Math Class Notes - Arithmetic, Fractions and Decimals
Math Class Notes - Arithmetic, Fractions and Decimals
NOTES
======================================================
Operations in Arithmetic
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Exponentiation (raise to the power of…)
Commutative Property
The commutative property describes equations in which the order of the numbers
involved does not affect the result. Addition and multiplication are commutative
operations:
2+3 = 3+2 = 5
5⋅2 = 2⋅5 = 10
Associative Property
The associative property describes equations in which the grouping of the numbers
involved does not affect the result. As with the commutative property, addition and
multiplication are associative operations:
Distributive Property
The distributive property can be used when the sum of two quantities is then multiplied
by a third quantity.
Negative Numbers
1|Page
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INTEGERS
Adding Integers
Rule: If the signs are the same, add and keep the same sign.
Rule: If the signs are different, subtract the numbers and use the sign of the larger number.
(+) + (‐) = subtract the numbers and take the sign of the bigger number
(‐) + (+) = subtract the numbers and take the sign of the bigger number
Subtracting Integers
(+) – (+) = (+) + (‐) take the sign of the bigger number
(‐) – (‐) = (‐) + (+) take the sign of the bigger number
Rule: If the signs are the same, multiply or divide and the answer is always positive.
Rule: If the signs are different, multiply or divide and the answer is always negative.
2|Page
A. Rules for Adding Positive and Negative Numbers
To add two positive numbers, add and keep the positive sign
To add two negative numbers, add and keep the negative sign
To add numbers with different signs, find the difference between the two numbers
(subtract) and give the answer the sign of the larger number
** When signs are different, subtract the smaller number and keep the sign of the bigger
number.
To subtract signed numbers (either positive or negative), change the subtraction sign to
addition and change the sign of the number that follows, then revert back to the addition
rules
With both multiplication and division, when the signs are the same, the answer will be
positive
When the signs are different in a multiplication or division problem, the answer will be
negative
3|Page
Order of Operations and Positive and Negative Numbers
4|Page
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INTEGERS
PRACTICE SHEET
5|Page
B. Use order of operations to solve the following problems.
6|Page
FRACTIONS
What is a Fraction?
Parts of a Fraction
Numerator: The number that sits above the fraction bar and represents the part of the
whole number.
Denominator: The number that sits below the fraction bar and represents the whole
number.
Reciprocal: A fraction that is turned upside down so that the numerator and denominator
have switched places.
Factors:
Multiples:
0 × 6 = 0, so 0 is a multiple of 6
1 × 6 = 6, so 6 is a multiple of 6
2 × 6 = 12, so 12 is a multiple of 6
7|Page
Definition of decimal system
1: a number system that uses a notation in which each number is expressed in base 10
by using one of the first nine integers or 0 in each place and letting each place value be
a power of 10
Write down the numbers, one under the other, with the decimal points lined up
Put in zeros so the numbers have the same length (see below for why that is OK)
Then add, using column addition, remembering to put the decimal point in the
answer
Add: 1.452
+ 1.300
2.752
8|Page
To subtract, follow the same method: line up the decimal points, then subtract.
7.368
Line up the decimal points:
− 1.15
Subtract: 7.368
− 1.150
6.218
In other words, just count up how many numbers are after the decimal point in both numbers
you are multiplying, then the answer should have that many numbers after its decimal point.
9|Page
Dividing Decimals
The trick is to get rid of the decimal point from the number we are dividing by.
How? We can "shift the decimal point" out of the way by multiplying by 10, as many
times as we need to.
Let us multiply the 0.2 by 10, which shifts the decimal point out of the way:
0.2 × 10 = 2
15 × 10 = 150
150 ÷ 2 = 75
15 ÷ 0.2 = 75
10 | P a g e
Rounding Off Numbers
What is "Rounding" ?
Rounding means making a number simpler but keeping its value close to what it was.
Example: 73 rounded to the nearest ten is 70, because 73 is closer to 70 than to 80. But
76 goes up to 80.
Steps:
Answer: 70
Answer: 90
So: when the first digit removed is 5 or more, increase the last digit remaining by 1.
11 | P a g e
Rounding Decimals
Rounding to tenths means to leave one number after the decimal point.
Rounding to hundredths means to leave two numbers after the decimal point.
etc.
To round to "so many decimal places" count that many digits from the decimal point:
We may want to round to tens, hundreds, etc, In this case we replace the removed digits
with zero.
12 | P a g e
Rounding to Significant Digits
To round to "so many" significant digits, count digits from left to right, and then round
off from there.
3) All zeroes which are both to the right of the decimal point and to the right of all non-
zero significant digits are themselves significant.
Examples
When there are leading zeros (such as 0.006), don't count them because they are only
there to show how small the number is: