Fundamentals of

College Algebra
11th ed.

Swokowski Cole
 Chapter One
Fundamental Concepts of Algebra
 Section 1.1
Real Numbers
 Goals
 Introduce types of real number;
 Describe properties of operations with real
numbers;
 Addition
 Subtraction
 Multiplication
 Division
 Real Numbers
 Goals (cont’d)
 Introduce the coordinate line…
 …together with positive and negative numbers;
 Discuss inequalities, including ideas of
 Absolute value;
 Distance;
 Scientific form for real numbers, including…
 significant figures;
 Types of Real Number
 Positive integers, or natural numbers:
1, 2, 3, 4, ...
 Whole numbers, or nonnegative integers:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
 Integers:

...,  4,  3,  2,  1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
 Factors
 If a , b, and c are integers with c  ab ,
then a and b are factors, or divisors, of c .

 For example, since

6  2  3   2   3   1  6   1  6  ,

the integers 1, -1, 2, -2, 3, -3, 6, and -6 are

factors of 6.
 Prime Numbers
 A positive integer p different from 1 is
prime if its only positive factors are 1 and
p.

 The first few primes are

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19.

 Fundamental Theorem of
Arithmetic
 Every positive integer different from 1 can
be expressed as a product of primes in one
and only one way (except for order of
factors)
 Examples:
12  2  2  3, 126  2  3  3  7,
540  2  2  3  3  3  5.
Further Types of Real Number
 A rational number is a real number that can
be expressed in the form a / b , where
a and b are integers and b  0 .
 The decimal representations for rational
numbers are either
5
 terminating, for example  1.25, or
4
 nonterminating and repeating, for example

177
 3.2181818...
55
 Further Types (cont’d)
 Real numbers that are not rational are
irrational numbers.
 Examples:
  , the ratio of the circumference of a circle to

its diameter; isroughly 3.14159.

 2, the square root of 2 , roughly 1.414.
 Irrationals always have nonterminating and
nonrepeating decimal representations.
Types of Number Used in Algebra
A line connecting two rectangles means that the numbers
named in the higher rectangle include those in the lower.
Properties of Addition and
Multiplication
Further Properties
 Properties of Negatives
The following table shows how negatives work with
multiplication:
 Reciprocals
 The reciprocal of a nonzero real number a
is often denoted by a-1

 Two examples:


1
1 3 1 4
1
2  ;   .
2 4 3/ 4 3

 a   1 .
1 1
 If a  0, then a  a
a
 Subtraction and Division
 These can be defined using addition and
multiplication:
 About Division

 We can denote a  b by either a / b

a
or ;
b
 Then we call a the numerator and b the
denominator.
a
 is never defined if b  0 ; we do not
b
divide by zero!
 Properties of Division
 These
properties of
quotients are
all valid,
provided we
never divide
by zero.
 Coordinate Line
 We can represent the real number system
using points on a line; the origin O
corresponds to zero.

 The positive real numbers are to the right of O ;

 The negative real numbers are to the left.
 Numbers and their Negatives
 Don’t confuse negative real numbers with
the negative of a real number.
 The negative of a real number can be
positive!
 Here is the general pattern:
 Inequalities
 We can use positive and negative numbers
to define the ideas of greater than and less
than:

 The symbols > and < are called inequality

signs.
Illustrations and Laws of Signs
 Variations
 Nonstrict inequalities are of two types:
 We write a  b to mean that a is greater than
or equal to b
 We write a  b to mean that a is less than or
equal to b
 The continued inequality a  b  c means
that both a < b and b < c .
 Two Examples
 Ordering three real numbers:

 Determining the sign of a real number:

 Absolute Value
 Definition:

 Illustration using a = 4 :
 Examples of Absolute Value

 Note that a a every real number a .

for
 Distance
 We can use absolute value to define
distance along the coordinate line:

 Illustration:
Examples of Distance
 Scientific Form
 Used to express very large and very small
numbers:

 Some examples:
 Significant Figures
 Captures the accuracy of a numerical
value.
 If in scientific form the number a is written
as a  c  10 n
, where 1  c  10 and c is
rounded off to k decimal places, then we
say that a is accurate to k + 1 significant
figures (or digits).
 Example
 37.2638 rounded to…
 5 significant figures is 3.7264  101 , or 37.264 ;
3 significant figures is 3.73  10 , or 37.3 ;
1


1 significant figure is 4  10 , or 40 .
1

 Section 1.2
Exponents and Radicals
 Goals
 Introduce exponential notation, including…
 Laws of exponents;
 Negative exponents.
 Introduce roots;
 Give laws of radicals.
 Introduce rational exponents.
 Exponential notation
n
 Definition of a for a positive integer n
(the exponent) and real number a (the base):
Examples
 The Notation ca n

 Note that 3an , for example, means 3(an) ,

not (3an) ;
 Some other illustrations:
 Nonpositive Exponents
 Provided a is nonzero, we can also define
an when n is zero or negative:
 Laws of Exponents
 Here a and b are real numbers and m
and n are integers:
More Examples and a Theorem
 Example
3 5
8x y
 Here is how to simplify 1 2
:
4x y
 Roots
 Definition:

 Illustration:
 Terminology and Properties
 We say that…
 n a is a radical,
 the number a is the radicand, and
 n is the index of the radical.
 More Properties
 Note that Property (4), above, implies that
x  x for every real number x .
2

 Further laws of radicals:

 Warning
 The following chart illustrates two very
common mistakes; beware!
 Examples
 3
Here is how to simplify 320 :
 Examples (cont’d)
3 8 4
 Here is how to simplify 3
16 x y z :
 Examples (cont’d)
2 5
 Here is how to simplify 3a b 6 a b :
 Rationalizing a Denominator
 Means rewriting a fraction so that the
denominator contains no radicals.
 Some special cases:
 Examples
1
 Rationalize the denominators of 5
x
and of 5
2
:
y
 Rational Exponents
 Definition and examples:
 Further Examples
5 / 2
Here is how to simplify  27   4
2/3
 :

 Note that the same laws of exponents

apply to fractional exponents as well.
 Examples (cont’d)
2
 2 x   3x 5 / 6 
2/3
 Here is how to simplify  1/ 2   1/ 3  :
 y   y 
 Section 1.3
Algebraic Expressions
 Goals
 Introduce sets
 Introduce algebraic expressions, including…
 Three types of polynomial:
 Monomials
 Binomials
 Trinomials
 Other types of algebraic expression
 Learn to factor polynomials
 Sets
 A set is a collection of objects of some type.
 The objects are called the elements of the set.
 We often denote the set of real numbers
by R , and the set of integers by .
 We say two sets S and T are equal, and
write S = T , if S and T contain exactly the
same elements.
Further Notation and
Terminology
 Two Ways to Describe Sets
 Using a defining property:
 For example, the notation  x : x  3 means
the set of all real numbers x such that x > 3 .
 Listing the elements of a finite set:
 For example, the set T consisting of the first
five positive integers could be written
T   1,2,3,4,5 .
 Algebraic Expressions
 The result of applying
 Additions,
 Subtractions,
 Multiplications,
 Divisions,
 Powers, or
 Taking roots
to any collection of variables and/or real
numbers.
Examples
 Special Types of Algebraic
Expression
 If x is a variable, then a…
 Monomial in x is an expression of the form axn ,
 Binomial in x is a sum of two monomials,
 Trinomial in x is a sum of three monomials, and a
 Polynomial in x is a sum of any number of
monomials in x :
 Terminology

 Each expression akxk in the sum above is a

term of the polynomial.
 The coefficient ak of the highest power of x
is called the leading coefficient of the
polynomial.
Examples
 Operations with Polynomials
 Adding and subtracting:
Subtracting (cont’d)
 Multiplying Binomials
 Example:
 Multiplying Polynomials
 An example solved two ways:
Multiplying (cont’d)
 Polynomials With Two or
More Variables
 A polynomial in two variables, say x and
y, is a finite sum of terms, each of the form
axmyk for some real number a and
nonnegative integers m and k.
 An example is
3x4y + 2x3y5 + 7x2 - 4xy + 8y – 5.
 Other polynomials may involve three or
more variables.
 Example
 Here we divide a polynomial by a
monomial:
 Product Formulas
 The products listed in this following chart
occur so frequently they deserve special
attention:
Examples
Examples (cont’d)
 Factoring
 Factoring is the process of expressing a sum
of terms as a product. For example, since
x2 – 9 = (x + 3)(x – 3), the polynomials x + 3
and x – 3 are factors of x2 – 9 .
 A polynomial with coefficients in some set S
of numbers is irreducible over S if it cannot be
written as a product of two polynomials of
positive degree with coefficients in S.
 Factoring (cont’d)
 Thus, x2 – 2 is irreducible over the rational
numbers, since it cannot be written as a
product of two polynomials of positive
degree that have rational coefficients.
 However, x2 – 2 is not irreducible over the
real numbers, since we can write
x2 – 9 = (x + 3)(x – 3).
 Factoring (cont’d)
 To factor a polynomial means to express it
as a product of irreducible polynomials.
 The greatest common factor (gcf) of an
expression is the product of factors that
appear in each term, with each of the
factors raised to the smallest nonzero
exponent appearing in any term.
 When factoring polynomials, first factor
out the gcf.
 Example
 Here are examples of factored
polynomials:
 Factoring Formulas
 The following formulas are very useful for
factoring polynomials:
 Examples
 Difference of two squares:
Examples (cont’d)
 Examples (cont’d)
 Sum and difference of two cubes:
Examples (cont’d)
 Factoring by Grouping
 If a sum contains four or more terms, it
may be possible to group the terms in a
suitable manner and then find a
factorization by using distributive
properties.
 Examples:
Example (cont’d)
Example (cont’d)
Example (cont’d)
 Section 1.4
Fractional Expressions
 Goals
 Introduce fractional expressions, including…
 Rational expressions.
 Learn to simplify rational expressions by…
 Canceling common factors;
 Rationalizing a numerator or denominator.
 Learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide
fractional expressions.
 Fractional and Rational
Expressions
 A fractional expression is a quotient of two
algebraic expressions.
 A rational expression is a quotient p/q of
two polynomials p and q .
 Thus, every rational expression is a
fractional expression, but not vice versa.
 Domain and Examples
 The domain of a rational expression p/q
consists of all real numbers except those
that make the denominator zero…
 …since division by zero is never allowed!
 Examples:
 Canceling and Lowest Terms
 A common nonzero factor in the
numerator and denominator of a quotient
may be canceled.
 This is based on a property of quotients:

 Examples of canceling:
 Simplifying
 A rational expression is simplified, or
reduced to lowest terms, if the numerator
and denominator have …
 No common polynomial factors of positive
degree, and…
 No common integral factors greater than 1 .
 To simplify a rational expression, we…
 Factor both the numerator and denominator into
prime factors, and
 Cancel common factors.
Examples of Simplifying
 Products and Quotients of
Rational Expressions
 Rational expressions are multiplied and
divided just as ordinary fractions are.
 Two examples:
Solution for Example (a)
Solution for Example (b)
 Adding and Subtracting
Rational Expressions
 Find a common denominator and use a
property of quotients:

 Often best to use the least common

denominator (lcd) of the two quotients:
 Factor each denominator into primes, then…
 Form the product of the different prime factors,
using the largest exponent that appears with
each prime factor.
 Numerical Example

 To illustrate the use of the lcd, we express

7 5
 as a simplified rational number:
24 18
Solution (cont’d)
Solution (cont’d)
First Algebraic Example
Solution (cont’d)
Second Algebraic Example
Solution (cont’d)
 Complex Fractions
 A complex fraction is a “fraction within a
fraction”; here is an example:
Example (cont’d)
 Rationalizing the Denominator
 Given a fraction whose denominator is of the
form a  b or a  b , for example, we
sometimes want to rewrite the fraction with
no square roots in the denominator.
 This is called rationalizing the denominator of
the given fractional expression.
 It often allows the fraction to be simplified.
 Rationalizing (cont’d)
 To rationalize the denominator, multiply
both numerator and denominator of the
fraction by the conjugate of the
denominator.
 The conjugate of a  b is a  b ;
the conjugate of a  b is a b.
 Example
1
 Rationalize the denominator of :
x y

 Note that we can also rationalize

numerators in the same way!
A More Complicated Example
 Example (cont’d)

 Note that the simplified form makes it

much easier to tell the values of x for
which the given expression equals zero.