ATTEMPTEVERYQUESTION

Attempteverypartofeveryquestionyouchoosei.e.attempt6FULLANSWERS.

WRITEDOWNEVERYEQUATIONOREXPRESSION
Writedown/copyeveryequationorexpressiongivenineverypartofeveryquestionBEFOREyoustartit.

WRITEDOWNTHEFORMULA
Writedowntherelevantformulaassociatedwiththequestionwhenyoustartit.

QUADRATICFORMULA
Rootsofaquadraticequation

ax 2 + bx + c = 0
x=

b b 2 4ac

2a

FOREXAMPLE

x 2 2x 4 = 0

a = 1, b = 2, c = 4
x=

(2) (2) 2 4(1)(4) 2 4 + 16 2 20 2 (4)(5) 2 2 5

=
=
=
=
= 1 5
2(1)
2
2
2
2

Rememberaminus()byaminus()isaplus(+)i.e.(4)(4)=+16
RemembertogetthesquarerootofthenumberyoutakeoutsidetheSsigni.e.S20=S(4)(5)=2S5

SQUAREROOTS

Remember ab = a b =

e.g. 12 = (4)(3) = 4 3 = 2 3

RemembertogetthesquarerootofthenumberyoutakeoutsidetheSsigni.e.S18=S(9)(2)=3S2

Remember a b = ab

e.g. 2 3 = 6

e.g.2 3 = 4 3 = ( 4)(3) = 12

RemembertosquareanynumberyoutakeinsidetheSsigni.e.3S5=S(9)(5)=S45

Remember a

= a

FACTORISINGCUBICEXPRESSIONS&SOLVINGCUBICEQUATIONS
Youareusuallygivenoneofthefactorsofacubicexpressionoroneoftherootsofacubicequation.
Thisusuallymeansyouhavetofactorizetheexpressionbyalgebraiclongdivision.Thiswillresultina
quadraticexpressionwhichcanbefactorizedintheusualway(ordeterminedfromtherootsobtainedfrom
thequadraticformulacareisrequiredifyouusethisapproach).

Rememberiftherootsofacubicequationx 3 + ax 2 + bx + c = 0arex = r , sandt

then( x r )( x s )( x t )arethefactorsoftheassociatedexpression
NBBecarefulwithfractions :
p
Ifx = isarootofanequationthen(qx p )maybeafactoroftheassociatedexpression.
q
Iftheexpressionisoftheformionqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + cthenatleastonefactorwillbeoftheform(qx p)

e.g.Simplifytheexpression 6 x 3 11x 2 3 x + 2if( x 2)isafactor.

Startbydividing6 x 3 11x 2 3 x + 2by( x 2)asfollows :
6x 2 + x 1
x 2 6 x 3 11x 2 3 x + 2

6 x 3 12 x 2
x 2 3x + 2
x 2 2x
x+2
x+2

Notethatifeitherorboththex 2orxtermsaremissingfromthe
originalexpressionorequation,theseshouldbeinsertedwith
thecoefficient0beforeperformingthealgebraiclongdivision
e.g.3x3+9shouldbewritten3x3+0x2+0x+9,theneverything
shouldlineupproperly,similartotheexampleontheleft.

Nowtrytofactorize 6 x 2 + x 1intheusualway :i.e.(3 x + 1)(2 x 1)

Ifitisnotimmediatelyobvioushowtofactorise,usetheQuadraticFormula :x =

6 x 2 + x 1= 0

a = 6, b = 1, c = 1

b b 2 4ac
2a

(1) (1) 2 4(6)(1) 1 1 + 24 1 25 1 5 6

4 1
1
=
=
=
= or = or
2(12)
12
12
12
12
12 2
3
1
1
Forx = , (2 x 1)isafactorandfor x = , (3 x + 1)isafactor.
2
3
x=

EXAMTIPS :
Youmaybeaskedtoproveorshowthatx + pisafactorofqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + c:
Performthelongdivisionof x + pintoqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + candifthereisnoremainderthenx + p isafactor
You maybeaskedtoproveorshowthatx = pisarootofqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + c= 0:
Substitutethevalue pintoqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + candifyouget0youhaveprovedx = pisaroot
(rememberx pisafactoroftheassociatedexpression)
Youmaythenneedtoperformthelongdivisionof x pintoqx 3 + ax 2 + bx + ctoobtaintheotherroots
orfactorsoftheassociatedexpression

THEDIFFERENCEOFTWOCUBES

Thedifferenceoftwocubesa 3 b 3 issimplifiedasfollows :
a 3 b 3 = (a b)(a 2 + ab + b 2 )

Thesumoftwocubesa 3 + b 3 issimplifiedasfollows :

a 3 + b 3 = (a + b)(a 2 ab + b 2 )

Thefactorisationofthedifference(sum) oftwo cubes can be performed as follows :

e.g.Simplifytheexpression x 3 27 y 3
Startbydividingx 3 27 y 3 by( x 3 y )asfollows :
x 2 + 3 xy + 9 y 2
x 3 y x 3 + 0 x 2 y + 0 xy 2 27 y 3

x 3 3x 2 y
3x 2 y
3x 2 y 9 xy 2
9 xy 2 27 y 3

9 xy 2 27 y 3

x 3 27 y 3 = ( x 3 y )( x 2 + 3 xy + 9 y 2 )

Intheexampleofthedifferenceoftwocubesx 3 27 y 3 above,thegeneraltermsaandbintheequation
a 3 b 3 = (a b)(a 2 + ab + b 2 )
arereplacedbya = x and b = 3 y

( x) 3 (3 y ) 3 = ( x 3 y ) ( x) 2 + ( x)(3 y ) + (3 y ) 2
x 27 y = ( x 3 y )( x + 3 xy + 9 y )