthesubstitution.
becomes:

Step3:Solvetheresultingequationforthesinglevariablethatisleft.

Step4:Substitutetheknownvariableintooneoftheoriginalequationstosolveforthe
remainingvariable.

Afterthisstep,thesolutionistentativelyidentifiedas:
, ,meaningthepoint(3,1).

Step5:[Link]
solutioniscorrect,[Link],youhavemadeamistake
andshouldcheckyourworkcarefully.

Sincethisisatruemathematical
statement,thesolution(3,1)can

beacceptedascorrect.

Version 2.8 Page 50 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SystemsofEquations(contd)

EliminationMethod
IntheSubstitutionMethod,wemanipulateoneorbothoftheequationssothatwecanadd
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
page.

Example:Solveforxandyif:
and:2 .

Step1:Rewritetheequationsin Step2: Multiplyeachequationbyavalue

selectedsothat,whentheequationsareadded,
standardform.
avariablewillbeeliminated.

(Multiplyby2)
2 (Multiplyby1) 2

Step3: Addtheresultingequations.

Step5:Substitutetheresultinto

oneoftheoriginalequationsand U 2

solvefortheothervariable.

Step4: Solveforthevariable.

Step6:Checktheresultbysubstituting

thesolutionintotheequationnotusedin

[Link],the

[Link]
not,youhavemadeamistakeandshould Sincethisisatruemathematicalstatement,the
checkyourwork. solution(3,1)canbeacceptedascorrect.

Version 2.8 Page 51 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SystemsofEquations(contd)

ClassificationofSystems
Therearetwomainclassificationsofsystemsofequations:[Link],and
[Link].

[Link]
ConsistentSystemshaveoneormoresolutions.
[Link]
equations,youoftengettoapointwhereyouhaveanimpossiblestatement,suchas
1 [Link].

[Link]
[Link],a
systemislinearlydependentifthereisasetofrealnumbers(notallzero)that,when
theyaremultipliedbytheequationsinthesystemandtheresultsareadded,thefinal
resultiszero.
[Link],asystemis
[Link]:sometextbooksindicatethat
[Link];theycanhaveno
solutions(seethemiddleexamplebelow).Formoreonthis,seethenextpage.

Examples

OneSolution NoSolution InfiniteSolutions

Consistent Inconsistent Consistent

Independent Independent Dependent

Version 2.8 Page 52 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
LinearDependence

LineardependenceisaconceptfromLinearAlgebra,andisveryusefulindeterminingif
[Link],asystemoffunctions isdefined
tobelinearlydependentifthereisasetofrealnumbers (notallzero),suchthat:

0or,insummationnotation, 0

Ifthereisnosetofrealnumbers ,suchthattheaboveequationsaretrue,thesystemissaid
tobelinearlyindependent.

Theexpression iscalledalinearcombinationofthefunctions .The

importanceoftheconceptoflineardependenceliesintherecognitionthatadependent
systemisredundant,i.e.,[Link]
thatalinearlydependentsystemofequationshasadeterminantofcoefficientsequalto0.

Example:
Considerthefollowingsystemofequations:
Noticethat: .
Therefore,thesystemislinearly
dependent.

Checkingthedeterminantofthecoefficientmatrix:
3 2 1
2 1 3 1 3 2
1 1 2 1 0 5 1 5 0 7 5 1 0.
1 2 1 2 1 1
1 0 5

ItshouldbenotedthatthefactthatD 0issufficienttoprovelineardependenceonlyifthere
arenoconstanttermsinthefunctions(e.g.,iftheprobleminvolvesvectors).Ifthereare
constantterms,[Link]
techniquestotestthis,suchastheuseofaugmentedmatricesandGaussJordanElimination.

[Link]
thedeterminantofthecoefficientmatrixisnonzero,thenthesetofequationsislinearly
independent.

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 Algebra
SystemsofInequalitiesinTwoDimensions

[Link],
grapheachinequalityseparately(includingshadingintheappropriateregion).Thesolutionset,
then,iseithertheoverlapoftheregionsoftheseparateinequalities(ANDSystems)orthe
unionoftheregionsoftheseparateinequalities(ORSystems).

Examples:
Graphthesolutionsetofthefollowingsystemofinequalities:
(a) 2 3AND 1 (b) 2 3OR 1

Step1:Graphtheunderlyingequations.

Step2:Determinewhethereachlineshouldbe
solidordotted:
2 3thesigncontains=,sothe
lineissolid
1the>signdoesnotcontain=,
sothelineisdotted

Step3:Determinetheregionstobeshadedbasedonthesignsintheequations:
2 3thesignindicatesshadingbelowtheline
1the>signindicatesshadingabovetheline

Step4:Determinethefinalsolutionset.

(a) IftheproblemhasanANDbetween (b) IftheproblemhasanORbetween

theinequalities,thesolutionsetisthe theinequalities,thesolutionsetisthe

overlapoftheshadedareas(i.e.,the unionofalloftheshadedareas(i.e.,

greenpartinthegraphbelow). thebluepartinthegraphbelow).

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 Algebra
ParametricEquations

ParametricEquationsin2dimensionsarefunctionsthatexpresseachofthetwokeyvariables
[Link]
[Link],
mple,

Parametricequationsaresometimesthemostusefulwaytosolveaproblem.

PythagoreanTriples
Asanexample,thefollowingparametricequationscanbeusedtofindPythagoreanTriples:
Let , berelativelyprimeintegersandlet .Then,thefollowingequationsproduceaset
ofintegervaluesthatsatisfythePythagoreanTheorem:

Examples:

s t a b c PythagoreanRelationship
3 2 5 12 13 5 12 13
4 3 7 24 25 7 24 25
5 2 21 20 29 21 20 29
5 3 16 30 34 16 30 34

CreatingaStandardEquationfromParametricEquations
Tocreateastandardequationfromasetof
parametricequationsintwodimensions, Example:Createastandardequationforthe
parametricequations:
Solveoneparametricequationfort.

Substitutethisvalueoftintotheother
Solvingfortinthefirstequation,weget:
equation.
Cleanuptheremainingexpressionas
necessary. Substitutingintothesecondequationgives:
Note:anyothermethodofsolving
simultaneousequationscanalsobeusedfor Cleaningthisup,wegetthesolutionweseek:
seek:
thispurpose.

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 Algebra
ExponentFormulas

Word Description Math Description Limitations

Examples
of Property of Property on variables

Product of Powers

Quotient of Powers

Power of a Power

Anything to the zero power is 1

, if , ,

Negative powers generate the

reciprocal of what a positive
power generates

Power of a product

Power of a quotient

Converting a root to a power

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 Algebra
ScientificNotation

Format
Anumberinscientificnotationhastwoparts:
Anumberwhichisatleast1andislessthan10(i.e.,itmusthaveonlyonedigitbefore
thedecimalpoint).Thisnumberiscalledthecoefficient.
Apowerof10whichismultipliedbythefirstnumber.
Hereareafewexamplesofregularnumbersexpressedinscientificnotation.

32 3.2 10 0.00034 3.4 10 1 1 10

1,420,000 1.42 10 1000 1 10 450 4.5 10

Howmanydigits?Howmanyzeroes?
Thereareacoupleofsimplerulesforconvertingfromscientificnotationtoaregularnumberor
forconvertingfromaregularnumbertoscientificnotation:
Ifaregularnumberislessthan1,theexponentof10inscientificnotationisnegative.
Thenumberofleadingzeroesintheregularnumberisequaltotheabsolutevalueof
[Link],youmustcountthezerobeforethedecimalpointin
[Link]:

OriginalNumber Action Conversion

0.00034 Count4zeroes 3.4x104

6.234x108 Add8zeroesbeforethedigits 0.00000006234

Ifthenumberisgreaterthan1,thenumberofdigitsafterthefirstoneintheregular
numberisequaltotheexponentof10inthescientificnotation.

OriginalNumber Action Conversion

4,800,000 Count6digitsafterthe4 4.8x106

9.6x103 Add3digitsafterthe9 9,600

Asageneralrule,multiplyingbypowersof10movesthedecimalpointoneplacefor
eachpowerof10.
o Multiplyingbypositivepowersof10movesthedecimaltotheright.
o Multiplyingbynegativepowersof10movesthedecimaltotheleft.

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 Algebra
AddingandSubtractingwithScientificNotation

Whenaddingorsubtractingnumbersinscientificnotation:
[Link]
therepresentationofthesmallernumbersothatithasthesamepowerof10asthe
[Link]:
o Callthedifferencebetweentheexponentsof10inthetwonumbersn.
o Raisethepowerof10ofthesmallernumberbyn,and
o Movethedecimalpointofthecoefficientofthesmallernumbernplacesto
theleft.
Addthecoefficients,keepingthepowerof10unchanged.
Iftheresultisnotinscientificnotation,adjustitsothatitis.
o Ifthecoefficientisatleast1andlessthan10,theanswerisinthecorrectform.
o Ifthecoefficientis10orgreater,increasetheexponentof10by1andmovethe
decimalpointofthecoefficientonespacetotheleft.
o Ifthecoefficientislessthan1,decreasetheexponentof10by1andmovethe
decimalpointofthecoefficientonespacetotheright.

Examples:
Explanation:Aconversionofthesmaller
3.2 10 0.32 10
numberisrequiredpriortoaddingbecausethe
9.9 10 9.90 10 exponentsofthetwonumbersaredifferent.
10. 22 10 Afteradding,theresultisnolongerinscientific

notation,soanextrastepisneededtoconvertit
1.022 10 intotheappropriateformat.

6.1 10 6.1 10 Explanation:Noconversionisnecessary

becausetheexponentsofthetwonumbersare
2.3 10 2.3 10 [Link],theresultisinscientific
8. 4 10 notation,sonoadditionalstepsarerequired.

Explanation:Aconversionofthesmaller
1.2 10 1.20 10
numberisrequiredpriortosubtractingbecause
4.5 10 0.45 10 theexponentsofthetwonumbersaredifferent.
0.75 10 Aftersubtracting,theresultisnolongerin
scientificnotation,soanextrastepisneededto
7.5 10 convertitintotheappropriateformat.

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 Algebra
MultiplyingandDividingwithScientificNotation

Whenmultiplyingordividingnumbersinscientificnotation:
Multiplyordividethecoefficients.
[Link]
theexponentswhilekeepingthebaseof10unchanged.
o Ifyouaremultiplying,addtheexponentsof10.
o Ifyouaredividing,subtracttheexponentsof10.
Iftheresultisnotinscientificnotation,adjustitsothatitis.
o Ifthecoefficientisatleast1andlessthan10,theanswerisinthecorrectform.
o Ifthecoefficientis10orgreater,increasetheexponentof10by1andmovethe
decimalpointofthecoefficientonespacetotheleft.
o Ifthecoefficientislessthan1,decreasetheexponentof10by1andmovethe
decimalpointofthecoefficientonespacetotheright.

Examples:

4 10 Explanation:Thecoefficientsaremultipliedand
[Link],the
5 10
resultisnolongerinscientificnotation,soan
20 10 extrastepisneededtoconvertitintothe
2.0 10 appropriateformat.

1.2 10 Explanation:Thecoefficientsaremultipliedand
[Link],the
2.0 10 resultisinscientificnotation,sonoadditional
2. 4 10 stepsarerequired.

3.3 10 Explanation:Thecoefficientsaredividedand
[Link],
5.5 10
theresultisnolongerinscientificnotation,so
0.6 10 anextrastepisneededtoconvertitintothe
appropriateformat.
6.0 10

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 Algebra
IntroductiontoPolynomials

WhatisaPolynomial?
Apolynomialisanexpressionthatcanbewrittenasatermorasumofterms,eachofwhichis
theproductofascalar(thecoefficient)[Link]
amonomial.

Examples(allofthesearepolynomials):

Monomial 3 4

Binomial 2 8 15 12

Trinomial 6 9 7 3

Other 4 6 4 1 2 6 3 8 2

Definitions:
Scalar:Arealnumber.
Monomial:Polynomialwithoneterm.
Binomial:Polynomialwithtwoterms.
Trinomial:Polynomialwiththreeterms.

DegreeofaPolynomial
Thedegreeofamonomialisthesumoftheexponentsonitsvariables.
Thedegreeofapolynomialisthehighestdegreeofanyofitsmonomialterms.

Examples:

Polynomial Degree Polynomial Degree

6 0 3 6 6

3 1 15 12 9

3 3 7 3 5

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 Algebra
AddingandSubtractingPolynomials

Problemsaskingthestudenttoaddorsubtractpolynomialsareoftenwritteninlinearform:
Add: 3 2 4 2 4 6
Theproblemismuchmoreeasilysolvediftheproblemiswrittenincolumnform,witheach
polynomialwritteninstandardform.

Definitions
StandardForm:Apolynomialinstandardformhasitstermswrittenfromhighestdegreeto
lowestdegreefromlefttoright.
Example:Thestandardformof 3 4 is 3 4
LikeTerms:[Link]
coefficientsaredifferent.
Example:2 , 6 ,and areliketerms.

AdditionandSubtractionSteps
Step1:[Link]
example,ifadding 3 2 4 ,leavespaceforthemissing term.

Step2:Ifyouaresubtracting,changethesignofeachtermofthepolynomialtobesubtracted
[Link].
Step3:Placethepolynomialsincolumnform,beingcarefultolineupliketerms.
Step4:Addthepolynomials.

Examples:

: 3 2 4 2 4 6 : 3 2 4 2 4 6

Solution: Solution:

3 2 4 3 2 4

2 4 6 2 4 6
3 2 6 2 3 2 2 10

Version 2.8 Page 61 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
MultiplyingBinomials

[Link].

FOILMethod
FOILstandsforFirst,Outside,Inside,[Link],youmakefour
separatemultiplicationsandaddtheresults.

Example:Multiply 2 3 3 4 Theresultisobtainedbyaddingtheresultsof
First: 2 3 6 the4separatemultiplications.

Outside: 2 4 8 FOIL
Inside: 3 3 9 2 3 3 4 6 8 9 12
Last: 3 4 12 6 12

BoxMethod
TheBoxMethodisprettymuchthesameastheFOILmethod,[Link]
theboxmethod,a2x2arrayofmultiplicationsiscreated,the4multiplicationsareperformed,
andtheresultsareadded.
Example:Multiply 2 3 3 4
Theresult isobtainedbyaddingtheresultsof
Multiply 3x the4separatemultiplications.

2x 6 8 2 3 3 4 6 8 9 12
6 12
+3 9 12

StackedPolynomialMethod
Athirdmethodistomultiplythebinomials 2 3
likeyouwouldmultiply2digitnumbers. 3 4

Thenamecomesfromhowthetwo 8 12
polynomialsareplacedinastackin
6 9
preparationformultiplication.
6 12
Example:Multiply 2 3 3 4

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 Algebra
MultiplyingPolynomials

Ifthepolynomialstobemultipliedcontainmorethantwoterms(i.e.,theyarelargerthan
binomials),[Link],eithertheBoxMethodortheStacked
[Link]
applythedistributivepropertyofmultiplicationoveraddition.

[Link].

BoxMethod
TheBoxMethodisthesameforlargerpolynomialsasitisforbinomials,excepttheboxis
[Link];themultiplicationsareperformed;andliketerms
areadded.
Example:Multiply 2 2 3 2 3 4

Multiply Results:
2 2 3 2 3 4
2 3 4
2
4 6 8
4 3
4 6 8
4 6 4
6 9 12
6 6 8

9 8

StackedPolynomialMethod
Results:

IntheStackedPolynomialMethod,the 2 2 3
polynomialsaremultipliedusingthesame

2 3 4
techniquetomultiplymultidigitnumbers

Onehelpfultipistoplacethesmaller 4 8 8 12

polynomialbelowthelargeroneinthe 3 6 6 9

stack.
2 4 4 6
2 7 6 8 17 12

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 Algebra
DividingPolynomials

Dividingpolynomialsisperformedmuchlikedividinglargenumberslonghand.

LongDivisionMethod
Thisprocessisbestdescribedbyexample:
Thisproce ssisbestdescribedbyexample:
Example: 2 5 2 2
Step1:Setupthedivisionlikeatypicallonghand
divisionproblem. 22 5 2

Step2:Dividetheleadingtermofthedividendby
2
[Link]
abovethetermoflikedegreeofthedividend. 22 5 2

2 2
2
Step3:Multiplythenewtermontopbythedivisor 22 5 2
andsubtractfromthedividend.
andsubtractfromthedividend. 2 4
2 2 2 4 2

Step4:Repeatsteps2and3ontheremainderof 2 1
thedivisionuntiltheproblemiscompleted.
22 5 2
Thisprocessresultsinthefinalanswerappearing 2 4
abovethedividend,sothat: 2
2
2 5 2 2 2 1
2
Remainders 2
Iftherewerearemainder,itwouldbeappendedto 0
theresultoftheproblemintheformofafraction,[Link]
theresultoftheproblemintheformofafraction,[Link]
example,intheproblemabove,iftheremainderwere3,thefraction wouldbeaddedto
theresultofthedivision. 2 5 1 2 2 1

Alternatives
[Link],therearebettermethodsfordividingpolynomials
[Link],whichisdiscussednextandelsewhereinthis
Guide,andSyntheticDivision,whichisdiscussedinthechapteronPolynomialsIntermediate.

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 Algebra
FactoringPolynomials

[Link],it
[Link]
complexpolynomial.

GreatestCommonFactor
TheGreatestCommonFactorofthetermsofapolynomialisdeterminedasfollows:
Step1:FindtheGreatestCommonFactorofthecoefficients.
Step2:[Link]
tothelowestpowerthatexistsforthatvariableinanyoftheterms.
Step3:MultiplytheGCFofthecoefficientsbytheGCFforeachvariable.

Example:
FindtheGCFof 18 42 30 GCF 18, 42, 30 6
GCF , ,
TheGCFofthecoefficientsandeachvariableareshown
GCF , ,1 1
[Link]
productofthefourindividualGCFs. GCF , ,
So,GCF polynomial 6
FactoringSteps
Step1:FactoroutofalltermstheGCFofthepolynomial.
Step2:Factoroutoftheremainingpolynomialanybinomialsthatcanbe Note:Typicallyonly
steps1and2are
extracted.
neededinhighschool
Step3:Factoroutoftheremainingpolynomialanytrinomialsthatcan algebraproblems.
beextracted.
Step4:Continuethisprocessuntilnofurthersimplificationispossible.

Examples:

Factor: 3 18 27 Factor: 6 24

3 6 9 6 4
3 3 6 2 2

Thefactoringofthebluetrinomial(2ndline)into Thefactoringofthebluebinomial(2ndline)into
thesquareofabinomialistheresultof binomialsoflowerdegreeistheresultof
[Link] [Link]
formsareshownonthenexttwopages. formsareshownonthenexttwopages.

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 Algebra
SpecialFormsofQuadraticFunctions

[Link],
ifyoucanrecognizeperfectsquaresanddifferencesofsquares,yourworkwillbecomeeasier
andmoreaccurate.

PerfectSquares
Perfectsquaresareoftheform:

IdentificationandSolution
Thefollowingstepsallowthestudenttoidentifyandsolveatrinomialthatisaperfectsquare:
Step1:[Link].
Step2:[Link].
Step3:[Link]
middletermofthetrinomial,theexpressionisaperfectsquare.
Step4:Thebinomialinthesolutionisthesumordifferenceofthesquarerootscalculatedin
[Link]
termofthetrinomial.

Example:
Noticethatthemiddletermisdoubletheproduct
ofthetwosquareroots( and ).Thisisa
telltalesignthattheexpressionisaperfectsquare.

Identifythetrinomialasaperfectsquare:
Takethesquarerootsofthefirstandlastterms.Theyare2 and3 .
[Link],thendoubletheresult:
2 3 2 12 .Theresult(witha signinfront)isthemiddletermofthe
[Link],theexpressionisaperfectsquare.

Toexpressthetrinomialasthesquareofabinomial:
Thesquarerootsofthefirstandlastterms 2 and3 makeupthebinomialweseek.
Wemaychoosethesignofthefirstterm,soletschoosethe sign.
Havingchosenthe signforthefirstterm,thesecondtermofthebinomialtakesthe
signofthemiddletermoftheoriginaltrinomial( ).Therefore,theresultis:

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 Algebra
SpecialFormsofQuadraticFunctions

DifferencesofSquares
Differencesofsquaresareoftheform:

Thesearemucheasiertorecognizethantheperfectsquaresbecausethereisnomiddleterm
[Link]:

thesetwo
termscancel
Identification

Toseeifanexpressionisadifferenceofsquares,youmustansweryestofourquestions:
1. Arethereonlytwoterms?
2. Istherea signbetweenthetwoterms?
3. Isthefirsttermasquare?Ifso,takeitssquareroot.
4. Isthesecondtermasquare?Ifso,takeitssquareroot.

Thesolutionistheproductofa)thesumofthesquarerootsinquestions3and4,andb)the
differenceofthesquarerootsinsteps3and4.

Note:Atelltalesignofwhenanexpressionmightbethedifferenceof2squaresiswhenthe
coefficientsonthevariablesaresquares:1,4,9,16,25,36,49,64,81,etc.

Examples:
(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

ADVANCED:Overthefieldofcomplexnumbers,itisalsopossibletofactorthesumof2squares:

Thisisnotpossibleoverthefieldofrealnumbers.

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 Algebra
FactoringTrinomialsSimpleCaseMethod

AcommonprobleminElementaryAlgebraisthefactoringofatrinomialthatisneithera
perfectsquarenoradifferenceofsquares.

Considerthesimplecasewherethecoefficientof [Link]:

sign1 sign2
coefficient constant
ofx

Inordertosimplifytheillustrationoffactoringapolynomialwherethecoefficientof is1,we
willusetheorangedescriptorsaboveforthecomponentsofthetrinomialbeingfactored.

SimpleCaseMethod Example:Factor

Step1:[Link]

lefthandpositionofeachbinomial.

Step2:Putsign1inthemiddlepositionintheleftbinomial.

Step3:Multiplysign1andsign2togetthesignfortheright
[Link]:

Step4:Findtwonumbersthat: Thenumbersweseekare
Fillin: 4and 7because:
(a)Multiplytogettheconstant,and ___ ___ ___ 4 7 28,and
(b)Addtogetthecoefficientof ___ ___ ___ 4 7 3


Step5:Placethenumbersinthebinomialssothattheirsigns

[Link]
answer.

Step6:Checkyourworkbymultiplyingthetwobinomialstosee 7 4
ifyougettheoriginaltrinomial. 4 7 28

3 28

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 Algebra
FactoringTrinomialsACMethod

[Link]
occurswhenthecoefficientof [Link],youmayusetheACmethodpresented
here,oryoumayuseeitherthebruteforcemethodorthequadraticformulamethod
(describedonthenextcoupleofpages).

ACMethod
TheACMethodderivesitsnamefromthefirststepofthe Example:Factor
process,whichistomultiplythevaluesof and fromthe
generalformofthequadraticequation:
6 2

Step1:Multiplythevaluesof and .
12
Step2:Findtwonumbersthat:
Fillin:
(a) Multiplytogetthevalueof ,
___ ___ ___ 4 3 12
and
___ ___ ___ 4 3 1
(b)Addtogetthecoefficientof

Step3:Splitthemiddletermintotwoterms,withcoefficients 6 4 3 2
equaltothevaluesfoundinStep2.(Tip:ifonlyoneof
thecoefficientsisnegative,putthattermfirst.)

Step4:Groupthetermsintopairs. 6 4 3 2

Step5:Factoreachpairofterms. 2 3 2 1 3 2

Step6:Usethedistributivepropertytocombinethe
[Link]

answer.

Step7:Checkyourworkbymultiplyingthetwobinomialsto 2 1 3 2
seeifyougettheoriginaltrinomial. 6 4 3 2
6 2

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 Algebra
FactoringTrinomialsBruteForceMethod

Whenthecoefficientof isnot1,[Link]
numberofmethodsthatcanbeusedinthiscase.

Ifthequestionbeingaskedistofindrootsoftheequation,andnottofactorit,thestudentmay
wanttousethequadraticformulawheneverthecoefficientof [Link]
requiredtofactor,andnotjustfindroots,thequadraticformulamaybeaviableapproach.

BruteForceMethod
[Link]
[Link]
arecandidatesolutions:
Example:Factor
Step1:Findallsetsofwholenumbersthatmultiplyto
getthecoefficientofthefirstterminthe Combinationsthatproduceaproduct
[Link],youneed of4are:
1and4or2and2
onlyconsiderpositivefactors.
Step2:Findallsetsofwholenumbersthatmultiplyto Combinationsthatproduceaproduct
getthecoefficientofthelastterminthe of 3are:
[Link] 1and3or1and 3
negativefactors.
1 4 3
1 4 3
Step3:Createallpossibleproductsofbinomialsthat 3 4 1
containthewholenumbersfoundinthefirst 3 4 1
twosteps. 2 1 2 3
2 1 2 3

1 4 3 4 3
Step4:Multiplythebinomialpairsuntilyoufindone 1 4 3 4 3
3 4 1 4 11 3
thatresultsinthetrinomialyouaretryingto 3 4 1 4 11 3
factor. 2 1 2 3 4 4 3
2 1 2 3 4 4 3

Step5:Identifythecorrectsolution. 4 4 3

[Link]
[Link],youcancutyourworkinhalfbyconsideringonly
[Link]
everythingrightbutthesignofthemiddleterm,switchthesignsinthebinomialstoobtainthecorrect
[Link]!

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 Algebra
FactoringTrinomialsQuadraticFormulaMethod

QuadraticFormulaMethod
TheQuadraticFormulaisdesignedspecificallytofindrootsofaseconddegreeequation.
However,[Link]
stepsare:
Step1:Applythequadraticformulatodeterminetherootsoftheequation.
Step2:Puteachrootintotheform: 0.
Step3:Showthetwo [Link]
[Link],ifpossible,inthenextstep.
Step4:MultiplythebinomialsinStep3bythecoefficientof thefollowingway:
(a) Breakthecoefficientof intoitsprimefactors.
(b) Allocatetheprimefactorstothebinomialsinawaythateliminatesthefractions.
Step5:Checkyourwork.

Example:
Factor:

Step1: or

Step2:Thetwoequationscontainingrootsare: 0and 0.

Step3:

Step4:Thecoefficientof intheoriginalequationis4,and4 2 [Link]

binomialsinStep3indicatesweneedtomultiplyeachbinomialby2inorderto
eliminatethefractions:

2 2 3 and 2 2 1

Sothat: 4 4 3 infactoredform

Step5:Check(usingFOIL) 2 3 2 1 4 2 6 3 4 4 3,
whichistheequationweweretryingtofactor.
9

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 Algebra
SolvingEquationsbyFactoring

Thereareanumberofreasonstofactorapolynomialinalgebra;oneofthemostcommon
[Link](e.g.,xvalue)for
[Link].

Infactoredform,[Link]:
2 4 8 3 isthefactoredformofapolynomial.
Ifanumberofitemsaremultipliedtogether,theresultiszerowheneveranyoftheindividual
[Link],ifanyofthefactorsof
thepolynomialhasavalueofzero,[Link]
tofindzeroesofpolynomialsinfactoredform.

Example1:
Findthezeroesof 2 4 8 3 .
Step1:Settheequationequaltozero.
Step1:Settheequationequaltozero.
2 4 8 3 0
Step2:[Link],this
occurswhen:
2 0,or Thesolutionset,then,is:
4 0,or 2, 4, 8, , 3
8 0,or or,moreconventionally,thexvaluesareput
innumericalorderfromsmallesttolargest:
0,or
4, 3, 2, , 8
3 0

SetNotation: Wemaylisttheset
Example2: ofsolutionstoaproblemby
Findthezeroesof 7 6 placingthesolutionsinbraces{},
separatedbycommas.
7 6 0
6 1 0
Thesolutionsetcontainsthetwo
domainvaluesthatmaketheoriginal
6 0 1 0 equationzero,namely:

6 1 1, 6

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 Algebra
IntroductiontoQuadraticFunctions

StandardFormofaQuadraticFunction
TheStandardFormofaseconddegreepolynomialis:
with 0
Anequationofthisformiscalledaquadraticfunction.
Thegraphofthisequationiscalledaparabola.

Upordown?
Thedirectioninwhichtheparabolaopensonagraphis
basedonthesign( or )of intheequation.
If 0,theparabolapointsdownanditopensup.
If 0,theparabolapointsupanditopensdown.
Ifyouforgetthisrule,justrememberthatupordown
dependsonthesignof ,anddoaquickgraphof ,
where 1 onyourpaper.

VertexandAxisofSymmetry
InStandardForm,thevertexoftheparabolahascoordinates: , whereyiscalculated
bysubstituting [Link]
(calledamaximum)orthelowestpointonthegraph(calledaminimum).Italsoliesontheaxis
ofsymmetryofthegraph.

Theequation
2
iscalledtheaxisofsymmetryoftheparabola.

VertexFormofaQuadraticFunction
Asecondusefulformofaquadraticfunctionisbasedonthevertex,andiscalledVertexForm:
where h, k is the vertex of the parabola
ItispossibletoconvertfromStandardFormtoVertexFormandfromVertexFormtoStandard
[Link].

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 Algebra
CompletingtheSquare

[Link],thisis
themethodusedtoderivethequadraticformulafromthegeneralquadraticequationin
[Link]
below:

Considerthestartingequation:

Step1:Modifytheequationsothatthecoefficientof [Link],simplydividethe
wholeequationbythevalueof .
Example: Considertheequation: 3 18 21 0
Divideby3toget: 6 7 0

Step2:[Link].
Example: Add 7tobothsides: 6 7

Step3:[Link]
coefficientof .Addittobothsidesoftheequation.
Example: 6 7
Halfit,thensquaretheresult: 3,3 9.
Result: 6 9 7 9

Step4:[Link],thatwasthe
reasonweselectedthenewconstantthewaywedid.
Example: 3 16

Step5:[Link] signontheconstantterm.
Example: 3 16
3 4

Step6:Breaktheresultingequationintotwoseparateequations,andsolve.
Example: 3 4 3 4
1 7

Solution: ,

Version 2.8 Page 74 of 178 April 19, 2016



Algebra
TableofPowersandRoots

SquareRoot Number Square Cube 4thPower

1 1.000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2 1.414 2 2 4 2 8 2 16

3 1.732 3 3 9 3 27 3 81

4 2.000 4 4 16 4 64 4 256

5 2.236 5 5 25 5 125 5 625

6 2.449 6 6 36 6 216 6 1,296

7 2.646 7 7 49 7 343 7 2,401

8 2.828 8 8 64 8 512 8 4,096

9 3.000 9 9 81 9 729 9 6,561

10 3.162 10 10 100 10 1,000 10 10,000

11 3.317 11 11 121 11 1,331 11 14,641

12 3.464 12 12 144 12 1,728 12 20,736

13 3.606 13 13 169 13 2,197 13 28,561

14 3.742 14 14 196 14 2,744 14 38,416

15 3.873 15 15 225 15 3,375 15 50,625

16 4.000 16 16 256 16 4,096 16 65,536

17 4.123 17 17 289 17 4.913 17 83,521

18 4.243 18 18 324 18 5,832 18 104,976

19 4.359 19 19 361 19 6,859 19 130,321

20 4.472 20 20 400 20 8,000 20 160,000

21 4.583 21 21 441 21 9,261 21 194,481

22 4.690 22 22 484 22 10,648 22 234,256

23 4.796 23 23 529 23 12,167 23 279841

24 4.899 24 24 576 24 13,824 24 331,776

25 5.000 25 25 625 25 15,625 25 390,625

Version 2.8 Page 75 of 178 April 19, 2016
 Algebra
TheQuadraticFormula

TheQuadraticFormulaisoneofthefirstdifficultmathformulasthatstudentsareaskedto
[Link],thoughdifficult,[Link]
andwhatthevariouspartsoftheformulaare,astudentcangeneratealotofknowledgeina
shortperiodoftime.

Foraquadraticfunctionoftheform:

Quadratic
Theformulafortheroots(i.e.,wherey=0)is: Formula

HowManyRealRoots?
Thediscriminantisthepartundertheradical:
Ifthediscriminantisnegative,[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
xaxisorentirelybelowthexaxis,dependingonthevalueofa.
Ifthediscriminantiszero,[Link]
zeroiszero,sotheradicaldisappearsandtheonlyrootis .Inthiscase,the
2
graphwillappeartobounceoffthexaxis;ittouchesthexaxisatonlyonespotthe
valueoftheroot.
Ifthediscriminantispositive,[Link]
realsquarerootexists,anditmustbeaddedintheformulatogetonerootand
[Link],thegraphwillcrossthexaxisintwo
places,thevaluesoftheroots.

WherearetheVertexandAxisofSymmetry?
Thexcoordinateofthevertexisalsoeasilycalculatedfromthequadraticformulabecausethe
[Link],the portionofthe
formuladisappearsandtheresultingxvalueis .Theyvalueofthevertexmuststill
2
becalculated,butthexvaluecanbereaddirectlyoutofthequadraticformula.

Also,oncethexvalueofthevertexisknown,theequationfortheaxisofsymmetryisalso
[Link]:
2
.

Version 2.8 Page 76 of 178 April 19, 2016
 Algebra
QuadraticInequalitiesinOneVariable

Note:Thesameprocessworksfor
Solvetheinequalityoftheform: 0 inequalitieswith<,,or>signs.

Step1:If" "isnegative,multiplythewholeinequalityby" 1".Thiswillmaketheproblem

[Link].
Example:convert 3 9 6 0 to 3 9 6 0

Step2:[Link]
maketheproblemeasiertoworkwith.
Example:factor 3 9 6 0 to 3 3 2 0
thendivideby3toget:[ 3 2 0

Step3:[Link]
arethecriticalvaluesinthesolutionoftheinequality.
Example:solve[ 3 2 0 ,whichgives: 1, 2
Thesolutiontotheinequality,whenshownonanumberline,mustbeeitheroutside
[Link],either:
1 or 2
1 and 2
But,whichone? 12

Step4:[Link](attheendofStep2).Asin
solvinginequalitieswithabsolutevalues,usethefollowingtricktorememberifthe
[Link].
Iftheinequalitycontainsa sign,[Link]:lessthand
Iftheinequalitycontainsa sign,[Link]:greator
Dontforgettouse , insteadof , iftheyareintheoriginalinequality.

Example:Usingthismethod,westartwith 3 2 0 andnotethe partof

[Link] .
Inintervalnotationthissolutionsetisshownas: ,
Insetnotation,thissolutionisshownas: |

Version 2.8 Page 77 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
QuadraticInequalitiesinOneVariable(contd)

Step5:[Link].ThesolutionstotheequationinStep3break
thenumberlineinto3distinctpieces;intheexample:
Lessthan1 a bc
Between1and2
Morethan2 12

Testtoseeiftheoriginalinequalityiscorrectforanumberineachofthesesegmentsof
[Link](e.g.,
afterSteps1or2),itisbesttoworkwiththeoriginalwhencheckingyourwork.

So,youmighttestvalueslikethefollowing:
a. Lessthan1:trythevalue0
b. Between1and2:trythevalue
c. Morethan2:trythevalue3

Intheexample,youfindthat works,[Link]
beinthemiddleinterval.ThismatchestheanswerobtainedinStep4.

Step5Alternative:Anotherwaytocheckyourwork.
Analternativewaytocheckyourworkistographthe
equationcorrespondingtotheinequality.
Usetheequation 3 2 0fromStep2
onlyifyouaresureyouperformedSteps1and2
correctly.
Thegraphofthecorrespondingequationisatright.
Noticethattheportionofthegraphthatisbelow
zeroistheportionbetween1and2.
Becausethesignincludestheequalssign,the
endpointsoftheintervalsareincludedinthesolutionset.
Therefore,thesolutionoftheinequalityis:
Theportionofthegraphbelowthe axis
| iswherethe 3 2 0

ThismatchestheanswerobtainedinStep4.


Version 2.8 Page 78 of 178 April 19, 2016


ADVANCED
Algebra
FittingaQuadraticEquationthroughThreePoints

Ittakesthreepointstodefineaquadraticequation,[Link]
general,ittakes(n+1)pointstodefineapolynomialofdegreen.

Startingwith:
thebasicquadraticequation: ,and
threepoints: , , , , , ,
itispossibletocalculatethecoefficientsofthequadraticequationbysubstitutinginthexand
yvaluesofthe3pointstocreateasystemof3equationsin3unknowns:

Now,thatsalotofsymbols,soletslookatanexample.

Example:

Findthequadraticequationthatpassesthroughthethreepoints:

1, 8 , 1, 4 , 2, 13

Usingthebasicquadraticequation,andsubstitutinginxvaluesandyvalues,weget3
equationsin3unknowns:
8
4
13 4 2

These3equationscanbesolvedbyeliminatingvariablesorbyusingCramersRule,whichever
[Link]:

, ,

Sothat:

Theoddthingaboutthisprocessisthatinmostalgebraproblemsthestudentisaskedtosolve
for or ,[Link],thestudentisaskedtoderivea
quadraticequationgiven3setsof sand s,whichrequiressolvingfor , ,and instead.

Version 2.8 Page 79 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ComplexNumbersIntroduction

Definitions
1.
ImaginaryNumberAnynumberthatcanbeexpressedintheform whereaisreal.
Examples: 7,6 , 23,3
ComplexNumberAnynumberthatcanbeexpressedintheform wherea,barereal.
Examples:6 2 , 6 3
Note:allrealnumbersandallimaginarynumbersarealsocomplexnumbers.
Intheform ,
iscalledtherealpartofthecomplexnumber,and
iscalledtheimaginarypartofthecomplexnumber.

AbsoluteValueofaComplexNumber
[Link],itis:

| |

ConjugateofaComplexNumber
Theconjugateofacomplexnumber isdenoted ; .
Examples:
ComplexNumber Conjugate ComplexNumber Conjugate

2 3 2 3 6 6

6 6 2 2 2 2

2 2 7 3 7 3

Commentsaboutconjugates:
1. Theconjugateofaconjugateisthenumberyoustatedwith.
, ,
2. Theproductofconjugatesisarealnumber.

3. Conjugatenumbershavethesameabsolutevalue.
| | | |

Version 2.8 Page 80 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
OperationswithComplexNumbers

AddingandSubtracting
AddorsubtractboththeRealandImaginaryparts:

Example: 1 3 3 6 2 3

Multiplying
Step1:Multiplylikeyoumultiplybinomials.
Step2:Substitute 1for andsimplify.

Example: 1 3 3 6 3 6 9 18
3 6 9 18
15 15

Dividing
Step1:Multiplybyafractionwhosenumeratoranddenominatoraretheconjugateofthe
originalexpressionsdenominator.
Step2:Substitute 1for andsimplify.

Theresultingcomplexnumberwillhaveadenominatorthatisfreeofimaginarynumbers.
Rememberthemethod,nottheformula!

Example:
1 3 1 3 3 6 3 6 9 18

3 6 3 6 3 6 9 36

3 6 9 18 21 3

9 36 45

Version 2.8 Page 81 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
TheSquareRootofi

If ,whatis ?
Thisisaninterestingquestionandsolvingitwillillustrateaveryusefulmethodinworkingwith
[Link]
number.
Recallthateachcomplexnumberisoftheform ,whereaandbarereal.
Wewantacomplexnumberthat,whensquared,generates .
So,wewanttocalculateaandbsuchthat

Letssolvethatequation:


2

Now,breakthisinto2equations,onefortherealpart,andonefortheimaginarypart.
Herearethe2equations: 0and2 1

and

Substitutingfor ,

Since 0,and isreal,

or

Since or

So,ourcandidatesfor are: or or or

Letstrythem:
Results:
2 2

2 2
So,wehavefoundnotonlythetwosquarerootsof ,but 2 2

alsothetwosquarerootsof . 2 2

Version 2.8 Page 82 of 178 April 19, 2016
 Algebra
ComplexNumbersGraphicalRepresentation

Complexnumbersoftheform canberepresentedonasetofaxesthatrepresentReal
andImaginarynumbersinsteadof and .Considerthecomplexnumber3 4 .Itwould
looklikethisonasetofReal(R)andImaginary(I)axes:
I
4i
Graphical

R representationof
3 3 4

PolarCoordinates
Representedinthismanner,complexnumbershaveinterestingproperties(seethenextpage
forsomeofthese).Eachcomplexnumbercanbethoughtofasnotonlyapairofrectangular
coordinates,e.g.,(3,4),butalsoasasetofpolarcoordinateswithmagnitude(i.e.,length) and
angle .Then,tomultiplycomplexnumbers,youmultiplytheirmagnitudesandaddtheir
angles.

Powersofi
Thisisausefulbitofinformationforseeingthevalueof [Link] 1,
algebraically,wehave:

1 1 1
1 1 1etc.

Since hasmagnitude1,allpowers [Link] ,

then,resultsonlyinachangeoftheangle,andcanbeconsidereda90rotationinthe
coordinateplanecontainingtheRealandImaginaryaxes,likeso:

I I I I

R R R R

Thisshowstherotatingpatterninthevaluesofthepowersof every4increments.After4
rotationsyoureturntowhereyoustarted.

Version 2.8 Page 83 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
ComplexNumberOperationsinPolarCoordinates

PolarCoordinates
Ifacomplexnumberisexpressedintermsofitspolarcoordinates,manycalculationsaremade
[Link],letsinvestigatetherelationshipbetweenapointsrectangularcoordinates
, anditspolarcoordinates , .

Themagnitude,, isthedistanceofthepointfromthe
origin:

Theangle,,istheanglethelinefromthepointtothe
originmakeswiththepositiveportionofthexaxis.
Generally,thisangleisexpressedinradians,notdegrees.
tan or tan

Conversionfrompolarcoordinatestorectangularcoordinatesisstraightforward:
cos and sin

Example:Intheillustrationabove,thepointshownhas:
Rectangularcoordinates: 4, 4
PolarCoordinates: 42,

ComplexNumberFormulas:
Toseehowusefulthiscanbe,considerthefollowingformulasforcomplexnumbers:
Multiplication: , , ,
So,tomultiplycomplexnumbers,youmultiplytheirmagnitudesandaddtheirangles.

Division: , , ,
So,todividecomplexnumbers,youdividetheirmagnitudesandsubtracttheirangles.

Powers: , , Noteon :
Thisresultsdirectlyfromthemultiplicationrule. Sinceiinpolarcoordinatesis 1, ,
Usingtherootformula, 1,
Roots: , ,
Inrectangularcoordinates,then,
Thisresultsdirectlyfromthepowerruleifthe


exponentisafraction.

Version 2.8 Page 84 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ComplexSolutionstoQuadraticEquations

Overthefieldofrealnumberstherearenorootstoaquadraticfunctionifthediscriminantis
[Link],however,suchaquadraticfunctionhastwo
roots.

QuadraticRefresher

Foraquadraticfunctionoftheform:

Quadratic
Theformulafortheroots(i.e.,wherey=0)is: Formula

Thediscriminantisthepartundertheradical:

HowManyRoots?
Thefollowingtabletellsushowmanyrealorcomplexrootsexistforafunction,basedonits
discriminant:

ValueofDiscriminant NumberofRoots

4 0 2complex

4 0 1real

4 0 2real

Note:becauseofthe signinthequadraticformula,whenthereare2complexrootsthey
areconjugates.

Example1:Solve 2 10 0

4 2 2 4 1 10 2 36 2 6

2 2 1 2 2

Example2:Solve2 4 7 0

4 4 4 4 2 7 4 40 4 210

2 2 2 4 4

Version 2.8 Page 85 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
RadicalRules

SimpleRulesInvolvingRadicals

GeneralRadicalRule RuleforSquareRoots Example

12 4 3 23

5 5 5

4 4 2

Notealsothat:
e.g., ,sotherulesforexponentsalsoapplyforroots.

RationalizingtheDenominator

[Link]
methodstoaccomplishthis,dependingonwhatsinthedenominator.

Case1:[Link]:multiplythebeginning
expressionbyafractionwhichistheoffendingradicaldividedbyitself.

Example:

Case2:[Link]:multiplybythe
beginningexpressionbyafractionwhichisdesignedtoeliminatetheradicalfrom
[Link]
changingthesignbetweenthenumberandtheradicalinthedenominator.

Example:

Version 2.8 Page 86 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SimplifyingSquareRootsTwoMethods

Method1:ExtractingSquares

Inthismethod,[Link]
methodifyouarecomfortablewithwhatthesquaresareandwithdividingthem
outoflargernumbers.
1 1 11 121
Examples: (1)98 49 2 2 4 12 144
72
3 9 13 169

(2)9600 100 96 4 16 14 196

100 16 6 5 25 15 225
10 4 6 6 36 16 256
406
7 49 17 289
8 64 18 324
Method2:ExtractingPrimeNumbers
9 81 19 361
IfyouarenotcomfortablewithMethod1,youcanpull
10 100 20 400
primenumbersoutfromundertheradicalandpairthem
uptosimplifythesquareroot.

Example: 54 2 27 Method2maytakealotlongerthan
Method1,[Link]
2 3 9
Method2iswhenyoutryusingthe
2 3 3 3 quickerMethod1butgetstuckthen
2 3 3 3 workingwithprimescangetyouback
ontracktowardsolvingtheproblem.
2 3 3
3 2 3
3 6 Notethatthelaststepis torecombineroots
thatdonotcomeinpairs.

Version 2.8 Page 87 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SolvingRadicalEquations

Whenanequationinvolvesradicals,theradicalsmustbeeliminatedinordertoobtaina
[Link],intheprocessofeliminatingthe
radical,itispossibletoaddanothersolutionthatisnotasolutiontotheoriginalproblem.
SolutionsthatareaddedbytheprocessusedtosolvetheproblemarecalledExtraneous
[Link],wemustcheckforextraneoussolutionsandeliminate
them.

SolvingaRadicalEquation
Thestepstosolvinganequationinvolvingradicalsare:
[Link],addorsubtractanyvariables
orconstantsthatareonthesamesideoftheequationastheradical.
Iftheradicalisasquareroot,[Link]
root,cubebothsides,[Link].
Ifthereareanyradicalsremainingintheproblem,repeatthefirsttwostepsuntilthey
aregone.
Solvetheequationthatremains.
Checkallsolutionstotheproblemusingtheequationintheoriginalstatementofthe
problem.
Discardextraneousroots.

Example:Solve4 5
StartingProblem: 2 6 1
Subtract1frombothsides: 2 6 1 Ifweallowed to
Squarebothsides: 2 6 2 1 be2,theequationwould
workand1wouldworkasa
Subtract frombothsides: 4 5 0 [Link],the
Factor: 5 1 0 squarerootofanumberis
definedtobethepositive
ObtainPreliminarySolutions: 1, 5 [Link],1failsasa
Test asasolution: 2 1 6 1 1 ? solutiontotheproblem.

Test asasolution: 4 5 5 5 ?9
IdentifythefinalSolutionSet:

Version 2.8 Page 88 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SolvingRadicalEquations(contd)

WhyOnlyPositiveSquareRoots?
Itisgenerallytaughtinhighschoolalgebrathatsquarerootshavebothpositiveandnegative
[Link]
numberonly?

Theanswerliesinthemissingstep,[Link]
youlearnisthis:

, .And,thatiscorrect,butnotbecause whichitdoesnot!

TheMissingStep
Intheboxtotherightisthedevelopmentwiththe
[Link]: StartingProblem:
| | Takesquareroots: | |
Whenwetakesquareroots,wehavepositive Solveforx:
numbersoneachsideoftheresultingequation.
Both| |and2arepositive.
Thetwopossiblevaluesforxcomefromsolvingthemiddleequation| | .

Thissolvestheapparentarbitrarinessofwhenarootisonlypositiveandwhenitisboth
positiveandnegative.

Inequalities
Themissingstepalsoprovidesanexplanationforthemethodusedtosolveinequalities.
Considertheinequality: [Link]:

StartingProblem: 9
Takesquareroots: | | 3 Noticethat| |convertsto inCaseIandto
[Link],you
Casei Caseii seethatthesigninCaseiihasbeenflipped
[Link]
3 and 3
magic;itistheresultofTheMissingStep
3 and 3 beingappliedinallitsmathematicalglory!
Solution: | 3

Version 2.8 Page 89 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
MatrixAdditionandScalarMultiplication

WhatisaMatrix?

[Link]
inalgebra,statisticsandotherapplicationsbecausetheyprovideaconcisewaytocarryout
morecomplexmathematicalmethodsandprocesses.

Matriceshavedimensions,[Link]
example,a2x3matrix(read2by3matrix)[Link]
dimensionsofamatrixisimportantbecausemanymatrixoperationscanonlyoccuron
matriceswithcertaindimensions.

AddingMatrices

[Link]
[Link].

Example:
2 3 1 1 2 4 1 1 5

5 1 2 2 1 0 3 2 2

1strow,1stcolumn:2 + (1) = 1
1strow,2ndcolumn:(3) + 2 = 1

ScalarMultiplication

Multiplyingamatrixbyascalar(i.e.,anumber)isaccomplishedbymultiplyingeachelementin
[Link]
[Link].

Example:
1 2 4 3 6 12
3
2 1 0 6 3 0

1strow,1stcolumn:3 (1) = 3
1strow,2ndcolumn:3 2 = 6

Version 2.8 Page 90 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
MatrixMultiplication

MultiplyingMatrices

[Link]
atfirst,itisapowerfultoolthatisusefulinmanyfieldsofmathematicsandscience.

Matrixmultiplicationcanbeperformedonlyonmatricesthatareconformable(i.e.,compatible
insize).Inorderfortwomatricestobemultipliedtogether,thenumberofcolumnsinthefirst
[Link] x nmatrixismultipliedby
ann x pmatrix,theresultisanm x [Link]:
mustmatch

sizeofresultingmatrix

Tomultiplymatrices,youmultiplytheelementsinarowofonematrixbythecorresponding
[Link]
multipliedbyrowjinthesecondmatrix,theresultisplacedinrowi,columnjoftheresulting
[Link], jofamatrixisoftendenoted , .

Example1:
Noticethatmultiplyinga2x3
1 2
2 3 1 1 0 matrixbya3x2matrixresults
2 1
5 1 2 1 13 ina2x2matrix.
3 1

1strow,1stcolumn:[ 2 1] + [ (3) 2] + [ 1 3] = 1
1strow,2ndcolumn:[ 2 (2) ] + [ (3) (1) ] + [ 1 1] = 0
2ndrow,1stcolumn:[ 5 1] + [ 1 2] + [ (2) 3] = 1
2ndrow,2ndcolumn:[ 5 (2) ] + [ 1 (1) ] + [ (2) 1] = 13

Example2:
1 2 8 5 5 Noticethatmultiplyinga3x2
2 3 1
2 1 1 7 4 matrixbya2x3matrixresults
5 1 2 ina3x3matrix.
3 1 11 8 1

Fromtheexamples,[Link],ifwe
nametwomatricesAandB,itisnotnecessarilytruethatAB=[Link],ifmatricesare
notsquare(i.e.,havingthesamenumberofrowsandcolumns),matrixmultiplicationisnever
commutative;thatisABBA.

Version 2.8 Page 91 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
MatrixDivisionandIdentityMatrices

Multiplicationanddivisionareinverseprocesseswithwhichthestudentisfamiliarwhen
[Link],asdescribedaboveismuchmore
[Link],howdoyoudividematrices?

Divisionofrealnumberscanbeconsideredtheprocessofmultiplyinganumberbytheinverse
[Link]:

12 4(i.e.,12dividedby3isthesameas12times ;theresultis4eitherway)
dividingby3isthesameamultiplyingbytheinverseof3,whichis
3and aremultiplicativeinversesbecausewhenmultiplied,theyresultin1,whichis
calledthemultiplicativeidentity

[Link],weneedtoidentifyanidentitymatrix,thenwe
needtodeterminehowtocalculateaninversematrixwhich,whenmultipliedbytheoriginal
matrix,[Link]
mustalso,bydefinition,besquare.

IdentityMatrices

Identitymatricesexistforeachsquaredimension.Identitymatriceshave1sdownthediagonal
[Link],thefollowingareidentitymatrices,generally
denotedbytheletter" ":

1 0 0 0
1 0 0
1 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0
0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Whenamatrixismultipliedbyanidentitymatrix,theresultistheoriginalmatrix.

Example:Ifwenameamatrix ,then asfollows:

2 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 2 1 1
3 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 2 1 3 2 1
4 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 3 4 0 3

Version 2.8 Page 92 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
Inverseofa2x2Matrix

Usingmatrixnotation:
Lettheidentitymatrixofsize becalled
Letan matrixbecalled
Letthedeterminantofmatrix bedenoted| |
Lettheinverseofmatrix bedenoted 1
Then, 1 1

[Link],itsdeterminant
[Link],matrix hasaninverseifandonlyif:| | .

FormulafortheInverseofa2x2Matrix

1
Ifa2x2matrixhaselements , , andd,suchthat ,then:

Inwords,theinverseiscalculatedasfollows:
Fromtheoriginalmatrix,switchelementsaandd,andchangethesignsofbandc.
Dividetheresultingmatrixbythedeterminantoftheoriginalmatrix.(Note:the
determinantofamatrixisascalar).

Thedeterminantofmatrix ,iscalculatedas| | .

Example:2x2MatrixInverseCalculation

Let:


Then: | |



So: 1



1
. .

1 1
Finally,checktomakesure:

. . . .
and

Version 2.8 Page 93 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
CalculatingInversesTheGeneralCase

Thecalculationoftheinverseofamatrixofsizegreaterthan2x2canbeperformedbya
[Link],moregenerically,Row
[Link],youbeginwithtwosidebysidematrices,theoneyouwantto
invert(thesubjectmatrix)[Link]
onbothmatrices,graduallyconvertingtheoriginalmatrixtotheidentityMatrix.

Allowableoperationsare:
Multiplyingordividingarowbyascalar(i.e.,anumber).
Switchingrows.
Addingorsubtractingamultipleofonerowtoorfromanother.

Whenthisprocessiscomplete,theoriginalidentitymatrixhasbeenconvertedtotheinverse
matrix.Belowisanexampleofthedevelopmentofaninverseofa3x3matrixusingthis
process:





Startwiththeidentity

matrixtotherightofthe
originalsubjectmatrix.

Eachoperation
performedontheoriginal
subjectmatrixisalso
performedontheoriginal
identitymatrix.

Endwiththeinverse
matrixtotherightofthe
newidentitymatrix.

Version 2.8 Page 94 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra ADVANCED

DeterminantsTheGeneralCase

Determinantsareveryusefulinmatrixoperations.Thedeterminantofa2x2matrixisdefinedtobe:

| |

Inwords,thediagonalsaremultipliedandtheproductofseconddiagonalissubtractedfromthe
[Link]
[Link]
elementareeliminated.
Thedeterminantofamatrixcanbecalculatedbyselectingarowandmultiplyingeachelementofthe
[Link]
[Link]
signfortheelementinrowmandcolumnnis .Thefollowingmatricesofsignsshowhow
theyareappliedtoeachrowelement:

2x2: 3x3: 4x4:

Usingminorsofthefirstrowtoevaluatea3x3matrix,

Or,usingminorsofthesecondcolumntoevaluatethesame3x3matrix,

Theresultsofthecalculationwillbethesame,regardlessofwhichrowisselected,becauseofthepower
ofmatricesanddeterminants.

Examplefora3x3matrixusingminorsofthefirstrow:
3 1 1 Note:thisisthematrixthatforms
2 1 1 1 1 2
1 2 1 3 1 1 thedenominatorinthesolutionof
2 3 2 3 2 2
2 2 3 thesystemofequationsinthe
CramersRuleexample.
3 4 1 1 1 2

[Link],a5x5determinantisfirstreduced
toasumoffiveelementseachmultipliedbytheir4x4minors.Eachofthe4x4minorsisreducedtoa
sumoffourelementseachmultipliedbytheir3x3minors,[Link];
todayitwouldtypicallybeperformedusingacomputer.

Version 2.8 Page 95 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
CramersRule2Equations

CramersRuleprovidesapowerfulandsimplewaytosolvesystemsoftwoorthreelinear
[Link],itisausefulwaytosolveforjustoneofthe
variables,[Link]
fourormoreequations,abettertechniquewouldbeGaussJordanElimination,especiallyifthe
studentisaidedbyacomputerandspreadsheetsoftwaresuchasMicrosoftExcel.

CramersRuleworksaslongasthedeterminantofvariablecoefficients(i.e.,thedeterminantin
thedenominator)[Link],thenthereisnouniquesolutionto
thesystemofequations.

GeneralCasefor2Equationsin2Unknowns

Thestandardformoftheequationsis:


Usingdeterminantnotation,CramersRulestatesthatthesolutionsforxandyare:

Noticethatthedeterminantsinthedenominatorsarethesame;thecolumnsinthese
[Link]
numeratorsarealmostthesameastheonesinthedenominators;theonlydifferenceisthat
thecolumnofcoefficientsassociatedwiththevariablebeingevaluatedisreplacedbythe
equationsconstantterms.

Example:Considertheseequations: 3 6 18
3 7
Then,

12

3

Version 2.8 Page 96 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
CramersRule3Equations

GeneralCasefor3Equationsin3Unknowns

Thestandardformoftheequationsis:

Usingdeterminantnotation,CramersRulestatesthatthesolutionsforx, yandzare:

Asinthecasewithtwoequations,thedeterminantsinthedenominatorsareallthesame;the
[Link]
determinantsinthenumeratorsarealmostthesameastheonesinthedenominators;theonly
differenceisthatthecolumnofcoefficientsassociatedwiththevariablebeingevaluatedis
replacedbytheequationsconstantterms.

Notethatthedeterminantof
Example:Considertheseequations: 3 7 variablecoefficientsmustbenon
2 2 zeroinordertouseCramers
2 2 3 4 [Link],
thereisnouniquesolutiontothe
systemofequations.
Usingdeterminantnotation:

Performingtherequiredcalculations,weobtaintheuniquesolution:

2 3 2

Version 2.8 Page 97 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
AugmentedMatrices

SolvingSimultaneousEquations
Onerelativelyadvancedmethodofsolvingsimultaneousequationsisthroughtheuseofan
[Link]
coefficientsofthevariables,[Link]
equationstobesolvedinthisform,theymustbewritteninstandardform.

Example:

Tosolvethe 3 13 Theaugmented 1 3 13

system: 2 4 matrixwouldbe: 2 1 4

GaussJordanElimination
AprocesscalledGaussJordanElimination(GJE)isusedtomanipulatetheaugmentedmatrixto
[Link]
[Link],therowsofthe
coefficientmatrixarereducedtotheIdentityMatrix.

Thefollowingmanipulationsoftherowsareallowed:
Multiplyingordividingarowbyascalar(i.e.,anumber).
Switchingrows.
Addingorsubtractingamultipleofonerowtoorfromanother.

Whenthisprocessiscomplete,theconstantcolumnoftheaugmentedmatrixhasbeen
[Link]?Theprocessusedis
[Link],you
ignorethevariablenamesbyusingmatrices,butthemanipulationsarethesame.

InverseMatrix
[Link],
Placeanidentitymatrixtotherightoftheaugmentedmatrixatthestart.
Performallrowoperationsonthismatrixasyouprogress.
Attheend,theoriginalidentitymatrixwillhavebeenconvertedtotheinversematrix.

Inthefollowingexamples,augmentedmatricesaremanipulatedtodevelopsolutionsto
systemsofequationsandidentitymatricesareconvertedtoinversematrices.

Version 2.8 Page 98 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
2x2AugmentedMatrixExamples

Problem:solvethefollowingsetofsimultaneousequationsusingrowreduction 2x+8y=36
(formallycalledGaussJordanElimination) x+5y=10

ActionTaken Why? AugmentedMatrix InverseMatrix

Start x y =
StartingAugmentedMatrix 2 8 36 1 0
1 5 10 0 1
AdjustTopRow
(Row1)(a11)>Row1 Togeta"1"incolumn1 1 4 18 0.5 0
Row2(nochange) 1 5 10 0 1
Adjust2ndRow
Row1(nochange) 1 4 18 0.5 0
(Row2)(a21*Row1)>Row2 Togeta"0"incolumn1 0 1 8 0.5 1
Adjust2ndRow
Row1(nochange) 1 4 18 0.5 0
(Row2)(a22)>Row2 Togeta"1"incolumn2 0 1 8 0.5 1
AdjustTopRow
(Row1)(a12*Row2)>Row1 Togeta"0"incolumn2 1 0 50 =x 2.5 4
Row2(nochange) 0 1 8 =y 0.5 1
InverseMatrix

MatrixInverseTest OriginalMatrix InverseMatrix ProductMatrix

2 8 2.5 4 1 0
1 5 0.5 1 0 1

Problem:solvethefollowingsetofsimultaneousequationsusingrowreduction x+3y=13
(formallycalledGaussJordanElimination) 2xy=4

ActionTaken Why? AugmentedMatrix InverseMatrix

Start x y =
StartingAugmentedMatrix 1 3 13 1 0
2 1 4 0 1
AdjustTopRow
(Row1)(a11)>Row1 Togeta"1"incolumn1 1 3 13 1 0
Row2(nochange) 2 1 4 0 1
Adjust2ndRow
Row1(nochange) 1 3 13 1 0
(Row2)(a21*Row1)>Row2 Togeta"0"incolumn1 0 5 30 2 1
Adjust2ndRow
Row1(nochange) 1 3 13 1 0
(Row2)(a22)>Row2 Togeta"1"incolumn2 0 1 6 0.4 0.2
AdjustTopRow
(Row1)(a12*Row2)>Row1 Togeta"0"incolumn2 1 0 5 =x 0.2 0.6
Row2(nochange) 0 1 6 =y 0.4 0.2
InverseMatrix

MatrixInverseTest OriginalMatrix InverseMatrix ProductMatrix

1 3 0.2 0.6 1 0
2 1 0.4 0.2 0 1

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 Algebra
3x3AugmentedMatrixExample

Problem:solvethefollowingsetofsimultaneous 2xy+3z=7
equationsusingrowreduction(formallycalled x+4y2z=17
GaussJordanElimination) 3x+y+2z=2

ActionTaken Why? AugmentedMatrix InverseMatrix

StartingAugmentedMatrix x y z =
StartingAugmentedMatrix 2 1 3 7 1 0 0
1 4 2 17 0 1 0
3 1 2 2 0 0 1
WorkDown
Row1*1/2>Row1 Togeta"1"incolumn1 1 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0 0
Row2(newRow1)>Row2 Togeta"0"incolumn1 0 4.5 3.5 20.5 0.5 1 0
Row3(3*newRow1)>Row3 Togeta"0"incolumn1 0 2.5 2.5 12.5 1.5 0 1
WorkDown
Row1(nochange) 1 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0 0
SwitchRows2and3 NewRow2lookseasiertoworkwith 0 2.5 2.5 12.5 1.5 0 1
SwitchRows2and3 NewRow2lookseasiertoworkwith 0 4.5 3.5 20.5 0.5 1 0
WorkDown
Row1(nochange) 1 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0 0
Row2/2.5>Row2 Togeta"1"incolumn2 0 1 1 5 0.6 0 0.4
Row3*2>Row3 Togetridofthefractions 0 9 7 41 1 2 0
WorkDown
Row1(nochange) 1 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0 0
Row2(nochange) 0 1 1 5 0.6 0 0.4
Row3(9*Row2)>Row3 Togeta"0"incolumn2 0 0 2 4 4.4 2 3.6
WorkDown
Row1(nochange) 1 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0 0
Row2(nochange) 0 1 1 5 0.6 0 0.4
Row3*.5>Row3 Togeta"1"incolumn3 0 0 1 2 2.2 1 1.8
WorkUp
Row1(Row3*1.5)>Row1 Togeta"0"incolumn3 1 0.5 0 0.5 2.8 1.5 2.7
Row2+Row3>Row2 Togeta"0"incolumn3 0 1 0 3 1.6 1 1.4
Row3(nochange) 0 0 1 2 2.2 1 1.8
WorkUp
Row1+(Row2*.5)>Row1 Togeta"0"incolumn2 1 0 0 1 =x 2 1 2
Row2(nochange) 0 1 0 3 =y 1.6 1 1.4
Row3(nochange) 0 0 1 2 =z 2.2 1 1.8
InverseMatrix

MatrixInverseTest OriginalMatrix InverseMatrix ProductMatrix

2 1 3 2 1 2 1 0 0
1 4 2 1.6 1 1.4 0 1 0
3 1 2 2.2 1 1.8 0 0 1
Version 2.8 Page 100 of 178 April 19, 2016
 Algebra
ExponentFormulas

Word Description Math Description Limitations

Examples
of Property of Property on variables

Product of Powers

Quotient of Powers

Power of a Power

Anything to the zero power is 1

, if , ,

Negative powers generate the

reciprocal of what a positive
power generates

Power of a product

Power of a quotient

Converting a root to a power

Version 2.8 Page 101 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
LogarithmFormulas

Word Description Math Description Limitations

Examples
of Property of Property on variables
, 0 implies
Definition of logarithm implies
isundefined

0
Log (base anything) of 1 is
zero
Exponents and logs are , 0
inverse operators, leaving
what you started with
Logs and exponents are , 0
inverse operators, leaving
what you started with
The log of a product is the , , 0
sum of the logs

The log of a quotient is the , , 0

difference of the logs

The log of something to a , 0

power is the power times the

log
Change the base to whatever , , 0
you want by dividing by the ,
log of the old base

Version 2.8 Page 102 of 178 April 19, 2016

 ADVANCED
Algebra
e

Whatise?
eisatranscendentalnumber,meaningthatitisnottherootofanypolynomialwith
integercoefficients.
eisthebaseofthenaturallogarithms.

WhatMakesesoSpecial?
eshowsupoverandoverinmathematics,especiallyinregardtolimits,derivatives,and
[Link],itisnoteworthythat:

1
lim 1 lim 1
!

Perhaps,mostinterestingly,thefollowingequation,calledEulersEquation,relatesfive
seeminglyunrelatedmathematicalconstantstoeachother.

SomeSeriesRepresentationsofe

1 1 1 1 1 Therearemanymoreseriesinvolvinge.
1 1
! 2 6 24 120 Asamplingoftheseisprovidedat:
[Link]

1 1

! 1 1 1 1
1 1
2 6 24 120

DecimalExpansion
2.7 1828 1828 4590 4523 5360 2874 7135 2662 4977 5724 7093 6999 5957 4966
The web site [Link] shows the decimal
expansion of e to over 2 million digits.

Version 2.8 Page 103 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
TableofExponentsandLogarithms

Definition: ifandonlyif

024

Version 2.8 Page 104 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ConvertingBetweenExponentialandLogarithmicForms

Toconvertbetweenanexponentialexpressionandalogarithmicexpression,itisoftenhelpful
[Link],settheexpression
equalto beforeapplyingtherule.

Note:thefirstlastmiddlerulerequiresthatthelogarithmicorexponentialportionofthe
expressionbeonthelefthandsideoftheequation.

Converting from Logarithmic Form Converting from Exponential Form

to Exponential Form to Logarithmic Form

using firstlastmiddle using firstlastmiddle

Examples: Examples:

1) Solvefor : 64 . 1 Converttheexpression,2 32to

Firstis4,lastis andmiddleis logarithmicform.
[Link],4 64. Firstis2,lastis32andmiddleis
Then,4 4; 4 16; 4 64 5.
So,wehave:
So,wehave:

2 Solvefor :ln 2 Converttheexpression,7 343to

(remember isshorthandfor ) logarithmicform.

Using firstlastmiddle, Using firstlastmiddle,

convertsto: 7 343convertsto: 343 3

So,wehave: So,wehave:

Version 2.8 Page 105 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ExpandingLogarithmicExpressions

[Link]
processisdescribedandillustratedintheexamplebelow.

Expand:

Whenexpanded:
Eachiteminthenumeratorwillbecomeatermprecededbya+sign

Eachiteminthedenominatorwillbecomeatermprecededbyasign.
Allexponentsbecometermcoefficientsinexpandedform.

Step1:Simplifytermsintheoriginalexpression,ifpossible:

Step2:Writethelogofalloftheitemsinparenthesesinthesimplifiedexpression:
2 3

Step3:Writetheexponentsfromthesimplifiedexpressionascoefficientsofeachlog:
2 3

Step4:Writethesigns( foritemsinthenumerator; foritemsinthedenominator):

2 3 2 3 4

Step5:Simplifytermsinthesolution,ifpossible:
1 3 2 3 4

Result: 1 3 2 3 4

Version 2.8 Page 106 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
CondensingLogarithmicExpressions

[Link]
processisdescribedandillustratedintheexamplebelow.

Condense:1 2 2 3 4

Step1:Reviewtheexpressionandidentifyeachelement.
Theargumentofeachlogwillbecomethebaseofanexponentialterm.
Thecoefficientofeachlogwillbecomeanexponentonthatterm
Thesignofeachtermdetermineswhethertheexponentialtermgoesinthe
numerator(+)ordenominatorofthecondensedexpression.

exponents Whencondensed,eachtermwill
[Link]
termsinthenumeratorwillbe
1 2 2 3 4 [Link]
thedenominatorwillbemultiplied
together.
indicatesthataterm +indicatesthataterm
goesinthedenominator goesinthenumerator

Step2:Setupthelogexpressionwiththeproperbaseandparenthesestocontainthevarious
[Link],setupafractioninsidetheparentheses:

Step3:Convertanyconstantstopowersofthebaseofthelog:

Step4:Bringineachtermcontainingavariableasanexponentialexpressionwiththeproper
exponentandbase:

Step5:Simplifytotheextentpossible:

Version 2.8 Page 107 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
CondensingLogarithmicExpressionsMoreExamples

Suggestionsfordoingproblems:

Useparenthesesliberallytohelpyourselfseewhatisgoingonintheproblem.
Dotheproblemsonestepatatime,workingcarefullydownthepage.
Leaveyourselfalotofroomtodothework;theremaybealotofsteps.

Someadditionalexamplestohelpseehowthevariousrulesfittogether:

1
8 log log 2 log log
4

6 ln 3 6 ln 3 ln 11 ln 3

2 3 log log 1 log 16 log 0 log 16

log 3
log log log log
log 100 2

1
log 6 2 4 6
16

Version 2.8 Page 108 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphinganExponentialFunction

[Link]
stepoftheprocessisdescribedandillustratedintheexamplesoverthenextfewpages.

Graphthefunction:

Step1:Thehorizontalasymptoteoccursatthe

[Link]

exponentialtermapproacheszeroasthe
exponentbecomesmoreandmorenegative.
istheasymptote.

Step2:Selectpointsforthegraph:
Inselectingpointsforan

Inthisexample,select sothat:
exponentialcurve,good
1 1 so, 0 0 3 2 1.67
choicesoftenrelatetothe
valueoftheexponent.
1 0 so,
1 1 3 2 1
Choosevaluesthatmake
theexponent1,0and1;or
1 1 so, 2 2 3 2 1
1,0and2.

Step3:Graphtheexponentialfunction:

3A:Graphthe
asymptote 2 3B:Graphthepoints 3C:Sketchinthecurve

Version 2.8 Page 109 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Note: exponential and logarithmic
Four Exponential Function Graphs functions that are inverses of
each other (on this page and the
Impact of varying base (above 1 and below 1) one following) are the same color.

Version 2.8 Page 110 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphingaLogarithmicFunction

Method 1: Direct Method

GraphthesampleFunction: 1 3

Step1:Findtheverticalasymptoteatthevalueof

xthatmakestheargumentofthelogzero.

1 0 so, istheasymptote.

Step2:Selectpointsforthegraph:
Inselectingpointsforalogarithmiccurve,goodchoicesoftenrelatetothevalueoftheargument.
Choosevaluesthatmaketheargument1andthebaseofthelogarithm(1and4inthisexample).

Inthisexample,select
sothat:

1 1 so,
2 2 2 1 3 1 3

1 4 so,
5 5 5 1 3 4 3
Seewhathappenswhenwedothis
Byselectingxssothatthevaluesinparenthesesare
1and
inthetabletotheright: thebaseofthelog,thecalculationofysbecomeseasy.

Notethattwopointsmaybesufficient tographthecurveif wehavealsodrawntheasymptote.

Step3:Graphthelogarithmicfunction:

3A:Graphthe
asymptote 1 3B:Graphthepoints 3C:Sketchinthecurve

Version 2.8 Page 111 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphingaLogarithmicFunction(contd)

Natural Logarithm Notation:

"ln" standsforlogarithmusnaturalis(Latinfornaturallogarithm)andisthelogarithmwithbase" ".
Thelnnotationwasinventedinthelate1800s,whenalotofworkwasdonebyhand(therewereno
electroniccalculatorsorcomputers).Thosewhoworkedwithlogarithmsoftenusednaturallogarithms
extensively,sothisshorthandnotationbecamequitepopular,andhassurvivedtothisday.
So,whenyousee:ln thinklog .

Method 1: Direct Method when the base of the logarithm is

Step1:Findtheverticalasymptoteatthevalueof

xthatmakestheargumentofthelogzero.

1 0 so, istheasymptote.

Step2:Selectpointsforthegraph:
Inselectingpointsforalogarithmiccurve,goodchoicesoftenrelatetothevalueoftheargument.
Choosevaluesthatmaketheargument1andthebaseofthelogarithm(1andeinthisexample).

Inthisexample,select
sothat:

1 1 so,
2 2 ln 2 1 3 ln 1 3

1 e so,
1 3.7 ln 1 1 3 ln 3
Youneedtoknowthat
~ 2.7. Byselectingxssothatthevaluesinparenthesesare
1and
So, 1 ~ 3.7. thebaseofthelog,thecalculationofysbecomeseasy.

Notethattwopointsmaybesufficient tographthecurveif wehavealsodrawntheasymptote.

Step3:Graphthelogarithmicfunction:

3A:Graphthe
asymptote 1 3B:Graphthepoints 3C:Sketchinthecurve

Version 2.8 Page 112 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
GraphingaLogarithmicFunction(contd)

Method 2: DoubleInverse Method

Step1:Findtheinversefunction: Step2:Findthevertical
Switchvariables: 1 3 asymptoteatthevalueofx
Subtracttheconstant: 3 3 thatmakestheargumentof
thelogzero.
Result: 3 1
1 0
Takepowersofthelogbase: 4 4 so, istheasymptote.
Simplify: 4 1
Subtracttheconstant: 1 1

ResultingINVERSEFunction: 4 1 or

Step3:Selectpointsforthegraph:
Inselectingpointsforan

Inthisexample,select sothat:
exponentialcurve,good
3 1 so, 2 2 4 1 1.25
choicesoftenrelatetothe
valueoftheexponent.
3 0 so,
3 3 4 1 2
Choosevaluesthatmake
theexponent1,0and1;or
3 1 so, 4 4 4 1 5
1,0and2.

Step4:Switchthexandyvaluestogetpointsforthelogarithmicfunction:
.

Step5:Graphthelogarithmicfunction:

5A:Graphthe
asymptote 1 5B:Graphthepoints 5C:Sketchinthecurve

Version 2.8 Page 113 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Note: exponential and logarithmic functions that
Four Logarithmic Graphs are inverses of each other (on the earlier page and
Impact of varying base (above 1 and below 1) on this one) are the same color.

Version 2.8 Page 114 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
p
GraphsofVariousFunctions

y=2x y=()x
10.0 10.0

5.0 5.0

0.0 0.0
10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0

5.0 5.0

10.0 10.0

y=log2 x y=log x
10.0 10.0

5.0 5.0

0.0
00 0.0
10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0

5.0 5.0

10.0 10.0

y=x y=x2 y=x3

10.0 10.0 10.0

5.0 5.0 5.0

0.0 0.0 0.0

10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0

5.0 5.0 5.0

10.0 10.0 10.0

Version 2.8 Page 115 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ApplicationsofExponentialFunctions

ExponentialGrowthandDecay

Note:ifyoulettheendvaluebe
1 representedby andthe
startvalueby ,yougetsimilar
formulastotheinterest
1 formulasbelow.

InterestFormulas

Let: =Amountofmoneyattime
=Principal(startingamountofmoney);notethat 0
=theannualrateofinterest(e.g.,4%or.04)
=thenumberoftimesperyearthatinterestiscredited

Compoundinterestpaysinterestanumberoftimesduringtheyear;thatis,in
periodsafterthefirst,interestispaidontheoriginalamountinvestedplus
interestearnedinpriorperiods.

Compoundinterestpaidntimesayear:


[Link],wegetthesimplest
formula:

Annualinterestpaidonceayear:


[Link],the
[Link]
[Link]
constant" ",wegetthefollowingformula(knownasthePertformula).

Interestcompoundedcontinuously:

Version 2.8 Page 116 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
SolvingExponentialandLogarithmicEquations

Logarithmsandexponentsareinverseoperationsinthesamewayadditionandsubtractionare,
[Link],toundoanexponent,youtakea
logarithm,andtoundoalogarithm,youtakeanexponent.

SolvinganExponentialEquation
[Link],follow
thesesteps:
Isolatethetermwiththeexponentononeside Example:
[Link],undoanyadditions,
Start: 2 43 110
subtractions,multiplications,anddivisionsin
theequation. Subtract2:4 3 108

Takealogarithmofbothsidesoftheequation. Divideby4: 3 27
Usethebasethatexistsintheexponential Takelogs: log 3 log 27
term.
Simplify: 2 3
Solvetheequationthatremains.
Add2:
Note:intheexampleatright,thebaseof3isselected
forthelogarithmsbecauseitisthebaseoftheexponentintheproblem.

SolvingaLogarithmicEquation
Tosolveanequationwithalogarithminit,followthesesteps:
Isolatethelogarithmononesideofthe
[Link],undoanyadditions, Example:
subtractions,multiplications,anddivisionsin
Start: 1 log 1 1
theequation.
Takethebaseofthelogarithmtothepowerof Add1: log 1 2
[Link] Multiplyby : log 1 3
thatexistsinthelogarithmicterm.
Exponentiate: 2 2
Solvetheequationthatremains.
Simplify: 1 8
Note:intheexampleatright,thebaseof2isselected
Subtract1:
foruseinexponentiationbecauseitisthebaseofthe
logarithmintheproblem.

Version 2.8 Page 117 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
PolynomialFunctionGraphs

Definitions
LocalMaximumThelargestvaluethatafunctiontakesinaneighborhoodaroundthe
[Link].
LocalMinimumThesmallestvaluethatafunctiontakesinaneighborhoodaroundthe
[Link].
AfunctionisIncreasingoveranintervalifit
generateslargervaluesasxincreasesoverthe
sameinterval.
AfunctionisDecreasingoveranintervalifit
generatessmallervaluesasxincreasesoverthe
sameinterval.

Thegraphattherighthastwolocalmaximaandtwolocal
[Link]
andtwointervalswhereitisdecreasing.

CharacteristicsoftheGraphofaPolynomial
If isapolynomialofdegree ,then
iscontinuousoverallvaluesofx.
Roots(i.e.,zeroes)of [Link]
most ofthem.
Theyinterceptofthegraphoccursat 0 ,whichistheconstanttermofthe
polynomial.
willhaveatmost 1localextrema(eithermaximaorminima).Forexample,a
th
5 degreepolynomialwillhaveatmost4extrema;theexampleabovehas4extrema.
Ateachextreme,[Link],ifthe
slopeofthetangentlinetothecurveatapointiszero,thepointisnotnecessarilyan
extreme.
Atalocalmaximum,thepolynomialmustbeincreasingontheleftanddecreasingon
theright.
Atalocalminimum,thepolynomialmustbedecreasingontheleftandincreasingon
theright.

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 ADVANCED

Algebra
FindingExtremawithDerivatives

Derivatives
Thederivativeofamonomialis:

Thenotation [Link]
otherthingsaboutderivativesinordertofindextremawiththem.
[Link]:

Derivativesprovideinformationabouttheslopesoflinestangenttothecurveateach
[Link],wecan
calculatethederivativeofapolynomialandsetitequaltozerotofindthexvaluesofits
extrema.

FindingExtremawithDerivatives
If isapolynomial,anyextremalieatpointswhere .

Example1:Takethegeneralquadraticequation:
Weknowthatthegraphofthisequationhasasinglemaximumorminimumwhichisthevertex
[Link],weget:

Solvingforx,weget: ,whichwealreadyknowisthexvalueofthevertex.

Example2:
Findlocalmaximaandminimaforthecubicequation:

Solvingthisforx,wefindlocalmaximaorminimamayexistat , .

Onecaution:Whenaderivativeisequaltozero,itonlyprovidesthepossibilityofanextreme;
[Link]
[Link],lookat where 0.

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 Algebra
FactoringHigherDegreePolynomials

SumandDifferenceofCubes
Thesumofcubesisoftheform:

Thedifferenceofcubesisoftheform:

Noticethefollowingaboutthesetwoformulas:
Eachformulafactorsintoabinomialandatrinomial.
Eachterminthebinomialisofdegree1.
Eachterminthetrinomialisofdegree2.
Eachformulahasoneminussigninitsfactorization.
Ineachformula,thesecondtermofthebinomialfactortakesthesignofthesecond
termoftheoriginalexpression.

Identification
Toseeifanexpressionisasumordifferenceofcubes,youmustansweryes
tothreequestions: Tableof
1. Arethereonlytwoterms? Cubes
2. Isthefirsttermacube?Ifso,takeitscuberoottogetthevalueofa.
1 1
3. Isthesecondtermacube?Ifso,takeitscuberoottogetthevalueofb.
2 8
Thesolutionisbasedontheappropriateformulaabove,substitutingthecube
[Link]! 3 27
4 64
Note:Atelltalesignofwhenanexpressionmightbethesumordifferenceof2
cubesiswhenthecoefficientsonthevariablesarecubesandtheexponentson 5 125
thevariablesaremultiplesof3.
6 216
Examples: 7 343
(1) 8 512

(2) 9 729
(3) 10 1,000
11 1,331
(4) 12 1,728

Version 2.8 Page 120 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
FactoringHigherDegreePolynomials

VariableSubstitution
Onoccasionyouwillencounterapolynomialthatlooksfamiliarexceptthattheexponentson
[Link],atechniquecalledVariableSubstitutionmay
beuseful.
Thestepsforvariablesubstitutionare:
Identifywhichkindofequationtheproblemresembles.
[Link]
termsthatneedtobesubstituted.
Createnewvariablesforpurposesofsubstitution.
Rewritetheproblemintermsofthenewvariables.
Solvetheproblemintermsofthenewvariables.
Substitutetheoriginalvariablesintothesolution.
Performanyadditionalworkthatisneededbasedontheoriginalvariables.
Checkyourwork.

Example1:
Factor:
Thislookslikeatypicaltrinomialfactoringproblemexceptforthelargeexponents.
Createtwonewvariables: and
Rewritetheexpression:
Factortheexpression:
Substituteoriginalvariables:
Performadditionalwork:
Checkyourworkbymultiplyingthefactoredformtoseeifyougettheoriginalpolynomial.

Example2:
Factor:
Thislookslikeasumofcubes.
Createtwonewvariables: and
Usethesumofcubesformula:
Substituteoriginalvariables:
Checkyourworkbymultiplyingthefactoredformtoseeifyougettheoriginalpolynomial.

Version 2.8 Page 121 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
FactoringHigherDegreePolynomials

SyntheticDivision
[Link].
Wewilluseanexampletoillustratetheprocess.
Example1: 2 5 2 2
Step1:Inthelinearterm [Link],thedivisor
willbe .[Link],
insyntheticdivision,therootisusedasthedivisor.
Step2:Lineupthecoefficientsofthetermsfromhighest
2 2 5 1 2
[Link]
atermismissing,useazeroforthecoefficientofthatterm.
Wewillcallthisarrayofcoefficientsthedividend. 2
Step3:Bringtheleadingcoefficientdownbelowtheline.
Step4:Multiplythedivisorbythenumberjustplacedbelow 2 2 5 1 2
thelineandputtheresultabovethelineandonecolumnto 4
[Link]
numberbelowthelineforthatcolumn. 2 1

Step5:RepeatStep4untilallofthecolumnshavebeen 2 2 5 1 2
completed.
4 2 2
Thefinalresultisasetofcoefficientsofthepolynomialthat
2 1 1 0
[Link]
resultingpolynomialbeginonelowerthanthedegreeofthe 1 rem
originalpolynomial.
Intheexample,theresultis ,witharemainderof0.Theremainderof0isagood
indicationthatthedivisionwasperformedproperly.

Example2: 3 4 1
Fromthesyntheticdivisiontotheright,weget: 1 1 0 3 0 4 0
1 1 4 4 0
1 1 4 4 0 0
Thereisnoconstanttermandnoremainderinthe
solutiontothisexample. 1 rem

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 Algebra
ComparingSyntheticDivisiontoLongDivision

AdvantagesofSyntheticDivision
Syntheticdivisionhasthefollowingadvantagesoverlongdivision:
Thedivisorisapossiblerootofthepolynomial;itisarootiftheremainderiszero.
Itisshorter.
Itismuchquicker.
[Link]
ofthis,itismuchlesspronetoerror.

ComparisonofMethods
Itisinstructivetocomparesyntheticdivisionandlongdivisiontogetabetterideaofwhy
[Link]: 2 5 2 2

[Link]
correspondencesbetweentheexamples:
[Link] SyntheticDivision
[Link].
Thesignsontherootareoppositeinthetwomethods. 2 2 5 1 2
[Link] 4 2 2
(exceptthatsyntheticdivisionleavesoutthevariables).
2 1 1 0
[Link]
correspondstothesecondarycoefficientsof
eachdivisioninlongdivision(butwithopposite
LongDivision
signs).
[Link]
2 1 1
(ofcoefficients)iscalculateddirectlybyaddingthe
[Link],itis 22 5 1 2
necessarytosubtractexpressionstodetermine 2 4
anotherexpressionthatmustbedividedbythe 1 2
divisortogetthenexttermoftheanswer. 2

[Link],itis 1 2
necessarytoaddthevariablesaftertheansweris 1 2
[Link],theansweris 0
provideddirectly.

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 Algebra
ZeroesofPolynomials

DevelopingPossibleRoots
Ifapolynomialhastheform:

Then,
willhaveexactly [Link],a5thdegreepolynomialwillhave
[Link]:someoftheserootsmaybethesame,andsomeof
themmaybereal.
willhaveexactly realroots,where [Link],a
th
5 degreepolynomialwillhaveeither5realroots,3realroots,or1realroot.
DescartesRuleofSigns.(Notehowthistiesintothebulletabove.)
o Thenumberofpositiverealrootsofapolynomial isequaltothenumberof
signchangesin ,orislessthanthisbyamultipleof2.
o Thenumberofnegativerealrootsofapolynomial isequaltothenumber
ofsignchangesin ,[Link]:to
generate quickly,justchangethesignsofthetermswithoddexponents.
[Link],a5thdegreepolynomial
willhaveeither0nonrealroots,2nonrealroots,[Link],the
nonrealrootsexistinconjugatepairs;soif isarootof ,thensois
.

[Link] .This
factisespeciallyusefuliftheleadcoefficientofthepolynomialis1;inthiscase,anyreal
[Link],incombinationwiththeeaseof
syntheticdivision,makesfindingintegerrootsaquickprocess.

Example:
Whatcanwesayabouttherootsof ?(note:4signchanges)
First,notethat (note:zerosignchanges)
So, has4complexroots.0,2,or4ofthemarereal;allrealrootsarepositive.
Therealrootsmustbe1,2,or4(thepositivefactorsoftheconstantterm4).
Tofindoutmore,wehavetotestthepossiblerealrootvalues.

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 Algebra
ZeroesofPolynomials

TestingPossibleRoots
Thefollowingtwotheoremsareveryusefulintestingpossibleroots(zeroes)ofPolynomials.

FactorTheorem: isafactorofapolynomial ifandonlyif 0.

RemainderTheorem:If isdividedby ,thentheremainderis .

MethodsofTestingPossibleRoots
Ifapolynomialcanbefactored,thenfirst,factorthepolynomial;theproblemwillbeeasierto
[Link],ifyouareabletoproducelinearorquadraticfactors,the
rootsofthosefactorswillberootsofthepolynomial.
Afterfactoring,thefollowingmethodscanbeusedtotestpossiblerootsofapolynomial.
[Link],several
potentialrootscanbetestedinashortperiodoftime.
Substitutepossiblerootsintothepolynomialtoseeiftheremainderiszero.
If ,then isarootof .
[Link]
thismethodmayhelpfindtheapproximatelocationofroots,itisnotareliablemethod
fordeterminingexactvaluesofroots.

Example:Factorandfindtherootsof
Usingsyntheticdivision:
Tryingfirstthepossibleroot 1,thenthepossibleroot
1 1 2 1 4 4
2,[Link],
1 1 0 4

1 1 0 4 0

Usingthequadraticformulaonthequadraticfactorinthis
2 1 1 0 4
[Link]:
2 2 4

1 1 2 0 , , ,

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 Algebra
IntersectionsofCurves

GeneralCase(BezoutsTheorem)
BezoutsTheoremstatesthatthemaximumnumberofintersectionsoftwodistinctcurvesin
thecomplexfieldistheproductofthedegreesofthecurves.(Note:forthesepurposes,aline
isconsideredacurveofdegree1.)Forgraphsintwodimensions,ifthedegreesoftwodistinct
curvesarerands,then:
Thereareatmost intersectionsofthetwocurves.
Therearealsocaseswherefewerthan intersectionsexist.
Tosolveforthepointsofintersection,eithersetthetwoequationsequaltoeachother
orusevariablesubstitution;thensolve.

Toapplythistheorem,[Link]
areprovidedbelowandonthepagesthatfollow.

TwoLines
Twodistinctlinesmayhaveeitherzerooronepointofintersection,asshowninthefollowing
illustrations:

ParallelLines: IntersectingLines:
0pointsofintersection 1pointofintersection

Lineshavetheform: ,sotheequationsofanytwolinescanbewrittenas:
0and 0

Noticethatbothlinesareofdegree1;i.e., 1and [Link]:

Themaximumnumberofintersectionsis: .
Theremaybelessthanoneintersection.

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 Algebra
IntersectionsofCurves

ALineandaParabola
Thegeneralformsforalineandaparabolaare: Note:weusethelettertinsteadof
Line: bintheequationofalineinorderto
avoidconfusionwiththecoefficient
Parabola:
bintheequationofaparabola.
ForpurposesofBezoutsTheorem,theseconvertto:
Line:
Parabola:

UsingBezoutsTheorem,themaximumnumberofintersectionsis: .Casesfor0,1,
and2intersectionsareprovidedbelow:

0pointsofintersection 1pointofintersection 2pointsofintersection

FindingthePoint(s)ofIntersection
Inordertofindanypointsofintersection,setthetwooriginalequationsequaltoeachother
andsolve:

Thisequationcanbesolvedforxbyanyofthemethodsusedtofindtherootsofaquadratic
[Link]
theoriginalequations.

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 Algebra
IntersectionsofCurves

ACircleandanEllipse
Thegeneralformsforacircleandanellipseare:
Circle:

Ellipse:

ForpurposesofBezoutsTheorem,theseconvertto:
Circle:

Ellipse:

UsingBezoutsTheorem,themaximumnumberofintersectionsis: .Casesfor0,1,2,
3and4intersectionsareprovidedbelow:

0pointsofintersection 1pointofintersection 2pointsofintersection

3pointsofintersection 4pointsofintersection

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 Algebra
DomainsofRationalFunctions

[Link]
therationalexpressionisafunction,itisaRationalFunction.

FindingtheDomainofaRationalFunction
Thedomain(e.g.,xvalues)ofarationalfunctionisthesetofallvaluesthatresultinvalidrange
values(e.g.,yvalues).Generally,therearetwosituationswhereavalueisnotincludedinthe
domainofarationalfunction:
Anyxthatgeneratesazerointhedenominator.
Anyxthatgeneratesasquarerootofanegativenumber.

Example1:

Considertherationalfunction: .

Sincetherearenosquareroots,theonlyvalueforwhich
wecannotcalculate iswhere or,where
.Sothedomainisallrealxexcept ,or:
|
Noticetheholeinthegraphofthefunctionatthepoint
2, 4 .Thisindicatesthatthefunctiondoesnothave
avaluefor .

Example2:

Considerthefunction:
Thisfunctionhasnovalidxvaluesfor 3because
theywouldgeneratethesquarerootofanegative
[Link],thedenominator
wouldbezeroif .Sothedomainisallrealx
greaterthan3except ,or:
| 3

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 Algebra
HolesandAsymptotes

Holes
Aholeinagraphexistswheneverafactor occurs
moretimesinthenumeratorthaninthedenominatorofa
rationalfunction.

Example:Inthefunction thefactor is
[Link],the
functioncanbereducedto exceptatthepoint
wherethefunctionisundefined.

VerticalAsymptotes
Averticalasymptoteexistswheneverafactor occursmoretimesinthedenominator
thaninthenumeratorofarationalfunction.

Example:In the
factors and occurinthedenominatorbutnot
inthenumeratorofthefunction,sotheygeneratevertical
[Link]
dottedlinesat and inthegraphatright.

HorizontalAsymptotes
Therearethreeseparatecasesforhorizontalasymptotesofarationalfunction :

1. IfthedegreeofP(x) >thedegreeofQ(x),thereisnohorizontalasymptote.
2. IfthedegreeofP(x) = the degree ofQ(x),ahorizontalasymptoteexistsattheline:

.

3. IfthedegreeofP(x) <thedegreeofQ(x),ahorizontalasymptoteexistsattheline .

Example:Inthefunction thedegreesofthepolynomialsinthenumerator
anddenominatorarethesame,andtheratiooftheirleadcoefficientsis .Thelocation
ofthehorizontalasymptoteisshownasthereddottedline inthegraphabove.

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 Algebra
GraphingRationalFunctions

Rationalfunctionsareoftwotypes:

Simplerationalfunctionsareoftheform oranequivalentformthatdoes
notcontainapolynomialofdegreehigherthan1(i.e.,no , , [Link] sand
constants).

Generalrationalfunctionsareoftheform whereeither or isa

polynomialofdegree2orhigher(i.e.,containsan , , .).

Ingeneral,itisagoodideatofindtheasymptotesforafunctionfirst,andthenfindpointsthat
[Link]
[Link].

SimpleRationalFunctions

Ifyoucanputarationalfunctionintheform ,hereswhatyouget:

VerticalAsymptote:Occursat .Theverticalasymptoteiseasytofindbecauseitoccurs
at .Atthisvalueof ,thedenominatoris 0,andyoucannotdividebyzero.
Hence,as approaches ,thedenominatorof becomesverysmall,andthegraphshoots
offeitherupordown.

HorizontalAsymptote:Occursat .Thefunctioncannothaveavalueof because

thatwouldrequiretheleadterm, tobezero,whichcanneverhappensince 0.
Hence,thefunctionwillapproach ,butwillneverreachit.

Domain:AllReal .Novalueof existsatanyverticalasymptote.

Range:AllReal .Novalueof existsatahorizontalasymptoteinsimplerational

functions.

Holes:None.

EndBehavior:Bothendsofthefunctiontendtowardthehorizontalasymptote,so:
, and ,

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 Algebra
SimpleRationalFunctionsExample

Recallthatthesimplerational
Example: 2
formis:
First,notethat and

VerticalAsymptote:Occursat 1becauseif 1,thedenominator, 1,wouldbe

zero.

HorizontalAsymptote:Occursat 2becausetheleadterm, ,canneverbe

[Link],thefunctioncanapproach 2,butwillneverreachit.

Domain:AllReal [Link] existsatanyverticalasymptote.

Range:AllReal [Link] existsatahorizontalasymptoteinasimplerational

function.

Holes:None.

EndBehavior:Bothendsofthefunctiontendtowardthehorizontalasymptote,so:

, 2 and , 2

Graphing:
[Link]
(thedashedhorizontalandverticallinesshown).

[Link] valuesandcalculatethe
[Link]
valuestotheleftoftheverticalasymptote( 1)and
[Link],letstrysome.

2 3.67
1 4.5 Notethattheintersectionofthe
asymptoteshascoordinates , .
0 7
2 3 [Link]
theverticalasymptote:throughthe
3 0.5 pointsonthatsideandapproaching
4 0.33 boththehorizontalandvertical
asymptotes.

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 Algebra
GeneralRationalFunctions

Generalrationalfunctionsareoftheform:
Theeasiestwaytographageneralrationalfunctionistofactorboththenumeratorand
denominatorandsimplifyingtheresultingfraction.

Example:in the 2 inthenumeratoranddenominatorcanbe

eliminatedtoobtainthefunctiontobegraphed: .

VerticalAsymptotesandHoles:Anyroot(alsocalledazero)ofthedenominatorofarational
function(priortosimplification)willproduceeitheraverticalasymptoteorahole.
VerticalAsymptote:If isarootofthedenominatorisalsoarootofthesimplified
denominator,then isaverticalasymptoteofthefunction.
Hole:If isarootofthedenominatorandisnotarootofthesimplifieddenominator,then
definesthelocationofaholeinthefunction.

HorizontalAsymptote:Onewaytofindthehorizontalasymptotesofageneralrational
function(also,seethesectiononHolesandAsymptotes,above)istoeliminatealltermsof
thepolynomialsinboththenumeratoranddenominatorexcepttheoneswiththesingle
[Link],
Ifalltermsareeliminatedfromthenumerator,thehorizontalasymptoteoccursat
0.
Example: hasahorizontalasymptoteat 0.

Notethatalltermsinthenumeratorwereeliminatedbecausenoneofthemhadthe
greatestexponentintherationalfunction,whichinthisexampleis2.

Ifatermremainsinboththenumeratoranddenominator,thehorizontalasymptote
occursatthereducedformoftheremainingterms.

Example: hasahorizontalasymptoteat

.

Ifalltermsareeliminatedfromthedenominator,thefunctiondoesnothavea
horizontalasymptote.

Example: doesnothaveahorizontalasymptote.

Notethatalltermsinthedenominatorwereeliminatedbecausenoneofthemhadthe
greatestexponentintherationalfunction,whichinthisexampleis2.

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 Algebra
GeneralRationalFunctions(contd)

Domain:ThedomainisalwaysallReal exceptwherethereisaverticalasymptoteorahole.
Nofunctionvalueisassociatedwith ateitheraverticalasymptoteorahole(orwhenaneven
rootofanegativenumberisrequired).

Range:[Link].
Youmightthinkthatno valuewouldexistatahorizontalasymptote,likeinsimplerational
[Link],itispossibleforafunctiontocrossoveritshorizontalasymptoteandthen
workitswaybacktotheasymptoteas oras .Oddbuttrue(seebelow,right).

Forodditiesintherangeofafunction,checktheseoutthesetworationalfunctions:

EndBehavior:Bothendsofthefunctiontendtowardthehorizontalasymptoteifthereisone.
However,ifthereisnotone,[Link]
thefunctionbelowdoesnothaveahorizontalasymptote:

Inthisfunction,
, ,

,

Althoughthisfunctiondoesnothavea
horizontalasymptote,itdoeshavea
slantasymptote:theline .

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 Algebra
GeneralRationalFunctionsExample

Example:

Factorboththenumeratorandthedenominator:

: . ,
GettheRoots:
: ,

Simplify:Since1isarootofboththenumeratorandthedenominator,thefunctionmaybe
simplifiedasfollows:

VerticalAsymptotesandHoles: 1and1arerootsoftheoriginaldenominator,sothey
mustgenerateeitherverticalasymptotesorholes.

VerticalAsymptote:Aftersimplification,thisfunctionstillcontains 1asarootinthe
[Link], isaverticalasymptoteofthefunction.

Hole:1isarootofthedenominatoroftheoriginalfunctionbutisnotarootofthe
[Link],thisfunctionhasaholeat .

HorizontalAsymptote:Eliminatealltermsofbothpolynomialsexceptanywiththesingle
[Link]:

[Link]

numeratoranddenominator,thehorizontalasymptoteoccursatthereducedformofthe
remainingterms.

Domain:AllReal exceptwherethereisaverticalasymptoteorahole.
So,thedomainisallReal .

[Link]
mustplotpointsonbothsidesoftheverticalasymptote.

(graphonnextpage)

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 Algebra
GeneralRationalFunctionsExample(contd)

Graphing:

[Link].

[Link] valuesoneachsideoftheverticalasymptoteandcalculatethe
correspondingyvalues.

[Link]:
throughthepointsonthatsideandapproachingboththe
x horizontalandverticalasymptotes.

4 1.67 Step4:Drawanopencircleatthepointofanyholes.

3 1.5

2 1

Seethehole
0 3
at , . !
1 2.5(ahole)

2 2.33

Range:Therangecanbedeterminedfromthegraph.
Itappearsthattherangeexcludesonlythehorizontalasymptoteandthehole.
Sotherangeis:allReal , . .

EndBehavior:Inthisfunction,
, , ,

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 Algebra
OperatingwithRationalExpressions

Performingoperationswithrationalexpressionsisverysimilartoperformingoperationswith
[Link],thatsreallywhatrationalexpressionsarefractionsinvolvingpolynomials.

AdditionandSubtraction
Toaddorsubtractrationalexpressions:
Factorboththenumeratoranddenominatorasmuchaspossible.
Createacommondenominator.
Addorsubtractexpressions.
Afterthenumeratorsareadded,youmust
Simplify. checktoseeifthenewnumeratorcanbe
[Link],furthersimplificationmay
Example: [Link]:nofurther
simplificationispossibleinthisexample.

MultiplicationandDivision
Tomultiplyordividerationalexpressions:
Factorboththenumeratoranddenominatorasmuchaspossible.
Multiplyordivideexpressions.(Remember,todivide,flipthatguyandmultiply.)
Cancelallfactorsthatappearinboththenumeratoranddenominator.
Simplify.
Notethatyoucancrossoutcommon
Example: factorsinthenumeratorand
denominatoracrosstheexpressions
thatarebeingmultiplied.

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 Algebra
SolvingRationalEquations

SolvingRationalEquations
Solvingrationalequationsinvolvesonemainrule:Getridofthedenominators!
Afullerlistingofthestepsinvolvedis:
Multiplybywhateverexpressionsarenecessarytoeliminatethedenominators.
Paycarefulattentiontowhichvaluesmaketheexpressionsyouuseequaltozero
(becauseyouarenotallowedtomultiplybothsidesofanequationbyzero).
Solvetheremainingproblem.
[Link]:aslongasyou
donotmultiplybyzero,yoursolutionsarelikelytobevalid.

Example1:Solve Example2:Solve

Firstnotethatxcannotbe3or1since Firstnotethatxcannotbe8or3since
eachofthesecreatesanundefined eachofthesecreatesanundefined
fractionintheoriginalproblem. fractionintheoriginalproblem.
Theeasiestwaytostartthisproblemisto Theeasiestwaytostartthisproblemisto
crossmultiplytoget: crossmultiplytoget:

1 3 3 8
2 1 2 8 0
6 9 Then,
Then,
So, 8 8 So, 4 2 0
Andfinally, Andfinally,

Checkwork: Check4: ?
?
?
?





Check2: ?

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 Algebra
SolvingRationalInequalities

SolvingRationalInequalities
[Link]
issueintheInequalitiesiswhetherinthestepwhereyoueliminatethedenominator,youare
[Link],whenyoumultiplybyanegativenumber,you
mustflipaninequalitysign.
Thestepsinvolvedaresimilartothoseforsolvingrationalequations:
Multiplybywhateverexpressionsarenecessarytoeliminatethedenominators.
Identifywhenthedenominatorsarepositiveandwhentheyarenegative;setupcases
[Link],youwillneedtomeetmultipleconditions(i.e.,
usingthewordandbetweenconditionswithinacase).
Paycarefulattentiontowhichvaluesmaketheexpressionyoumultiplyequaltozero
(becauseyouarenotallowedtomultiplybothsidesofaninequalitybyzero).
[Link],soyoumust
combinethesolutionsforthevariouscaseswithors.
Checksampleanswersineachrangeyoudeveloptoseeiftheyaresolutionstothe
[Link],graphthesolutiontoseeiftheresultsarecorrect.

Example:Solve 2
Wewanttoeliminatethedenominator butweneedtocreate2cases:

Thecombinedresultofthetwocasesis:
Case1: 0 1
1 3
Then: 3 5 2 2
So, 3 Tochecktheresult,wegraphthefunctionandsee
Thesolutionhererequires: whereitproducesayvalueabove2;thisistheset
1 3 ofxvalueswherethedarkgreencurveintersects
Whichsimplifiesto: 3 thelightgreenregioninthegraphbelow.

Case2: 0 1
Then: 3 5 2 2
So, 3
Thesolutionhererequires:
1 3
Whichsimplifiesto: 1

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 Algebra
IntroductiontoConicSections

Theintersectionofaconeandaplaneiscalledaconicsection.
Therearefourtypesofcurvesthatresultfromtheseintersections
thatareofparticularinterest:
Parabola
Circle
Ellipse
Hyperbola
Eachofthesehasageometricdefinition,fromwhichthealgebraic
formisderived.

GeometricDefinitions
ParabolaThe
setofallpoints
thatarethe

samedistance
fromapoint
(calledthe
focus)anda
line(calledthe
Directrix).

EllipseThesetofallpointsfor

CircleThesetofallpointsthatarethe whichthesumofthedistancesto
samedistancefromapoint(calledthe
twopoints(calledfoci)isconstant.
center).Thedistanceiscalledtheradius.

Hyperbola
Thesetofall
pointsfor
whichthe
differenceof

thedistances
totwopoints
(calledfoci)is
constant.

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 Algebra
ParabolawithVertexattheOrigin(StandardPosition)

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

CharacteristicsofaParabolainStandardPosition

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

1 1
Equation
4 4

If 0 opensup opensright

If 0 opensdown opensleft

Eccentricity(e) 1 1

Valueofp(inillustration) 1 1

Vertex 0, 0 theorigin 0, 0 theorigin

Focus 0, ,0

Directrix

Axisofsymmetry 0(yaxis) 0(xaxis)

Version 2.8 Page 141 of 178 April 19, 2016
 Algebra
ParabolawithVertexat ,

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

CharacteristicsofaParabolawithVertexatPoint ,

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

1 1
Equation
4 4

If 0 opensup opensright

If 0 opensdown opensleft

Eccentricity(e) 1 1

Vertex , ,

Focus , ,

Directrix

Axisofsymmetry

Version 2.8 Page 142 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
ParabolainPolarForm

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

CharacteristicsofaParabolasinPolarForm

HorizontalDirectrix VerticalDirectrix

Equation(simplified)
1 sin 1 cos
opensup opensright
If" "indenominator
DirectrixbelowPole DirectrixleftofPole

opensdown opensleft
If" "indenominator
DirectrixabovePole DirectrixrightofPole

Eccentricity(e) 1 1

distancebetweentheDirectrixandtheFocus
FocalParameter(p)
Note:pinPolarFormisdifferentfrompinCartesianForm

CoordinatesofKeyPoints:(changeallinstancesofpbelowtopif+isinthedenominator)
Vertex 0, /2 /2, 0

Focus 0,0 0,0)

Directrix

Version 2.8 Page 143 of 178 April 19, 2016

 Algebra
Circles

CharacteristicsofaCircle

inStandardPosition

Equation

Center 0,0 theorigin

Radius

Intheexample 4

CharacteristicsofaCircle
CenteredatPoint(h,k)
Equation

Center ,

Radius

CharacteristicsofaCircle
inPolarForm
Equation

Pole 0, 0

Radius

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 Algebra
EllipseCenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)
VerticalMajorAxis
HorizontalMajorAxis

CharacteristicsofanEllipseinStandardPosition

HorizontalMajorAxis VerticalMajorAxis

Intheaboveexample 5, 4, 3 5, 4, 3

Equation 1 1

Valuesof" "and" "

Valueof" "

Eccentricity(e) / 0 1

Center 0,0 theorigin

MajorAxisVertices ,0 0,

MinorAxisVertices 0, ,0

Foci ,0 0,

Directrixes(notshown) / /

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 Algebra
EllipseCenteredat ,
VerticalMajorAxis
HorizontalMajorAxis

CharacteristicsofanEllipseCenteredatPoint ,

HorizontalMajorAxis VerticalMajorAxis

Equation 1 1

Valuesof" "and" "

Valueof" "

Eccentricity(e) / 0 1

Center ,

MajorAxisVertices , ,

MinorAxisVertices , ,

Foci , ,

Directrixes(notshown) / /

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 Algebra
EllipseinPolarForm(Pole=OneFocus)
VerticalMajorAxis
HorizontalMajorAxis

CharacteristicsofanEllipseinPolarForm

HorizontalMajorAxis VerticalMajorAxis

Equation
1 cos 1 sin
Valueofa distancefromtheCentertoeachmajoraxisVertex
Valueofc distancefromtheCentertoeachFocus

Eccentricity(e) / 0 1
FocalParameter(p) distance from each Focus to its Directrix /

CoordinatesofKeyPoints:
If" "indenominator allcoordinatevaluesareshownbelow
If" "indenominator changeallinstancesof" ", below,to" "
Center ,0 0,
MajorAxisVertices ,0 0,

Foci ,0 0,

Directrixes / /

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 Algebra
HyperbolaCenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

CharacteristicsofaHyperbolainStandardPosition

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

Intheaboveexample 3, 4, 5 4, 3, 5

Equation 1 1

Valueofc

Eccentricity(e) / 1

Center 0,0 theorigin

Vertices ,0 0,

Foci ,0 0,

Asymptotes

Directrixes(notshown) / /

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 Algebra
HyperbolaCenteredat ,

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

CharacteristicsofaHyperbolaCenteredatPoint ,

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

Equation 1 1

Valueofc

Eccentricity(e) / 1

Center ,

Vertices , ,

Foci , ,

Asymptotes

Directrixes(notshown) / /

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 Algebra
HyperbolainPolarForm(Pole=OneFocus)

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

CharacteristicsofaHyperbolainPolarForm

HorizontalTransverseAxis VerticalTransverseAxis

Equation
1 cos 1 sin
Valueofa distancefromtheCentertoeachVertex
Valueofc distancefromtheCentertoeachFocus

Eccentricity(e) / 1
FocalParameter(p) distance from each Focus to its Directrix /

CoordinatesofKeyPoints:
If" "indenominator allcoordinatevaluesareshownbelow
If" "indenominator changeallinstancesof" ", below,to" "
Center ,0 0,
Vertices ,0 0,
Foci ,0 0,

Directrixes / /

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 Algebra
HyperbolainPolarForm(Pole=OneFocus)
PartialConstructionOvertheDomain: to

[Link]
acurveconstructedbyvarying from0to2 ,quadrantbyquadrant:

: : , , ,

Intheplotsbelow,[Link]
portionofthecurveaddedineachillustrationispresentedasathickerlinethantherestofthe
[Link].

Thefinalcurvelookslikethis. Thecosinefunctionhasamajor Q I:Domain0 /[Link]
Thecurveisplottedoverthe impactonhowthecurvegraphs. thatthecurvestartsoutonthe
domain0 2 butcould Notethetwoyellowpoints leftandswitchestotherightat
wherecos [Link] /3,wherethecurveis
alsobeplottedoverthedomain
points,thecurveisundefined. undefined.
.

Q II:Domain /2 .The Q III:Domain 3 /2. Q IV:Domain3 /2 2 .
curvecontinuesontherightside Thecurvecontinuesitsgentle Thecurvecontinuesontheright
ofthegraphandgentlycurves swingbelowthexaxis. Q IIIis andswitchestotheleftat
downtothexaxis. essentiallyareflectionofthe 5 /3,wherethecurveis
curveinQ IIoverthexaxis. undefined.

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 Algebra
GeneralConicEquationClassification

TheGeneralCaseoftheConicEquationis:

ThesecondtermmaybeomittedifthecurveisnotrotatedrelativetotheaxesintheCartesian
Plane,givingthesimplerform:

ConicClassificationTree
Inthisform,itisrelativelyeasytoidentifywhichtypeofcurvetheequationrepresents,using
thefollowingdecisiontree:
Examples:

Are and Theequationisnot 3 2 4 0

yes
bothmissing? [Link]. 2 7 1 0
0

no

Iseither or
yes Theequationisa 3 2 7 3 0
missing?
parabola. 4 2 1 0
0

no

Arethesignson
yes Theequationisa 4 9 8 27 2 0
and
hyperbola. 3 6 12 15 0
different?
0

no

Are and the

yes Theequationisa 4 10 0
samenumber?
circle. 4 4 16 8 5 0

no

Are and Theequationisan 5 3 20 12 3 0

yes
differentnumbers? ellipse. 2 8 12 13 0
( )

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 Algebra
GeneralConicEquationManipulation

Afteraconicequationisclassified,itmustbealgebraicallymanipulatedintotheproperform.
Thestepsinvolvedare:
1. Iftherearenegativecoefficientsinfrontofthesquareterms( and/or ),youmay
choosetoeliminatethembymultiplyingtheentireequationby 1.
2. Groupthextermsontheleft,theytermsontheright,andmovetheconstanttothe
rightsideofthe=[Link].
3. Factoroutthecoefficientsofthe and terms.
4. [Link]
numberstoboththerightandleftsidesoftheequations.
5. Reducethecompletedsquarestosquaredbinomialform.
6. Ifnecessary,dividebothsidesbytherequiredscalarandrearrangetermstoobtainthe
properform.

Example1:
Solve: Equation 3 6 12 15 0
Step1: Changesigns 3 6 12 15 0
Step2: Groupvariables 3 6 ___ 12 ___ 15
Step3: Factorcoefficients 3 2 ___ 12 ___ 15
Step4: CompleteSquares 3 2 1 12 36 15 3 36
Step5: ReduceSquareTerms 3 1 6 48

Step6: Divideby 48 1
Thefinalresultisahyperbola
withcenter(1,6)anda
RearrangeTerms 1
verticaltransverseaxis.

Example2:
Solve: Equation 4 4 16 8 5 0
Step1: Changesigns 4 4 16 8 5 0
Step2: Groupvariables 4 16 ___ 4 8 ___ 5
Step3: FactorCoefficients 4 4 ___ 4 2 ___ 5
Step4: CompleteSquares 4 4 4 4 2 1 5 16 4
Step5: ReduceSquareTerms 4 2 4 1 25
Thefinalresultisacircle with
Step6: Divideby4 2 1
center(2,1)andradius .

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 ADVANCED
Algebra
ParametricEquationsofConicSections

Parabola(note:4 1

ParametricEquations ParametricEquations
CenteredattheOrigin Centeredat(h,k)

Circle

ParametricEquations ParametricEquations
CenteredattheOrigin Centeredat(h,k)

Ellipse

ParametricEquations ParametricEquations
CenteredattheOrigin Centeredat(h,k)

Hyperbola

ParametricEquations ParametricEquations
CenteredattheOrigin Centeredat(h,k)

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 Algebra
IntroductiontoSequencesandSeries

Definitions
ASequenceisanorderedsetofnumbers.
ATermisanelementinthesetoforderednumbers.
[Link].
AnExplicitFormulaisonethatspecificallydefinesthetermsofthesequencebasedonthe
[Link],thenumberofthetermisusuallyexpressedinterms
ofthevariables or .Wetalkofthenthtermorthekthtermofthesequenceorseries.
ARecursiveFormuladefinesatermbasedononeormorepreviousterms.
ASeriesisanorderedsummationofasequence.

Example(SequenceandSeries):
Considerthesequencedefinedbytheexplicitformula: 3 1.
Thenotation [Link],wecanconstructbothasequence
[Link]:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4 7 10 13 16 19 22
Sumof 4 11 21 34 50 69 91

Example(RecursiveFormula):
OneofthesimplestandmostfamousrecursiveformulasistheFibonacciSequence,definedas:

[Link]
Sequencebeginswithapairofones,andusestherecursiveformulatoobtainallotherterms:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 1 2 3 5 8 13
Sumof 1 2 4 7 12 20 33

Thissequencehassomeveryinterestingproperties,whichwillbediscussedonanotherpage.

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 ADVANCED
Algebra
TheFibonacciSequence

TheFibonacciSequencewasfirstpublishedin1202byLeonardoFibonacci(ofPisa).Itstarts
withapairofonesandcontinueswiththerecursiveformula: .Thebeginning
ofthesequencelookslikethis:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987,

PropertiesoftheFibonacciSequence
[Link]
fewofthemoreinterestingproperties:
Illustration1:Addthesequencetocreateaseries.
n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55
1 2 4 7 12 20 33 54 88 143
Noticethat: .
Thatis,thenthsumisonelessthanthetermoftheoriginalsequencetwopositionsfurtherto
theright!

Illustration2:Calculatethesquaresandaddtheresultingsequencetocreateaseries.
n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55
1 1 4 9 25 64 169 441 1156 3025
1 2 6 15 40 104 273 714 1870 4895
Noticethat: .
Thatis,thenthsumofthesquaresistheproductofthetwotermsfromtheoriginalsequence,
oneofwhichisinthesamepositionandoneofwhichisonepositiontotheright!

TheGoldenRatio(f)

RatiosofsuccessivevaluesoftheFibonacciSequenceapproachtheGoldenRatio:f .

1.6 1.625 1.615 1.619 Onewaytoexpressthisresultis:

Theapproximatevalueoff 1.618034 f

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 Algebra
SummationNotationandProperties

SummationNotation
Mathematiciansarefondoffindingshorthandwaysofexpressingthings,sotheyinvented
[Link] 3 1,the
notationfortheserieswouldbe:

3 1

Thissimplymeansthatthenthtermoftheseriesisdefinedbyaddingthefirstntermofthe
sequencefor 3 1.

Example:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4 7 10 13 16 19 22
4 11 21 34 50 69 91

Notethat 4 7 10 21.

Althoughitlookscomplicatedatfirst,afteryouwriteafewserieslonghand,youwillbeginto
appreciatetheshorthandnotation.

SummationProperties
Hereareacoupleofusefulpropertiesofsummations,allofwhicharebasedonthealgebraic
propertiesofaddition,multiplicationandequality. and [Link].

Youcanfactoraconstantoutofa
summationifisafactorofalltheterms.

Thesumoftwoseriescanbebrokenout

intothesummationsforeachseries.

Thisisbasicallythedistributivepropertyof

multiplicationoveraddition.

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 Algebra
SomeInterestingSummationFormulas

[Link]
maybepossiblewithalgebra,butothersrequireeithercalculusorthecalculusoffinite
[Link]:parenthesesareusedintheformulastoaidreadingthem;theparentheses
arenotrequired.

1 1
1 2
2 2

1 2 1 1 2 1
1 2
6 6

1 1
1 2
2 2

1 1
1 1 1
1 1

1
! 2! 3! 4!

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
ln ln
2 2 3

1 ln 1
ln 1
2 3 4
1 1

1 cos 1 cos
2 ! 2! 4! 6!

1 sin sin
2 1 ! 3! 5! 7!

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 Algebra
ArithmeticSequences

[Link],
oftenindicatedbytheletterd,[Link],then
meetthecondition:
,wheredisthecommondifference.

Example:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6
9 12 15 18 21 24

FirstDifferences 3 3 3 3 3

Inthissequence,[Link],the
sequenceisnotarithmetic.

nthTermofanArithmeticSequence
Theformulaforthenthtermofanarithmeticsequenceis:

Theproblemwiththisformulaisthe [Link]
[Link],

Then: ,whichseemsanicerformula

Thevalueofthisalternativeisthatitalsoallowsthestudenttoestablishaformulain
formforthesequence,where istheyintercept,and ,thecommondifference,
istheslope.

Example:Intheaboveexample,thenthtermofthesequencecanbewritten:

Thesetwoequations
areequivalent.
Or,firstcalculate:
Then: or

Eithermethodworks;thestudentshouldusewhicheveronetheyfindmorecomfortable.

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 Algebra
ArithmeticSeries

[Link]
ntermsofanarithmeticsequenceis:

Inwords,thesumistheproductofnandtheaverageterm.
Since ,wecanderivethefollowingformula: Noticethatthe lastterm
isthesumofthefirstn
[Link],

1

2
Or,perhapsbetter:

Thislastequationprovidesamethodforsolvingmanyarithmeticseriesproblems.

Example:Findthe8thsumofthesequence .

3 6 6 3

89
86 3 48 108 156
2

Tocheckthis,letsbuildatable:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
9 21 36 54 75 99 126 156
9

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 Algebra
PythagoreanMeans

[Link]
classicalmethodsofcalculatingameanarecalledPythagoreanMeans.

ArithmeticMean
[Link]
[Link],dividedbyn.

Example:Calculatethearithmeticmeanof5testscores:92,94,85,72,99
92 94 86 74 99
89
5

Trick:Ashortcuttocalculatinganarithmeticmean:
TrickExample:
[Link] Score Valuevs.90
theexampleabove,itlookslike90wouldbeagoodestimate.
92 +2
Subtracttheestimatefromeachvaluetogetasetofn 94 +4
differences. 86 4
Addthendifferencesanddividebyn. 74 16
[Link] 99 +9
[Link] Total 5
example,theresultis:90 1 89. Average 1

GeometricMean
Thegeometricmeanisthenthrootoftheproductofthenvalues.

Example:Calculatethegeometricmeanof2,9,and12:

2 9 12 216 6

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 Algebra
PythagoreanMeans(contd)

HarmonicMean
[Link]
hasapplicationsinscience.

1 1 1

1 1 1 1

Example:Sincetheharmonicmeanlookssoodd,itisusefultolookatareallifeexample.
Consideracarthattravels15milesat30milesperhour,thenanother15milesat15milesper
[Link].
First,calculatetheaveragespeedfrombasicprinciples:
15milesat30milesperhourtakes30minutes.
15milesat15milesperhourtakes60minutes.
Totaltripis30milesin90minutes,foranaveragespeedof20milesperhour.
Now,calculatetheharmonicmeanofthetwospeeds:
2 2 60
20
1 1 3 3
30 15 30

ComparingMeans
ComparethevaluesofthethreePythagoreanMeansof3,6,and12:

:arithmeticmean
Ingeneral,itistruethat:
:geometicmean 3 6 12

:harmonicmean However,ifthevaluesbeing
averagedareallthesame,

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 Algebra
GeometricSequences

[Link],
oftenindicatedbytheletterr,[Link],thenmeet
thecondition:
,whereristhecommonratio.

Example:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 12 24 48 96 192

FirstRatios 2 2 2 2 2

Inthissequence,[Link],thesequenceisnot
geometric.

nthTermofanGeometricSequence
Theformulaforthenthtermofanarithmeticsequenceis:

Theproblemwiththisformulaisthe [Link]
[Link],

Then: ,whichseemsanicerformula

Example:Intheaboveexample,thenthtermofthesequencecanbewritten:

Thesetwoequations
Or,firstcalculate: areequivalent.

Then:

Eithermethodworks;thestudentshouldusewhicheveronetheyfindmorecomfortable.

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 Algebra
GeometricSeries

[Link]
ntermsofangeometricsequenceis:

InfiniteGeometricSeries
[Link];theygoonforever.
[Link]
[Link]
geometricseries.
Startingwiththeaboveformula,foraseriesthatdoesnotend,considerthecasewhere| | 1:

1
lim
1

So,

The termshrinksasngetslarger,andintheinfinitecase,itdisappearsaltogether.

Convergence
[Link]
theseriesdiverges.

Example:Showexamplesofwheretheseries:

For theseriesgives: Thislooksgood!

For theseriesgives: Uhoh!Thislooksverywrong!

Noticethatinthisseries,thecommonratio .Thereasonwhythefirstvalueofxworks
andtheseconddoesnotisbecausethisseriesconvergesonlywhen| | [Link]
commonforinfiniteserieswithincreasingexponents.

[Link]
seriesintheexample,theintervalofconvergenceis| | 1or | 1 .

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 Algebra
AFewSpecialSeries

SeriesInvolving

1 1 1 1 1

6 1 2 3 4 6

1 1 1 1 1

90 1 2 3 4 90

SeriesInvolvinge

1 1 1 1 1
1 1
! 2! 3! 4! 5!

1 2 1 1 3 5 7 9 1
1
2 ! 2! 4! 6! 8! 10!

CubesofNaturalNumbers
ConsidertheSeriesofcubesofthenaturalnumbers:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 8 27 54 125 216 343
1 9 36 100 225 441 784

So,[Link]
[Link]:

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 3 6 10 15 21 28

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 Algebra
PascalsTriangle

PascalsTrianglestartswiththenumberoneatthetopandcreatesentriesinsuccessiverows
[Link],inthe4throw,thenumber6isthesumof
[Link]
veryinterestingproperties.
1 Row0
1 1 Row1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1

PropertiesofPascalsTriangle
[Link]
[Link],therthnumberinrownisgivenby:
!
,
! !
Thesymbol comesfromProbabilityTheory,andrepresentsthenumberofwaysritems
[Link];thebinomial
coefficientsarethecoefficientsofthevariablesintheexpansionof .
HereareafewotherinterestingpropertiesofPascalsTriangle:
Itissymmetricalongaverticallinecontainingthetopentry.
The rowcontains 1 elements.
Thesumoftheentriesinrow is2 .
Itcontainsthenaturalnumbersintheseconddiagonal.
Itcontainsthetrianglenumbersinthethirddiagonal.
,whichishowthetriangleisformedinthefirstplace.

TwoOutcomeExperiments
Inatwooutcomeexperiment,likeflippingacoin,theprobabilityofan
eventoccurringexactlyrtimesinanexperimentofntrialsisgivenbythe
[Link] outcomesforthe
eventoutofatotalof totalpossibleoutcomes.

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 Algebra
BinomialExpansion

4StepstoaConstructingaBinomialExpansion
1. Startwiththebinomialcoefficients
2. Addinthepowersofthefirsttermofthebinomial
3. Addinthepowersofthesecondtermofthebinomial
4. Simplify

Considerthefollowingexample:Expandandsimplify

Step1:Startwiththebinomialcoefficients

4 4 4 4 4

0 1 2 3 4

Step2:Addinthepowersofthefirsttermofthebinomial

4 4 4 4 4
2 2 2 2 2
0 1 2 3 4

Step3:Addinthepowersofthesecondtermofthebinomial

4 4 4 4 4
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
0 1 2 3 4

Step4:Simplify:

1 16 1 4 8 3 6 4 9 4 2 27 1 1 81

Noticethefollowingabouttheexpansion:
1. Thereare terms,where istheexponentofthebinomialbeingexpanded.
2. isthetopnumberineverybinomialcoefficient.
3. Thebottomnumbersinthebinomialcoefficientscountupfrom0to .
4. Whenatermoftheoriginalbinomialisnegative,thesignsinthesolutionalternate.
5. Theexponentofthefirsttermintheoriginalbinomialcountsdownfrom to0.
6. Theexponentofthesecondtermintheoriginalbinomialcountsupfrom0to .
7. Theexponentsofthetwotermsintheoriginalbinomialaddto ineverytermofthe
expansion.

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 ADVANCED
Algebra
GammaFunctionandn!

Definition
TheGammaFunctionisdefinedbythefollowingdefiniteintegralfor 0:

Initially,thisintegralappearsdaunting,butitsimplifiesnicelyundercertainconditions,andhas
someveryinterestingproperties.

PropertiesandValues
ThefollowingpropertiesandvaluesoftheGammaFunctionareofparticularinterest:

!forintegervaluesof
Factorials
forvaluesof where exists
!
!

!
for 0 1 !
!
foranyvalueof !
. . .
[Link]:

: : ,

StirlingsFormula

Forlargevaluesofn,StirlingsFormulaprovidestheapproximation: ! ~
Example: DirectCalculation: 100! ~ 9.3326 x 10

UsingStirlingsFormula: 100! ~ 200 ~ 9.3248 x 10

Thisrepresentsanerroroflessthan0.1%.

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 ADVANCED
Algebra
GraphingtheGammaFunction

GammaFunctionGraph
[Link] 0,thefunctioniscontinuousandpasses
throughallthefactorials.
For0 1,thegraphmoves
asymptoticallyverticalas 0.
For 0,thefunctionhas
verticalasymptotesateach
integervalueandformsaU
betweentheintegers,with
alternatingpositiveandnegative
valuesbyinterval.
approaches 0as
becomesincreasinglynegative.

CalculatingG(x)
EachvalueofG(x)canbecalculatedusingthe
definitionoftheGammaFunctionontheprevious
[Link]
oftheareaunderthecurveofthefunctionbeing
[Link],wehavethefollowing
examplesofG(x) valuesandgraphsthatillustrate
thecurveswhichdeterminethosevalues.

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

15 AbsoluteValue
AbsoluteValueFunctions
47 Equations
48 Inequalities
16 AlgebraicProperties
161 ArithmeticMean
16 AssociativeProperty
Asymptotes
148,149 ConicSections
109 ExponentialFunctions
169 GammaFunction
111113 LogarithmicFunctions
130136 RationalFunctions
167 BinomialExpansion
BoxMethod
62 MultiplyingBinomials
63 MultiplyingPolynomials
10 CartesianPlane
144 Circles
16 ClosureProperty
22 Combinations
16 CommutativeProperty
ComplexNumbers
80 AbsoluteValue
81 AddingandSubtracting
80 Conjugate
80 Definition
83 GraphicalRepresentation
81 MultiplyingandDividing
84 OperationsinPolarCoordinates
107 CondensingaLogarithmicExpression
ConicEquations
141,149 Characteristics
152 Classification
153 Manipulation

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

ConicSections
140 Definitions
154 ParametricEquations
(alsoseeentriesforspecificcurves)
52,53 ConsistentLines
105 ConvertingBetweenExponentialandLogarithmicExpressions
10 CoordinatesinaPlane
Cramer'sRule
96 2Equations
97 3Equations
120 CubicEquationsSumandDifferenceFormulas
116 Decay(Exponential)
52,53 DependentLines
124 DescartesRuleofSigns
Determinants
93 2x2Matrix
95 GeneralCase
16 DistributiveProperty
64 DividingPolynomials
103 e
Ellipse
146 CenteredatPoint(h, k)
145 CenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)
147 PolarForm
72 EquationsSolvingbyFactoring
103 Euler'sEquation
106 ExpandingaLogarithmicExpression
117 ExponentialEquations
ExponentialFunctionGraphs
109 GraphingaFunction
110,115 SampleGraphs
Exponents
105 ConvertinganExponentialExpressiontoLogarithmicForm
117 ExponentialEquations
116 ExponentialFunctionsGrowth,Decay,Interest
56 Formulas
104 TableofExponents

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

168 Factorials
Factoring
69 ACMethod
70 BruteForceMethod
71 QuadraticFormulaMethod
68 SimpleCaseMethod
156 FibonacciSequence
62 FOILMethodofMultiplyingBinomials
Functions
26 AddingandSubtracting
27 Compositions
24 Definitions
116 Exponential(Growth,Decay,Interest)
115 GraphsofVariousFunctions
28 Inverses
24 LineTests
26 MultiplyingandDividing
26 Notation
26 Operations
29 TransformationBuildingaGraph
GammaFunction
169 GammaFunctionCalculating
168 GammaFunctionDefinition
169 GammaFunctionGraphing
94 GaussJordanElimination
161 GeometricMean
156 GoldenRatio(f)
Graph(look up the type of curve you are trying to graph)
25 GreatestIntegerFunction
116 Growth(Exponential)
162 HarmonicMean
Hyperbola
149 CenteredatPoint(h, k)
148 CenteredontheOrigin(StandardPosition)
150 PolarForm
151 PolarFormConstructionOvertheDomain:0to2
80 i

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

16 IdentityProperty
ImaginaryNumbers
80 i
80 Definition
83 Powersofi
82 SquareRootofi
52,53 InconsistentLines
52,53 IndependentLines
Inequalities
44 CompoundinOneDimension
43 GraphsinOneDimension
46 GraphsinTwoDimensions
45 TwoDimensions
14 Integers
IntegerFunctions
25 GreatestIntegerFunction
25 LeastIntegerFunctions
25 NearestIntegerFunctions
IntersectionofCurves
128 CircleandEllipse
126 GeneralCase
127 LineandParabola
126 Lines
16 InverseProperty
25 LeastIntegerFunctions
53 LinearDependence
LinearEquations
38 PointSlopeFormofaLine
38 SlopeInterceptFormofaLine
38 StandardFormofaLine
11 LinearPatterns
112 ln
117 LogarithmicEquations
LogarithmicFunctionGraphs
111 GraphingMethods
114,115 SampleGraphs

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

Logarithms
107,108 CondensingaLogarithmicExpression
105 ConvertingaLogarithmicExpressiontoExponentialForm
106 ExpandingaLogarithmicExpression
102 Formulas
117 LogarithmicEquations
104 TableofLogarithms
64 LongDivisionofPolynomials
Matrices
90 Addition
98 AugmentedMatrices
99 AugmentedMatrixExamples(2x2)
100 AugmentedMatrixExample(3x3)
92 Division
92 IdentityMatrices
93 Inverseofa2x2Matrix
94 InverseofaGeneralMatrix
91 Multiplication
90 ScalarMultiplication
161,162 MeansPythagorean
63 MultiplyingPolynomials
MultiStepEquations
18 ReversePEMDAS
19 TipsandTricks
168 n!
112 NaturalLogarithms
14 NaturalNumbers
25 NearestIntegerFunctions
NumberPatterns
13 CompletingNumberPatterns
11 ConvertingaLinearPatterntoanEquation
12 IdentifyingNumberPatterns
11 RecognizingLinearPatterns
14 NumberSetsBasic
20 Odds
15 OperatingwithRealNumbers

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

OrderofOperations
9 ParentheticalDevice
9 PEMDAS
Parabola
142 VertexatPoint(h, k)
141 VertexattheOrigin(StandardPosition)
143 PolarForm
ParallelandPerpendicularLines
39 ParallelandPerpendicularLinesSlopes
41 Parallel,CoincidentorIntersectingLinesFlowchart
40 Parallel,PerpendicularorNeitherLinesFlowchart
ParametricEquations
154 ConicSections
55 General
9 ParentheticalDevice
166 PascalsTriangle
9 PEMDAS
10 PlottingPointsonaCoordinatePlane
38 PointSlopeFormofaLine
83,84 PolarCoordinates
Polynomials
61 AddingandSubtracting
60 Definition
60 Degree
124 PolynomialsDevelopingPossibleRoots
65 Factoring
119 FindingExtremawithDerivatives
118 Graphs
65 GreatestCommonFactor
62 MultiplyingBinomials(FOIL,Box,NumericalMethods)
61 StandardForm
120 SumandDifferenceofCubes
122,123 SyntheticDivision
125 TestingPossibleRoots
121 VariableSubstitution
75 PowersandRootsTable

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

Probability
20 ProbabilityandOdds
21 ProbabilitywithDice
PropertiesofAlgebra
16 PropertiesofAdditionandMultiplication
16 PropertiesofEquality
16 PropertiesofZero
PropertiesofInequality
42 AdditionandSubtraction
42 MultiplicationandDivision
161,162 PythagoreanMeans
85 QuadraticEquationsComplexSolutions
76 QuadraticFormula
QuadraticFunctions
74 CompletingtheSquare
67 DifferencesofSquares
79 FittingwithThreePoints
73 OpeningUporDown
66 PerfectSquares
73 StandardForm
73 VertexandAxisofSymmetry
73 VertexForm
77 QuadraticInequalitiesinOneVariable
88,89 RadicalEquations
138 RationalEquations
RationalExpressions
137 AdditionandSubtraction
137 MultiplicationandDivision
RationalFunctions
129 Domain
133 GeneralRationalFunctions
130 HolesandAsymptotes
132 SimpleRationalFunctions
139 RationalInequalities
14 RationalNumbers
17 ReflexiveProperty
14 RealNumbers

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

Roots
124,125 Polynomials(i.e.,zeros)
86 RadicalRules
86 RationalizingtheDenominator
87 SimplifyingSquareRoots
ScientificNotation
58 AddingandSubtracting
57 ConversiontoandfromDecimals
57 Format
59 MultiplyingandDividing
Sequences
159 Arithmetic
155 Definitions
156 FibonacciSequence
163 Geometric
Series
160 Arithmetic
155 Definitions
164 Geometric
165 Special(,e,cubes)
158 SummationFormulas
157 SummationNotationandProperties
Signs
15 SignsofAddedorSubtractedNumbers
15 SignsofMultipliedorDividedNumbers
Slope
37 SlopeofaLine8Variations
35 SlopeofaLineMathematicalDefinition
36 SlopeofaLineRiseoverRun
38 SlopeInterceptFormofaLine
39 SlopesofParallelandPerpendicularLines
62 StackedPolynomialMethodofMultiplyingBinomials
63 StackedPolynomialMethodofMultiplyingPolynomials
38 StandardFormofaLine
23 StatisticalMeasures
168 Stirling'sFormula
17 SubstitutionProperty

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 Algebra Handbook
Index

Page Subject

Summation(S)
158 Formulas
157 NotationandProperties
17 SymmetricProperty
SyntheticDivision
123 SyntheticDivisionComparisontoLongDivision
122 SyntheticDivisionProcess
SystemsofEquations
52 Classification
51 EliminationMethod
49 GraphingaSolution
50 SubstitutionMethod
54 SystemsofInequalitiesTwoDimensions
Transformations
34 BuildingaGraph
31 HorizontalStretchandCompression
32 Reflection
33 Summary
29 Translation
30 VerticalStretchandCompression
17 TransitiveProperty
14 WholeNumbers
124,125 ZerosofPolynomials

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