Algebra

ALGEBRA
Basic Algebra Properties

Associative Property
Order of Operations
Distributive Property
Solving Equations
Graphing Linear Equations
Inequalities
Graphing Linear Inequalities
Slope
Functions
FOIL Method
Polynomials
Factorization
Quadratic Equations
The Quadratic Formula
Completing the Square
Complex Numbers
Factor Theorem
Remainder Theorem
Exponents
Logarithms
Square Roots and Radicals
Rationalization
Rational Expressions
Conic Sections
Properties of Algebra
You should be familiar with these basic algebraic properties as you start your lessons in algebra. These properties
apply to all real numbers and include the cumulative property, the commutative property, and more. Before you try
to solve algebra problems, learn these!
The Order of Operations

Algebra equations can look complicated to new students. Learn how to decipher all those symbols with this primer
on the Order of Operations. How do you evaluate an equation containing parentheses and exponents? Read this
lesson to find out.
The Distributive Property

The distributive property is a helpful algebra property that makes multiplying numbers easier. This lesson will
explain how to multiply numbers inside parentheses. Youll also learn tips for quickly multiplying large numbers.
Factorization
Factorization is the process of breaking down an expression into products called factors. This concept will help you
simplify large, complicated numbers into something you can actually work with. This lesson covers the different
methods of factorization, such as factorization by grouping or factorization by taking the difference of two squares.
Solving Equations
Once youre familiar with the order of operations and different algebraic properties, you can finally get down to the
business of solving equations. This lesson describes the terms "expression" and "equation" and walks you through
solving a one variable equation.

Graphs provide a visual representation of the relationship between two variables. In this lesson, learn how to graph
and solve two variable equations, and become comfortable with coordinate planes, ordered pairs, and more.
Inequalities
Inequalities, such as the greater than ( > ) and less than ( < ) relationships, can be visualized and solved just like
normal equations. This lesson introduces inequalities and explains how to solve inequalities with variables, and how
to show inequalities on a number line.

After solving basic inequalities, youre ready to move onto solving and graphing two variable inequalities. In this
lesson, you will learn how to solve a linear inequality, represent a linear inequality on a graph, and (most
importantly!) check your work to make sure youve mastered the concept.
Slope of a Line
The slope of a line is an essential concept in many areas of mathematics, algebra included. How do you calculate
slope? What are some common mistakes to avoid? Learn all about rise over run in this lesson.
Functions
Functions express the relationship between two variables. OK, now what does that mean? Read on for a simple
definition and explanation of functions. Confused about the vertical line test? Not sure what the difference is
between an even function and an odd function? Youll find the answers here.
FOIL Method
First Outside Inside Last. The FOIL method defines how two binomials are multiplied. Algebra students need to
understand what FOIL stands for and means. Read on for an explanation and plenty of examples.
Polynomials
A polynomial is an expression of finite length, including variables with positive whole number exponents. This
lesson describes polynomials, polynomial roots, and includes an introduction to quadratic polynomials.
Complex Numbers
What happens when you combine real numbers and imaginary numbers? You get a complex number. Learn how to
solve equations involving complex numbers in this lesson. Need more information on imaginary numbers? This
lesson covers that too.
The Quadratic Equation

When you have a polynomial function of degree two, you have a quadratic function. When a quadratic function is
equated to zero, you have what is called a quadratic equation. This lesson covers quadratic equations in depth. How
are they formed, how do you graph them, and how do you solve them?

If you want to find the roots of quadratic equations, youre going to need the quadratic formula. In this lesson, you
will learn about the quadratic formula, its derivations, and its discriminant.
The Remainder Theorem

The remainder theorem can be used to quickly factorize a polynomial of any degree. You can tackle difficult
problems with this helpful theorem. Read this lesson to learn where the remainder theorem comes from and how to
use it, with detailed examples.
Exponents
Also known as powers of numbers, exponents are operators used to multiply a number by itself a certain number
of times. Exponents can be positive numbers, negative numbers, or many more special numbers. Learn about the
different kinds of exponents and their properties in this lesson.
Logarithms
You can think of a logarithm as the opposite of an exponent: Its an operation to undo an exponent. This lesson
defines logarithms and takes you through several example problems.

A square root is a number which, when multiplied by itself, gives a square. Did you know every square has two
square roots? How do you define a cube root? This lesson answers these questions and explains many concepts
related to square roots and radicals.
Rationalization
Rationalization is the process of making a fraction rational. When do you need to make a fraction rational? When its
irrational, of course. Read this lesson for examples of rationalization and a practice quiz.
Also known as rational functions, a rational expression includes polynomials in its numerator and denominator. Can
you find the domain of a rational expression? Do you know how to simplify a rational expression? This lesson will
walk you through the process.
Conic Sections
Conic sections are formed by slicing a 3-D circular cone. The four kinds of conic sections are circles, ellipses,
parabolas, and hyperbolas. In this lesson, learn how to represent all four conic sections with equations and graphs.
Basic Rules of Algebra

There are basic properties in math that apply to all real numbers. When working with variables in algebra, these properties still apply. We will apply most of the
following properties to solve various Algebraic problems.
Algebraic Properties
Let a, b, and c be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions.
Commutative Property of Addition
We can add numbers in any order.
Commmutative Property of Multiplication
We can also multiply numbers in any order.
Associative Property of Addition
We can group numbers in a sum any way we want and get the same answer.
Associative Property of Multiplication
We can group numbers in a product any way we want and get the same answer.
When we are adding and multiplying with a parenthesis, we can distribute the multiplication through the addition.
For an in depth discussion, see Distributive Property
Additive Identity Property
If we add 0 to any number, we will end up with the same number.
Multiplicative Identity Property
If we multiply 1 to any number, we will end up with the same number.
Additive Inverse Property
If we adda number by the opposite of itself, we will end up with 0.
Multiplicative Inverse Property
If we multiply a number by its reciprocal, we will end up with 1.
Keep in mind that subtraction is also considered addition, but with a negative number. Similarly, divison can be thought of as inverse multiplication, but with a
restriction that the denominator cannot be equal to 0.
Properties of Negation
We must be careful not to make arithmetic mistakes when dealing with negative signs and subtraction.
Properties of Equality
Add c to each side
Multiply both sides by c
Subtract c from both sides
Divide both sides by c
Properties of Zero
0 added or subtracted to anything equals itself
0 multiplied by anything equals 0
0 divided by anything equals 0
We cannot divide by 0
Zero Product Property
If the product of two or more things equals 0, at least one of the values must be 0
Properties and Operations of Fractions

Let a, b, c and d be real numbers, variables, or algebraic expressions such that b and d do not equal 0.
Equivalent Fractions
cross multiply
Rules of Signs
the negative can go anywhere in the fraction and two negatives equal a positive
Generate Equivalent Fractions
multiplying the top and bottom by the same thing keeps the fraction the same value
Add/Subtract with Like Denominators
if the denominators are the same, add or subtract the top of the fraction
Add/Subtract with Unlike Denominators
find a common denominator
Multiply Fractions
top times the top and bottom times the bottom
Divide Fractions
when dividing two fractions, multiply the divisor by the reciprocal
The Associative Property

Written by tutor Anicia H.
What word comes to mind when you hear associative? It comes from to associate, to be grouped together.
Parentheses show the association and the operations in the parentheses are performed first. Notice that the
order of the numbers does not change only the grouping. The associative property becomes important
because it allows the mathematician, you, to add or multiply numbers with ease. When you follow the examples
below it will become clear how the associative property is used. The associative property can only be used for
addition and multiplication, not for subtraction or division.
The Associative Property of Addition

Example 1: (14 + 6) + 7 = 14 + (6 + 7)
Adding 14 + 6 easily gives the sum of 20 to which we can add 7. The right hand side of the equation is where we
add 14 and 13. Both sides will result in 27.
Example 2: (52 + 7) + 13 = 52 + (7 + 13)
Adding 7 + 13 on the right side of the equation is easier than adding 52 + 7 on the left. We still get the final
result of 72.
The Associative Property of Multiplication

Similar examples can illustrate how the associative property works for multiplication.
Example 3: (3 * 5 ) * 6 = 3 * (5 * 6)
Now which side of the equation is easier for you? Most often, it is 5 * 6 on the right side.
Example 4: 2 * (18 * 10) = (2 * 18) * 10
Here the left side is written differently, yet you can still see how the associative property makes the
multiplication on the left side easier.
The Order of Operations

In algebra, there exists the following fundamental operators: Parentheses, Exponents, Division and
Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction. Many algebraic expressions or equations you come across use
more than one operator and their solutions will be different depending on the order you carry out the diffrent
operations. Keep in mind that all expressions or equations are evaluated from left to right.
For example, given the expression:
One possible solution could be 36 - 4 x 6 = 192, if we choose to evaluate the expression as follows:
then
Alternatively, one can also evaluate the expression as follows:
Out of two possible solutions, only the second is correct.

In algebra, any given expression or equation with more than one operator is evaluated using a standard
notation referred to as the order of operations which is represented by the acronym PEMDAS.
PEMDAS
One easy way to remember the order of operations is to use the acronym PEMDAS Observe that PEMDAS is
formed using the first letter of each of the above operators. (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication
and Division, Addition and Subtraction).
Order of Operations is a standard used to denote which operators have precedence over the others and thus
are solved first in any equation or expression.
Examples of the Order of Operations

Example 1
Evaluate the following
Step 1
First, evaluate whatever is in the parentheses:
Step 2
Next, evaluate the exponent:
Step 3
Evaluate any multiplication and division from left to right:
Step 4
Evaluate any addition and subtraction from left to right or which ever way makes it easier for you:
note that
is evaluated as
Example 2
Solve for x in the equation below
Step 1
As always evaluate the expression within the parentheses first, since there is more than one operator in the
parentheses, apply PEMDAS to the expression
Step 2
Divide both sides by 21
Step 3
Example 3
Evaluate the following
Step 1
note that in the above expression, one can choose to divide first since that makes the computation easier
Step 2
Example 4
Solve for x in the equation below
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 3
Quiz on the Order of Operations

1. Evaluate the following
Step 1: Evaluate the inner parentheses first
Step 2: Evaluate the multiplication within the parentheses
Step 3: Evaluate the subtraction within the parentheses
Step 4: Finally evaluate the last multiplication
The Distributive Property is a useful algebra property that simplifies multiplication. Before we define the
Distributive property, let us first revisit Commutativity.
Commutativity is an algebra property that says that changing the order with which a computation is done does
not change the end result. Commutativity applies mostly to addition and multiplication but can also be applied
to division in some cases.
Mathematically we define commutativity as:
The Distributive Property allows for multiplication across parentheses, and also quick multiplication of large
numbers by breaking them into sums of smaller numbers which are then easier to multiply.
For example:
Observe from the above equations that the term outside the parentheses distributes across all the terms inside
the parentheses.
Operators inside the parentheses must be addition or subtraction only and operators outside the parentheses
must be multiplication or division only for the distributive property to apply.
One common mistake is not distributing the outside term across all the terms inside the parentheses like in the
example shown below
Another important fact to remember is that signs (+, -) also distribute equally across parentheses as in the
following example:
and
You might notice that the above equation is the same as
The distributive property can also be applied to division:
Another interesting case is shown below:
This is the same as:
Quiz on the Distributive Property

1. Solve the following expression
A.
B.
C.
D.
2. Evaluate the following without using a calculator
A.
B.
C.
D.
Solving One Variable Equations

A variable in mathematics is a symbol that is used in place of a value. The value of a variable depends on the
other values in the expression or equation. As a result, the variable can at times change accordingly.
Variables can be letters, Greek symbols or combinations of many other symbols.
Expressions
An expression in mathematics refers to a combination of mathematical symbols and operators and operators.
For example,
is an expression since it combines the symbols 5 and 3 (in this case the symbols are real numbers) and the
mathematical addition operator (+).
An expression can also consist of variables as in the example below
where x is a variable because it represents a value which we do no know at the moment.
Expressions can also be written without operators as long as variables are involved, for example, the following
are also expressions:
where t, x, y and are variables.
Equations
When you include an equals sign (=) in a mathematical expression, you end up with an equation. On either side
of the equals sign is an expression which leads to the definition of an equation as a mathematical statement
that asserts the equality of two expressions. In simpler terms, an equation is a statement which tells us that one
thing is equal to another.
Here are some examples of equations:
Solving Equations
Now that we have established that an equation is a statement of equality, we're able to solve for unknown
variables in equations. Solving equations is a fundamental theorem of Algebra and Mathematics as a whole
since all the different aspects incorporate some sort of solving equations.
Example 1
Given the equation below, solve for the unknown variable:
Step 1
In the above, we currently aren't aware of what value the variable x represents, and so our task to find out what
that is.
The first step is to check how many variables we have and how many known values we have. In this example we
only have one variable x and two known values 3 and 6.
Step 2
Since all the variables are on the left hand side of the equals sign, let's focus on the expression on that side for
a minute,
We're adding some number x to 3. If we look at the right hand side expression, 6, we realize that we need to
find some number xto which you add 3 to get 6.
Step 3
From Elementary Algebra, we know that if x + 3 = 6, then we collect like terms and shift the numbers to one side
and leave the variable on the other side. To achieve this in this particular example, we subtract 3 from both
sides of the equation as below:
therefore,
Example 2
Solve for y in the following equation:
Step 1
This example isn't so different from the previous one. The expression on the left containing a variable is equal
to the expression on the right.
Thus in this example we're finding a number represented by the variable y which when doubled and then 4
subtracted from it, will equal to 12.
Step 2
The first step in solving the above is to collect like terms, we need to put all the numbers on one side and leave
only the variable on the other side. We need to exercise caution here since, there is multiplication involved.
By adding 4 to each side, we get rid of it from the left hand side of the equation
Step 3
So now only 2 is left on the left hand side. We simply can't add or subtract to move it to the right hand side of
the equation since it is multiplied to y. To get rid of it, we pide through by 2 as below:
and we end up with
Therefore y = 8 is our solution.

Now that we have solved equations in one variable, we will now work on solving equations in two variables and
graphing equations on the coordinate plane. Graphs are very important for giving a visual representation of the
relationship between two variables in an equation.
First, let's get acquainted with the coordinate plane (or Cartesian graph).
Coordinate Plane
The coordinate plane was created by the French Mathematician Rene Descartes in order to goemetrically
represent algebraic equations. This is often why the coordinate plane is called the Cartesian plane, or graph.
When working with equations in more than one variable, using the Cartesian graph can be in important tool to
make equations easier to visualize and understand.
The horizontal number line is the x-axis and the vertical number line is the y-axis. The point where both lines
intersect is called the origin.
Each point on the graph is depicted by an ordered pair, where x is always the first value and y is always the
second value in the ordered pair (x,y). This is because x is the independent variable, which means that it is the
variable being changed. This makes y the dependent variable, which means that it is dependent on how x is
being changed. We will explore this as we start to graph equations in terms of x and y. Now, even though there
are two values in an order pair, they associate to only one point on the graph.
Let's plot the points A(0,0), B(1,2), C(-4,2), D(-3,-4), and E(4,-2).
Notice that A(0,0) is the origin because both it's x and y values are 0. For B(1,2), the x value would be 1 and the y
value would be 2. To plot the point, we would go in the positive direction on the x axis until we hit 1, then we
would go up on the positive y axis until we hit 2. This is where the point is located. We get our points by just
lining up the x value and y value to get their locations, and we can do this for any coordinate pair.
Horizontal and Vertical Lines

On the coordinate plane, we know that each point must have an x and a y value. When we solved equations in
one variable, it was easy to see that we had an x value. What we didn't realize is that we also had a y value as
well. In fact, we had infinitely many y values. Similarly, if we were to solve a one variable equation in terms of y,
we would have infinitely many x values. These equations do not form a point, but rather a horizontal or vertical
line.
When x equals a number, y can take on any value and it would not change the equality. We could think of the
equation as having a y value with 0 as a coefficient, so no matter what value y takes, it will always multiply by 0.
This will form a vertical line.
Similarly, when y equals a number, x can take on any value and it would not affect the equality. We could think
of the equation having value of 0x, so x can be any number and it would not affect the equation. This graph will
be a horizontal line.
This makes sense, because the x axis is y = 0 and the y axis is x = 0.
Solutions of Equations in Two Variables

We have seen expressions and equations of one variable, mainly x. Here is an expression
When we plug in different values of x, we also yield a different output as well. Since this
output varies depending on x, we can also use a variable to represent the output of x.
When dealing with equations in two variables, the solutions consist of x and y values that make the equation
true when plugged into the equation. These solutions will turn out to be ordered pairs, and we will see that
equations in 2 variables can have more than one solution, and often infinitely many solutions.
Given the equation
Determine whether the coordinates (1,5), (2,6), and (-1,1) are solutions to the equation.
Let's start with (1,5) and plug it into the equation for x and y.
This is true! This means that this point is a solution.

Let's try (2,6)
This is false because 6 does not equal 7, therefore it is not a solution.

Finally, let's plug in (-1,1).
This is another true statement, so (1,1) is a solution to the equation.

Let's plot both of the solutions we found to y = 2x+3 on the coordinate plane
These are not the only solutions to this equation. One method we could use to find other solutions to our
equation is make a table of x and y values. We can do this by plugging in different x values and find their
corresponding y values.
Now that we have a few coordinate points, let's plot them on the graph.
We can see that the points form a straight line, so we can draw a line through them. Any point on this line is a
solution to the equation y = 2x+3. It is safe to say that the line we have drawn on the graph is the solution set to
our equation.
For any two variable equation, we can attempt to graph the function by plugging in random x values to get our
corresponding y values. This way, we have many points that we can graph. Some equations are easier to graph
because they have noticeable patterns. We should keep in mind that most of the equations we work with will
be in terms of x and y, because the coordinate plane is formed by the x and y axes.
Let's look at linear equations.
Linear Equations
Linear equations are equations of two variables that form a line on the graph. A linear equation is defined
where each term is either a constant or a product of a constant and a single variable. There are many different
ways that linear equations can be represented algebraically and plotted graphically.
Here are different forms of Linear Equations
Standard Form
A linear equation in the form of two variables can be written in this form, where A, B, and C are constants. This
form is beneficial because we can easily obtain the x and y intercepts by plugging in 0 for one of the variables.
An intercept is the intersection of the line and either the x or y axis. We will see that these intercepts will help in
plotting linear equations.
Write the following equation in standard form and plot the line on the graph.
First we multiply both sides by 3 to get rid of the fraction.
Then we subtract 2x from both sides to get the x and y on the same side
Let's rearrange it so our x value is first.
This is the standard form of our original equation. Since our original equation can be written in standard form,
we know it is a linear equation (if an equation cannot be written in standard form, it is not linear).
Now let's plot the graph of the equation by finding our intercepts. First, let's find our y intercept by plugging in 0
for x.
We plugged in 0 for x and got -4 for y. Our coordinate would be (0,-4), which we call our y intercept. This is
called our y intercept because it is the point where the graph of the equation intersects the y axis.
Let's find the x intercept by plugging in 0 for y.
When we plugged in y = 0, we got x = 6, so our coordinate is (6,0). This is the x intercept because it is the point
where the graph crosses the x axis. Since we have our x and y intercepts and we know the equation is linear (we
put it in Standard Form), we can graph the equation.
This line is the solution set of our equation. We should note that if we know an equation is linear, it only takes
two points to construct the line on a graph. Just to make sure, it is always good to plot more than two points to
check if the points are collinear (If they form a line). If we do not know it is linear, it is beneficial to plot a
number of points to clearly see the curve of the graph. If we were given this graph without the algebraic
representation, it would be hard to come up with the standard form of the equation, so we can use the
following general forms of linear equations to find them.
Slope-Intercept Form
This form is the most commonly used to represent linear equations. This form is the best way to find
the slope and y intercept of a linear equation, where m is the slope and b is the y intercept.
Let's plot this equation using the slope-intercept form.
Comparing to our general slope-intercept equation, we can see that m = 2/3 and b = -4. Plotting this on a graph,
we can obtain our line.
Since we have our y intercept and our slope, we can plot our y intercept and find other point on the line using
the slope. Since m = 2/3, we can go up positive 2 and right positive 3 to obtain our next point on the line. We
can repeat this process to get the line of our equation.
Point-Slope Form
Finally, we have point-slope form. We can use the representation if we have any point on the line (it doesn't
have to be an intercept) and the slope, or if we have any two points on the line.
Find the equation of the line through the point (3,-2) with slope m = 2/3. Let's plug the values into our equation.
We plug in (3,-2) for (x1,y1) and let m = 2/3
We have our equation! Now let's try it given two points.
Find the equation of the line through the points (-3,-6) and (3,-2). If we know the equation is linear, we can just
plot the points and draw a line through them, but in this case we want to find the equation of the line. Let's plug
them into the general point slope form and see what we get.
Since we don't know the slope but we have two points, we can plug our two points into the slope formula.
Converting Forms of Linear Equations

Even though we have three different forms of linear equations, they are all the same. The reason we have these
different forms is because they are each beneficial for different geometric representations and ways of working
with the information we have. The various forms of linear equations can be converted from one form to
another.
(1) When converting from Standard form (Ax + By = C) to Slope-intercept form (y = mx+b), we have
(2) When converting from Standard form (Ax + By = C) to Point slope form [(y-y1) = m(x-x1)], we have
Finding the Equation of a Line
If we are given a graph of a line and we want to find its equation (or algebraic representation), we can find it a
number of ways.
(1) Given two points on the line, we can plug them into the slope formula to find the slope and then use the
point-slope form.
(2) Given any point on the line and the y intercept, we can plug them into the slope formula to find the slope
and then use either the point-slope or slope-intercept form.
(3) Given any point on the line and the slope, use the point-slope form.
(4) Given the y intercept and the slope, use the slope-intercept form.
Plotting the Graph of a Linear Equation

Given any type of equation (it doesn't have to be linear), we can plug in a random x value and obtain a y value.
We could plot points this way, but it is a tedious process and not completely necessary. Here are other ways of
constructing the graph of a linear equation.
(1) Given an equation in any form, plug in any x value to the equation and find the y value. Plot the point on the
graph and do this again for at least one more point. After we have two points, draw a line through the points
for all solutions to the linear equation. If the points are noncollinear (they do not line up), then either the
equation is not linear or there was an arithmetic mistake in finding them.
(2) Given the Standard Form of a linear equation (Ax + By = C), set the x value to 0 to find the y intercept and
then the y value to 0 for the x intercept. Plot the points on the graph and draw a line through them.
(3) Given the Slope-Intercept Form (y = mx + b), plot the y intercept (0,b) and use the slope m to find the rest of
the points on the graph.
(4) Given the Point-Slope Form [(y - y1) = m(x - x1)], plot the point (x1,y1) and use the slope m to find the rest
of the points on the graph.
Systems of Linear Equations

When we graph more than one linear equation at once, we are considered to have a system of linear equations.
Solving these systems will give us the point at which the lines intersect, which is quite relevant in various real
life applications and is executed often in economics and higher level math.
Inequalities
Solving inequalities is not so different from solving regular equations. In fact, an inequality sign (<,>,,) is
treated the same as an equal (=) sign when solving inequalities involving only addition or subtraction. Before all
that, let us define the different inequality signs:
< indicates that the expression on the left is less than the expression on the right, for example:
indicates that 3 is less than 9 and we all know that to be true.
means that the solution to the expression on the left is less than zero, but more on
that later.
> indicates that the expression on the left is greater than the expression on the right, for
example:
shows that 9 is greater than 3 and similarly
means that the value of 2x - 9 is greater than 11
indicates that the value on the left is less than or equal to the value on the right, for
example:
means that the value of the expression on the left must be less than or equal to 25
indicates that the value on the left is greater than or equal to the value on the right, for
example:
Inequalities are best thought of as representing different regions on a number line:
< represents the region to the left of a given number, for example
represents all the numbers to the left of 3 (less than 3), which in on the number line
below is shown by all the numbers in the direction of the arrow
> represents the region to the right of a given number, for example
represents all the numbers to the right of 3 (greater than 3), which in on the number
line below is shown by all the numbers in the direction of the arrow
represents the region from a given number to the left of that same number, for example
represents all the numbers to the left of 5 (less than 5) including 5 itself as shown on
the number line below
represents the region from a given number to the right of that same number, for example;
represents all the numbers to the left of 1 (less than 1) including 1 itself as shown on
the number line below
Solving Inequalities
Most linear inequalities can be solved just the same as linear equations: Addition and subtraction of any
number (positive or negative) can be done to the expression on either side of the inequality without changing
the inequality itself. In other words, it would be the same as in any ordinary equation.
For example; solve for x in
Solution:
Subtract 9 from both sides of the inequality as follows:
and the answer would be
Observe that the above is solved in the same was as solving ordinary equations. This is because addition and
subtraction have no effect on the inequality sign. Multiplication and division are different, however, as the
inequality sign is treated differently depending on whether you are multiplying by a positive or negative
number.
Multiplying or dividing through the inequality expression by a positive number has no effect on the inequality
sign and is treated as you would an ordinary equation.
For example, solve for x in:
Solution:
First add 9 to both sides of the inequality
then divide through by 3
which results in
Multiplying or dividing through the inequality by a negative number has the effect of reversing the inequality
sign, for example from < to > as shown below
is solved as follows;
dividing by -2 reverses the inequality sign resulting in:
To prove why the above is true, let us first understand the answer:
means that x can take on any value as long as that value is greater than -4 and the original equation will be
true. To prove this, let us try different values of x;
First, try x = 1, 1 is greater than -4 so substituting x = 1 in the original expression should give a mathematically
correct inequality
which is true.
Next, let us try a value of x less than -4, for example, substitute x = -5
but 7 is not less than 5 which means that the solution we got as x > -4 is true. Try substituting different values
of x into the expression -3 - 2x < 5 and no matter what value you choose, as long as x > -4 the solution should
always hold true.
Solving Polynomial Inequalities

Solving more complicated polynomial inequalities is not so straightforward.
For example, solve the inequality below for x
Solution:
If the above had been an equation, finding the roots by factoring or completing the square would be all thats
necessary. However, inequalities are different. The above is solved as follows:
First factor the expression on the left
which means that either the solution to the expression on the left is x = -2 or x = 6 but this is not the end.
Next you have to test the different regions on the number line to find out exactly where the solution to the
entire inequality lies. First test x < -2 by picking a number on the left of -2 on the number line and then
substitute it into the original inequality i.e.
which is not true and so we conclude that x is not less than -2.
Next we test x > -2 and by picking a number on the right of -2 on the number line, but for the time being this
number has to be less than 6
which is true and so we conclude that x > -2. But since we had 2 roots, we have to test x = 6 as well.
We don't have to test for x < 6 since any number less than 6 is also greater than -2 and we already proved
that x > -2. So we test for x > 6
which is not true, 9 is not less than zero and so the x is not greater than 6. This implies that x < 6
And thus the solution to x^2 - 4x - 12 < 0 can be given as:
which means that x lies on the region on the number line between -2 and +6

After we are comfortable with solving basic inequalities and graphing linear equations, we can move on to
solving linear inequalities in two variables and graphing regions. Solving linear equalities is just combining the
concepts of inequalities and linear equations. If we think about how we graphed inequalities on a number line,
it is a very similar process with linear equations.
Consider the inequality
If we recall how to solve this, we would isolate and solve for x
Then we would see that x is greater than -5, which means we would draw an open circle around -5 shade
everything to the right of -5.
The steps for solving two variable linear inequalities are very similar. Let's try a couple examples.
(1) Graph the region of the linear inequality
Looking at this inequality, we should notice a number of things. It is in Slope-Intercept form (y = mx+b), which
means we can identify the slope and y-intercept of this inequality. We will deal with the inequality sign once we
have graphed the image. For now, we will treat it as an equal sign.
First, let's construct the graph. We can do this a number of ways, either by plugging in x values and obtaining
their corresponding y values, or we could use the slope and y intercept in the inequality. Let's plot the y
intercept and use the slope to form the line. we can see that b = 3, so the y intercept will be (0,3). The slope is m
= -2, so we can go down 2 and right 1 (-2/1) or up 2 and left 1 (2/-1) to find the next point on the line.
We can also solve for these points on the line algebraically using the slope formula.
We know a point on the line (the y intercept) and the slope, so we can solve for another point.
We have the point (-1,5). Let's find the other one.
We have another point (1,1). We can see these are the points we graphed on the line. We have found them
both geometrically and algebraically.
Now we can look at the inequality sign. We notice that we have a less than or equal to sign ().
Let's first think about the equal to part of the inequality. When graphing inequalities in one variable, we would
draw circle around the value and shade the circle because it is included in the inequality. With equations
in two variables, we don't have a point - we have a line. We would treat the line in a similar fashion, by bolding
the line to denote that every point on the line is included in the inequality. In other words, every x and y value
on the line will make the inequality statement true.
Now we have to think about the less than part of the inequality. For inequalities of one variable, we would
shade a line. In this case, we will need to shade a region on one side of the line. Intuitively, if we wanted to
shade a region less than the line, we would shade the region to the left, or under the line. Most of the time, the
region below the line will be less than and the region above the line will be greater than. Let's shade the region
below the curve.
To make sure this is the correct region, we can pick any point in the region, plug it into the inequality and see if
the statment is true. We can see that the region contains the origin, so let's plug in the point (0,0).
This is a true statement, so we have graphed the correct region for the inequality.
We can also make a table of points located inside and outside of the region and see if they satisfy the linear
inequality when substituted for x and y.
Let's try another example

(2) Graph the linear inequality
We can see that this linear inequality is in Standard Form (Ax + By = C). We could easily find the x and y
intercepts by setting each variable to 0 and solving for the other, but let's put it in slope-intercept form.
Remember that when we divide by a negative number, we need to flip the inequality sign. Now we have a less
than instead of a greater than sign. Now that we have the inequality in slope intercept form (y = mx+b), let's
graph the line and worry about the inequality later. The y intercept is b = -2, so the point is (0,-2). Our slope is m
= 1/2, wo we can rise 1 and run 2 to find the next point.
Now that we have our line, we can look at the inequality sign.
We notice that we now have a less than sign (<). In one variable inequalities, we would put an open circle
around the value to denote that it is not contained in the inequality. Similarly, since it is only less than and
not less than or equal to, we will need to make the line a dotted line to denote that every value on the line is not
contained in the inequality.
Since it is less than, we will graph the region under the line. To check, we can either use a point in the region
and see if the statement is true, or pick a point not in the region and see if the statement is false. It is easy to
use the origin (0,0) because the number 0 is easy to operate on. Since it is not in the region we want to check,
we will plug it in the inequality and see if the statement is false.
This statement is indeed false, so the region containing the origin is not the shaded region.
Slope / Gradient
The concept of slope is used in various sections of mathematics and worked with quite often when solving and
graphing linear equations. The slope or degree of slant of a line is defined as the degree of steepness or incline
of the line.
In more mathematical terms, given a plane containing both the x-axis and y-axis, slope can be defined as
change in the y-coordinate divided by change in the x-coordinate. Slope is usually denoted by m
where the symbol means change in. The change in y is the distance between both y values, which is also called
the rise. The change in x is the distance between both x values, which is also called the run. The slope is also
known as the rise over run.
Given two points (X1,Y1) and (X2,Y2)
which is the same as
Although it doesn't matter which point you start with, consistency is a must. Below is an example of a WRONG
way to calculate the slope
whatever point you choose as the starting point in the numerator MUST be the same point you pick in the
denominator
Slope can be positive or negative or zero:
Positive slope means that the line is increasing, in other words moving from left to right.
Negative slope means that the line is decreasing or moving from right to left.
Zero slope on the other hand means that the line is horizontal i.e. parallel to the x-axis.
In some cases, the slope may be infinite or undefined and this means that the line is vertical i.e. parallel to the
y-axis. This occurs when there is no change in the x-axis i.e. (X1 - X2 = 0)
The magnitude of the slope shows the steepness of the line; the greater the magnitude of the line the steeper it
is.
Slope Intercept Form

Given a straight line with the slope-intercept form of a line, y = mx + b, where m represents the slope and b is a
constant which is also called the y-intercept. The y-intercept is defined as the point on the y-axis at which the
line (whose equation is given) cuts the y-axis.
Keeping in mind that at any point on the y-axis the x-coordinate is zero (x = 0), an easy way to get the yintercept from the equation of a line y = mx + b would be to simply set x = 0 such that y = b.
For a given straight line, the slope is consistent along the line so it wouldn't matter what points on the line you
pick to calculate the slope.
Gradient in Geometry
In geometry, given a line that makes an angle with the x-axis, the slope m is defined as
In geometry, the gradients of a lines can be used to determine their relationship i.e. whether the lines
are parallel to each other or perpendicular. For example: Given two lines with slopes m1 and m2
The two lines are parallel if and only if their slopes are equal (i.e. m1 = m2) and they are not
coincident (i.e. don't lie on top of each other) or if they both are vertical and therefore have
undefined slopes (i.e. m1 = and m2 =
The two lines are perpendicular if the product of their slopes is -1 (i.e. m1 x m2 = -1) or one has
a slope of 0 (a horizontal line) and the other has an undefined slope (a vertical line) i.e m1 = 0
and m2 = or m1 = and m2 = 0.
From the above, notice that given two perpendicular lines and the slope of one line, you can always find the
other slope from the relationship
i.e.
Slope in Calculus
Calculus mostly deals with curves whose slopes/gradients may be harder to compute using the algebraic
method. When dealing with curves, the gradient changes from point to point so we can only define it at a single
point. The gradient at that point is defined as the gradient of the tangent line to that point. The tangent line is
defined as a line to a curve that only touches one point on the curve.
Given a simple curve y = x^2

The gradient at a given point say (1,1) is found by taking the derivative of the equation and then substituting for
the point i.e.
gradient m at (1,1)
Examples of Slope / Gradient

(1) Find the slope of the line between the points (1,2) and (3,6).
(2) Find the slope of the line 3y = 2x + 1

This equation is not in slope intercept form, so we divide by three to find our m value.
(3) Find the slope of the line 30 - 2y = -0.5x

Isolate y to put the equation in slope intercept form.
(4) Find the gradient of the given line y = mx + 3 at the point (2,5)
substitute for x and y
such that
Functions
A function expresses the relationship between variables. Values of these variables can be numbers or
nonnumerical objects such as geometric figures, functions, or even nonmathematical objects. There are many
different kinds of functions, but we will dealing mainly with functions of numerical objects in terms of x.
A function describes a rule or process that associates each input of the function to a unique output. When we
were first introduced to equations in two variables, we saw them in terms of x and y
where x is the independent variable and y is the dependent variable. When we have a function, x is
the input and f(x) is the output.
where f is a function of x that doubles any value x assigned to it, i.e.
Commonly functions are denoted by the letter f but this is not a strict notation since other letters may also be
used. Typically thef(x) takes place of the y value to explicitly identify the independent variable being used in the
function.
A fundamental reason why we use this notation is because functions do not deal only with equations, but as
verbal descriptions and mapping one element to another (the natural numbers corresponding to prime
numbers, for instance). Functions are also defined by expressions of at least one variable. Once we formulate a
rule for the expression in terms of the variable, then it is a function, where the expression is the defining
formula for the function.
x is known as the argument of the function. For each value of the argument x there must exist only one value
of f(x) for it to be considered a function. The domain of a function is defined as the set containing the different
values of the argument. The rangeof a function is defined as the set containing the values of the function for the
given domain.
For example, given the equation
y is a function and x is its argument.
The above equation can also be written as
from which we can explicitly see that y is a function of x.

For the above, given the domain of x as {0,1,2}, the range of the function can be calculated by substituting the
different values ofx into the equation to produce the result set:
Vertical Line Test

Functions define a relationship for an expression to have one unique output for each input. For instance, an x
value must correspond to only one y value, but more than one x value can correspond to the same y value. A
way to test this relationship to see if an image on a graph is a function is to use the vertical line test. If we are
able to draw a vertical line at any point on the graph and have only one intersection point, then the graph is a
function. If there is more than one intersection point, it is not a function.
Let's determine if the following graphs are functions.
(1)
Every x value has a unique y value. This is a function.

(2)
Though two x values may have the same y value, each x value only has one y value. This is indeed a function.
(3)
We can see that at least one vertical line has intersects at more than one point with the graph. This is not a
function.
(4)
This one, however, is a function. Can you see the similarities between this graph and last one?
A way to use the vertical line test is to take a ruler, make it vertical, and move it along the graph to see if there
are are any points where there are two y values corresponding to an x value.
Odd Functions and Even Functions

Functions can be odd or even. Functions are said to be odd if they satisfy the identity below
which means that whenever the function takes a negative argument (-x), the result is always equal to the
negative value of the function with the positive argument (x).
For example, given the function f(x) = 3(x), solving for x = -1
and since
the function is odd.

Examples of odd functions:
(1)
(2)
Functions are said to be even if they satisfy the identity below
which means that for any negative value of the argument (-x), the result is always equal to the value of the
function with the positive argument (x). In other words, the negative has no effect on the value of the function.
For example, given the function
and also
Here is the graph of f(x) = x2
Knowing whether a function is even or odd can make it a lot easier to solve.
Composite Functions
Functions not only take on variables as arguments but can also take on other functions as arguments. For
example, given the following functions f(x) and g(x) where
Suppose you're asked to solve for f(g(x)). This would be asking you to find the function f of the function g(x). In
other words, use the function g(x) as the argument of the function f
but remember that
Compositions are also denoted as
Inverse Function
Some functions have inverses that have the effect of undoing whatever operations the function had done on a
variable. The inverse of a function can be thought of as the opposite of that function. For example, given a
function
and assuming that an inverse function for f(x) exists, let this function be g(x). The inverse function would have
the effect of the following:
The inverse of a function f(x) is more correctly denoted by
Remember, not all functions have an inverse!
Examples of Functions
Example 1
For the function
solve for the following
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Example 2
Determine whether the following function are even or odd
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
therefore, the function is odd
Example 3
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
function is niether even nor odd
Example 4
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
function is even
Example 5
Find the inverse of the given function
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 3
therefore;
FOIL Method
The FOIL method is an important algebra method that defines how two binomials are multiplied. A binomial is
a polynomial with two terms; and a polynomial is an expression of finite length where the variable is only
affected by addition, subtraction and multiplication but not division.
An example of a polynomial is given below
A binomial expression is of the following form
where each set of parentheses is a binomial. Thus a binomial is a can be factored into a product of two
binomials. Each term (each letter) is referred to as a monomial. The FOIL method is a standard algorithm for
solving binomials of the form above.
FOIL is an acronym for:
First - first multiply the first term in each set of the parentheses
Outside - then multiply the outside term in each set of the parentheses
Inside - then multiply the inside term in each set of the parentheses
Last - lastly multiply the last term in each set of the parentheses
Applying the FOIL method to the expression
would result in the following
where:
ac is the product of the First terms in each set of parentheses
ad is the product of the Outside terms in each set of parentheses
bc is the product of the Inside terms in each set of parentheses
bd is the product of the Last terms in each set of parentheses
The FOIL method is the same as a two-step distributive property method and the above algorithm can be
thought of as
which turns out as
Examples of the FOIL Method

Solve the following expressions
Example 1
Step 1
Step 2
Example 2
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Example 3
Step 1
Step 2
Example 4
Step 1
Example 5
Step 1
Step 2
Example 6
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Polynomials
A polynomial is defined as an expression of finite length consisting of variables with only positive whole number
exponents. For example:
is a polynomial of degree 2.
The degree of a polynomial is the exponent of the leading term of the polynomial. In the polynomial above,
each of the following refers to one term;
is one term; 4x is another term; and 4 is the last term. The leading
term is the term whose exponent has the highest value and is often the first term of the polynomial. In the
polynomial above, the leading term is
. A term is also referred to as a monomial; which means a polynomial
of one term. A term consists of a variable (in this case x) and a constant or coefficient (any number). This is true
despite there being no obvious variable attached to the last term as shown below:
Keeping in mind that any number to the power zero is one (i.e.
= 1), the above becomes:
Polynomials are commonly denoted by P(x), for example
Roots of Polynomials
Equating P(x) to zero and solving for x is referred to as the solving for the roots of P(x). A root of a
polynomial P(x) is defined as the value of x for which the polynomial equals zero. Roots of polynomials can be
either positive or negative or zero. Roots can also be real numbers or complex (imaginary) numbers. If a
polynomial has degree n, then there must exist n roots of that polynomial. If you were to graph a given
polynomial, the roots of the polynomial would be the points where the curve formed by the polynomial cuts the
x-axis (the x-intercepts).
Given the polynomial below
from the degree of the polynomial (3) we can tell that the polynomial will have 3 roots such that
If the roots of the above polynomial are , and , then these roots are related by
where each expression within a set of parentheses is known as a factor of the polynomial (i.e. (x - ) is a factor
of the polynomial).
Roots of the polynomial P(x) can be found by equating the polynomial to zero and then trying to substitute for
different values ofx to find out which ones make the equation equal to zero. This is known as factoring.
For example; find the roots of the polynomial
Step 1
First step is to equate the polynomial to zero
Step 2
next step is to try different values of x to find 3 that make the equation equal to zero
try substituting x = 1
this implies that x = 1 is a root of the polynomial and (x - 1) is a factor of the polynomial
but the degree of the given polynomial is 3 so we need to find 2 other roots to make a total of 3 roots
Step 3
try substituting x = -1
this implies that x = -1 is not a root of the polynomial

Step 4
this implies that x = 2 is a root of the polynomial and (x - 2) is a factor of the polynomial
Step 5
Step 6
Therefore the roots of the polynomial are given by x = {1,2,3} and this can be proved by expanding the factors,
i.e.
which is the same polynomial we started with!

If we look at the graph of this function, we can clearly see the roots of our function.
Quadratic Polynomials
Quadratic Polynomials are polynomials of degree 2; meaning that the leading term has a variable with an
exponent of two. Quadratic polynomials are very important in lower level algebra because of the special
properties they possess, and thus warrant an entire section of their own under quadratic equations.
Factorization
Factorization is defined as the process of breaking down a number or an expression into a product of different
numbers or expressions called factors. In other words, factorization refers to breaking down large and at times
complicated expressions into a product of smaller ones that are then easier to deal with. You can also think of
factorization as the opposite of distribution.
For example,
can be factored into
by extracting the common factor of 3x.
Factorization can be done in three ways:
by taking the difference of two squares
by grouping and
by breaking up the expression into perfect trinomials.
Factorization by Taking Difference of Two Squares
The difference of two squares is also known as the difference of perfect squares and refers to the mathematical
identity
The above identity is true regardless of the the coefficients of a and b, given that the coefficients are the same
for a and b.
This is because expanding (a + b)(a - b) results in similar terms that cancel each other out, i.e.
ab and ba are the same and thus can be added or subtracted, and in this case their difference is zero, which
leaves us with
Certain polynomials can be factored using the difference of two squares, but these polynomials must have
squares in them. For example
can be factored using the difference of two squares into
Similarly
can be factored using the same method into
This can be further factored using the same method into
By equating the polynomial to zero, the roots of the polynomial can be easily found from the factors.
Factorization by Grouping
Factorization by grouping involves separating the given expression into smaller groups and then factoring those
groups independently. The tricky part about this becomes choosing which expressions to group together. It
wouldn't make much sense to group expressions with odd coefficients with those with even coefficients but
there is no consensus on how to pick the different groups. It's up to you to decide what makes sense, and the
more practice you have with grouping, the more obvious it becomes.
For example, factor
solution
The first step is to pick which expressions to group together. In this case it should be obvious from the
coefficients.
Observe that the operator between the different sets of parentheses is an addition operator (+). This is
important to remember because only sum / difference operators are allowed.
Factoring the separate groups results in
The above is done by extracting the common factors to each set of parentheses.
Now observe that (x + 3) is a common factor to both expressions and can be factored out as:
Its important to remember that you should NEVER divide through by anything since you might lose some
factors by doing so.
Factorization into Perfect Square Trinomials

Perfect square trinomials refer to quadratic polynomials which can be factored into identical binomial
expressions. These quadratic polynomials are of the standard form:
and
For more on factoring quadratic polynomials, refer to section on quadratic equations.
Quadratic Equations
After learning about multiplying binomials using the FOIL method and discussing polynomials, we can move on
to working with quadratic equations.
Constructing a Quadratic Equation

We discovered that a polynomial is a product of two or more binomials. Let's consider the simple equality
If two quantities multiply to get zero, does a = 0 or b = 0? or both?

What about the following equality
where we substituted a = (x-2) and b = (x+3). Does x - 2 = 0 or x + 3 = 0, or do they both equal zero?
Let's recall the Zero Product Property , which states that when two quantities multiply to get zero, either one or
both of the quantities must be zero.
Because of this property, we can break the product into two equations and solve for x.
Solving for x, we get two different values : x = 2 and x = -3
So we have our solutions, but what does this mean? Observing the equations, we can see that they can be
worked with as two seperate linear equations. Let's set both of these equations equal to y and display them on
the graph to see if we can see what is going on when we multiply them together.
We can see where the lines hit the x axis (where y equals 0) at -3 and 2. Now let's graph the function when we
multiply these linear equations together.
Using the FOIL method of multiplying two binomials, we obtain the function
We have a polynomial function with degree two, which is called a quadratic function. Using the old fasion
method of plugging in x values, we can obtain their corresponding y values and graph the function.
Plotting the points, we obtain the image of a parabola.
All quadratic equations form the image of a parabola. Looking at the curve in relation to the linear equations,
we can make some conjectures about their relationship.
First, notice that the x intercepts of the linear equations are also the x intercepts of the quadratic function. This
makes sense, because the quadratic function is the product of both linear equations. Alone, the linear
equations have one value which makes them 0 - but the quadratic function (their product) is 0 either when x is
-3 or 2.
Observing the y intercepts, we can see that the y intercept of the the linear equation y = x + 3 is y = 3, the y
intercept of the equation y = x - 2 is y = -2, and the y intercept of the quadratic function is y = -6. There is a
relationship between them. In fact, the y intercept of the parabola is the product of the y intercepts of the linear
equations!
In fact, we can extend this even further. The product of the y value of both linear equations at any given x value
will yield y value for the quadratic function! This is why the x intercepts are the same, because if one y value
equals zero, than the quadratic function's y value at that x value will be 0.
Analyzing the graph a bit further, we can make a few more conjectures. Interestingly enough, the vertex of the
parabola (where the parabola switches directions or where the vertical line of symmetry touches the parabola)
is exactly where the distance between the two linear equations is the same from the x axis. Here is a graph
illustrating these conjectures
Relating Linear and Quadratic Equations
A quadratic can be represented as a product of linear expressions.
A quadratic function has the same x intercepts as its linear products.
A quadratic function's y intercept is the product of its linear components' y intercepts.
A quadratic function's y value anywhere on the graph can be found by the product of y values
of its linear components.
If the product or y values of the linear equations is positive, the y value of the quadratic will be
positive. If the product of y values of the linear equations is negative, the y value of the
quadratic will be negative.
A quadratic function's vertex is at the point in between the x intercepts where: if the parabola is
pointing upwards is the lowest point, if the parabola is opening downwards is the highest point.
Using these conjectures, let's try to construct a parabola given two lines.
Looking at the x intercepts of both lines, we know that the parabola will also have those x intercepts.
Multiplying the y intercepts : 2 * -3, we get the y intercept of the parabola : -6.
We also know that the vertex is located exactly in between the x intercepts. We can draw a vertical line to make
it look a little more clear.
Can you see the parabola yet? We know it goes through both x intercepts, and since the y intercept is below the
x intercepts, the parabola must open downward. We also know that the vertex is exactly in between both x
intercepts. We can find the y value of the vertex by multiplying y values of the linear components at the x value
where the line of symmetry hits the x axis. Once we have the y value of our vertex, we can sketch the parabola.
We have constructed the image of a parabola given two lines, and we did it without the equations of the lines.
This method of constructing the parabola from two lines isn't very popular and there are definitely easier ways
of graphing quadratic functions, but it is beneficial to do this activity to get acquainted with quadratic functions
and how they relate to their linear components.
Quadratic Expressions
A quadratic expression is defined as a polynomial of degree 2, which means that the leading term has a
variable with anexponent of 2.
A quadratic polynomial can also be given in a factored form as a product of two binomials. We have seen that
they can be represented as a product of linear expressions.
For example:
When these expressions are expanded, they take on the General Form of quadratics:
When quadratic expressions are defined as a function, they can take on two different forms - General and
Vertex Form.
Forms of Quadratic Functions

General Form
The general form for a quadratic function is given as:
When the quadratic expression is equated with 0, it is then a quadratic equation.

This is the most common form quadratic equations will take on as we work with them, and it is also the
simplified form after multiplying two binomials together. In this form, the expression is quadratic if and only if a
does not equal 0. If a does equal 0, the expression then becomes linear.
Perhaps the most important aspect of having the general form with the letter coefficients in front of the
variables is finding theroots, or x intercepts, of the equation by using the quadratic formula.
In General Form, the coefficient of a determines if the parabola opens up or down. If the coefficient a is
positive, the parabola will open upwards. If it is negative, it will open downwards.
Vertex Form
Quadratic Functions can also be written in Vertex Form, which let's algebraically represent where the vertex of
the parabola is located. The vertex is also either the minimum or the maximum of the parabola, depending on
if it opens upwards or downwards.
The point (x,y) of the vertex is given by (h,k) in the equation
Where h and k can be written in terms of the coefficients a,b, and c of the General Form
Given this quadratic function in general form, find the coordinate of its vertex and rewrite the function in vertex
form.
We plug the general form coefficients into our equations for h and k
The vertex of the quadratic funtion is (1,3).
Factored Form
The factored form of a quadratic function clearly gives the roots, or x intercepts of the equation.
where x1 and x2 are the x intercepts. This form also gives us the product of the quadratic's linear components
as we have seen before.
Graph the quadratic function in factored form
Finding the Roots of Quadratic Equations

When quadratic functions are equated to 0, they are then considered quadratic equations.
Solving quadratic equations is carried out by finding the roots of the equations, which are the x intercepts of
the parabola. This is where the parabola hits the x axis.
where m and n are considered the roots of the equation at (m,0) and (n,0).
There are many different ways of finding the roots of a quadratic equation. Some are more useful than others
given the information that we have.
Graphing
Given the graph, we can look at where the parabola touches the x axis.
We can see in this graph that the parabola touches the x axis in two places: (-2,0) and (3,0). Therefore, the roots
of the equation are -2 and 3. The equation can then be written as a product.
Sometimes, it is not that easy to see where the the roots are located. We can also solve for the roots
algebraically.

The quadratic formula can be used to solve for the roots given the general form of any quadratic equation. It
can be also used to determine how many roots the quadratic equation has.
The Fundamental Theorem of Quadratic Polynomials

Suppose m and n are numbers such that
The sum of m and n is 18 and the product is 10. Solving the second equation for m and subsituting back into
the first equation, we get
We can multiply both sides by n and put all the terms on one side to get
Notice that this looks like a quadratic equation in the general form. This is not a coincidence. The solutions, or
roots, of this quadratic equation will be the two numbers whose sum is 10 and product is 18. This result is
called Viete's Theorem, which is most commonly known as The Fundamental Theorem of Quadratic Polynomials.
*If m and n are solutions to x2 + bx + c = 0
then
In any quadratic polynomial whose leading term has a coefficient of 1, the sum of the roots is the negative of the
coefficient of the second term (the x term) and the product of the roots is the last term (the constant term).
In other words, given the general form of a quadratic equation
if a = 1,
-b = sum of the roots of the quadratic polynomial
c = product of the roots of the quadratic polynomial
which is the same as (keeping in mind that a = 1)
The above relationship is used to find the roots of a quadratic equation using factoring.
Factoring Quadratic Equations

The roots of a quadratic equation can be found by factoring the coefficients of the second and last terms. This
only works for certain quadratic polynomials which are easily factorable.
For example, given the polynomial below
finding the roots of the quadratic polynomial by factoring involves finding the factors of b and c. In other words,
finding values that when added give b and when multiplied give c. It's not always easy to find such 'nice'
quadratic polynomials for which this method is easy to use but learning it is key to understanding other
methods of finding roots of polynomials.
For example, given the quadratic equation below
when asked to find the roots using factoring, the result would be
where 1 and 2 are the roots of the equation.

Using the relationship discussed before, you should notice that the sum of the roots is the coefficient of the
second term and the product of the roots is the third term, i.e.
Therefore, the given quadratic equation can be thought of as
Since not all quadratic polynomials are easily factorable, there is a need for another method to find the roots of
quadratic equations.

Earlier we talked about square quadratic polynomials of the forms (x + )(x + ) and how these expand to
become of the general form:
The roots of the quadratic polynomial above are -
and -
from
which means that
The above is easy to solve, by taking the square root of both sides of the equation such that
which means that
but since a quadratic polynomial must have 2 roots, we say that
which is better written as
Finding the roots of a quadratic polynomial by completing the square involves modifying the quadratic
polynomial such that it becomes a square quadratic polynomial. For example, given the following quadratic
equation
The first step in changing the above into a square quadratic equation is moving the last term to the other side
of the equal sign. In this case it involves adding 12 to each side:
The second step is to add the square of half of the coefficient of the second term to both sides of equation. In
this case you would add 4:
The equation on the left hand side is now a square quadratic equation. (Adding or subtracting the same
number from both sides of an equation mathematically does not change the equation).
is now of the same form as
and can easily be factored as
Thus we end up with
The third step is to find the square root of both sides of the equation:
to end up with
Whenever you take the square root of a number you always end up with two results; the positive and negative,
in this case +4 and -4.
The last step is to solve for x, in this case by subtracting 2 from both sides of the equation.
and
thus x = 2 and x = -6 are the roots of the equation, which is better written as x = {-6,2}.
Quadratic Equations and Geometry

Quadratic Equations come up on various occasions in geometry. The simplest quadratic equation, x2=k,
describes the relationship between the sides of a square (x) and it's area (k).
In fact, this is why quadratics have their name. The variable is squared, which in geometry forms a square, a
figure with four sides.
We can represent this relationship through the graph of f(x) = x2.
When the side of a square is 1, the area is 1. When the side is 2, the area is 4, and so on. We do not consider the
side of the parabola to the left of y axis because we cannot have negative length in geometry.
Other area formulas, such as the area of a circle, can be represented by quadratic equations.

The quadratic formula is a fundamental formula used to find the roots of quadratic equations. Roots of
quadratic polynomials are defined as the values of the variables for which the quadratic polynomial is equal to
zero. For example, given the general form of a quadratic polynomial
the roots of the above are defined as the values of x for which the above polynomial is equal to zero, i.e.
Because they are degree 2, quadratic polynomials ALWAYS have 2 roots. These roots can be positive, negative
or zero and either real or complex (imaginary).
The quadratic formula is given as:
where
and in the case where the discriminant is 0 (which means there is one root)
Although it is important to memorize the formula, understanding how and why it exists is better.
Deriving the Quadratic Formula

A more general form of algorithm for finding roots of quadratic equations by completing squares leads to the
derivation of what in known as the Quadratic Formula. This is a general formula which can be used to solve for
the roots of any quadratic equation.
Given a quadratic equation
then the roots of the equation can be found by completing the square as below:
This can be further simplified as follows
Putting everything under the
under one denominator results in
The above equation is known as the Quadratic Formula.

From this derivation, we can generalize a few equalities based on the formula.
For all real numbers b and c,
For all real numbers b and c,
For all real numbers a, b, and c where a does not equal 0,
The Discriminant of the Quadratic Formula

The part of the quadratic formula under the radical sign is referred to as the discriminant. This is because this
expression
is what determines if the quadratic equation whose roots we're trying to find has real
roots, imaginary (complex) roots, or has the same root repeated.
is important because this
expression is under the square root sign. Remember that the square root of a number greater than zero (a
positive number) is a real number, the square root of zero is zero and the square root of a number less than
zero (a negative number) is an imaginary or complex number. Thus the value of
nature of the roots of the quadratic equation.
1.
If
i.e.
This quadratic equation is said to have one repeated root. For example:
looking at only
says a lot about the
The above would indicate that the equation has one repeated root, and we already saw that it does
indeed have one repeated root.
The roots of the equation are given by x = {-2,-2} which is the same root repeated.
2.
If
then
is greater than zero and the quadratic equation whose roots we're finding is said to
have real roots. For example, if asked to find the roots of the given quadratic equation
looking at only
and 1 is greater than zero, we can conclude that the quadratic equation has real roots, which is proved
by finding the roots of the equation using the quadratic formula.
and
Therefore the roots of the equation are given by x={-2,-1} which are both real numbers.
3.
If
is less than zero and the quadratic equation whose roots we're finding is said to have
complex or imaginary roots. A complex or imaginary number is denoted by "i", e.g. 4i is an imaginary
number 4.
Given the quadratic equation
, look at only
to find the roots.
which is a negative indicating that the roots of the quadratic equation are imaginary. Knowing this, the roots
can be found as follows:
Substituting into the quadratic formula
Since we already know that
is a negative number, we can find the roots by making the following
adjustment to the quadratic formula:
notice the i in front of the radical sign indicates that the number is imaginary.
which results in
which gives the roots

Written by tutor Susan L.
Completing the square may seem a bit odd, at first, since the easiest way to learn it is to use it to solve
quadratic equations. You remember quadratic equations -- those that look like this:
Sure, there are other methods that you can use to solve basic quadratic equations (like factoring or the
quadratic formula); however, completing the square is a good tool that you will need when working on other
types of equations like parabolas, eclipses, circles, and hyperbolas.
Follow along with this example:
Solve the quadratic equation:
Now, you can see that solving this by factoring is a bit impossible.
You could certainly use the quadratic formula to solve it, but you could also use completing the square to find
the solution as shown below:
First you must prepare the equation (using steps 1 3).

STEP 1:
First, move the ones number or loose number over to the other side of the equals sign
by subtracting 9 from BOTH sides.
STEP 2:
Next, we want the coefficient of the squared term to be ONE. So, we factor a 3 out of the left terms.
STEP 3:
Then we divide BOTH sides by 3
Now we are ready to complete the square

STEP 4:
Take the coefficient of the non squared x term (in this case 2), divide it by 2 and then square it
-->
so we ADD ONE to BOTH sides of the equation
STEP 5:
Now we can factor the left side, and combine like terms on the right.
STEP 6:
Since we are solving for x, we need to take the square root of BOTH sides.
Remember, the result of taking a square root leads to both a positive and negative result.
STEP 7:
Now we subtract 1 from both sides, in order to get x by itself on the left side.
The FINAL SOLUTION:

The solution(s) to this quadratic equation are the following:
AND
To be mathematically proper, a solution should be shown in terms of i if there are negative values beneath the
square root sign.
So, the properly written solution(s) to this quadratic equation are the following:
AND
Why choose complete the square?

Why would you choose to complete the square rather than using the other methods you already know?
Well, completing the square really comes in handy when converting parabolic, hyperbolic, circular, etc.
equations to their standard form. The reasoning behind converting to standard form has to do with gathering
very interesting information directly from the equation.
For example, the standard form of a parabolic equation looks like this:
This form of the equation provides us with the vertex of the parabola, which is found at the point (h, k).
Starting with a typical hyperbolic equation:
you can see that we cannot easily determine the vertex from this equation.
But, if we convert this into the standard form, we can easily see this information. So we will convert this
equation by completing the square.
STEP 1:
First, we want to move the ones number or loose number to the right of the equals sign by subtracting 24 from
both sides.
We really want all the xs on the left side of the equation so we also add 3y to BOTH sides.
STEP 2:
Complete the square.
Take the non-squared x-term and divide by 2 then square that value.
6/2 = 3 --> 32 = 9 --> so we ADD NINE to BOTH sides of the equation
STEP 3:
Now we can factor the left side, and combine like terms on the right side.
STEP 4:
Remember, we want this to look like the standard form:
So we want to also factor a 3 out of the right side.
Now, we have the standard form of this equation, and we can see that h = -3 and k = 5.
This provides us with the vertex of the parabola, which is at the point (h, k) or (-3, 5) in this case.
Completing the Square Quiz

Question 1. In order to complete the square, what do you do to the middle or non-squared x term? (choose 1)
(i.e. x2 + 6x = 15)
A.
Multiply by 2 and then square the result
Correct Answer
B.
Divide by 2 and then square the result
C.
Multiply by 2 and then add one to the result
The correct answer here would be B.

Question 2. What do you do with the result from Question #1? (choose 1)
A.
Subtract it from the left side
B.
Add it to the left side
C.
Subtract it from BOTH sides
Correct Answer
D.
Add it to BOTH sides
E.
Subtract it from the right side
F.
Add it to the right side
The correct answer here would be D.

Question 3. When CAN'T you use completing the square ? (choose 1)
A.
To solve a quadratic equation
B.
To convert the equation of a circle to standard form
C.
To find the vertex of a parabola
Correct Answer
D.
To find the intersection of two lines
E.
To avoid using the quadratic equation
Complex Numbers
In algebra, there are two types of numbers: real numbers and imaginary numbers. Real numbers refer to any
ordinary number (e.g. 1, 2, 3 . . .) while imaginary numbers are . . . well . . . imaginary! They don't really exist,
they are represented by a real number with the letter i next to it. For example, 3i is an imaginary number.
Complex numbers are those consisting of a real part and an imaginary part, i.e.
where a is the real part and bi is the imaginary part.

Imaginary numbers are called so because they lie in the imaginary plane, they arise from taking square roots of
negative numbers. The i on an imaginary number is equal to the square root of negative one, i.e.
The i was introduced in order to simplify the problem of taking square roots of negative numbers. For example,
if we can find the square root of negative nine as follows:
using properties of square roots, the above becomes
and since
is represented by i
Properties of Imaginary Numbers

Addition
Imaginary numbers behave like ordinary numbers when it comes to addition and subtraction:
Multiplication
From the section on square roots, you should know that the following is true:
Therefore, it should follow that the following should also be true:
since i = -1, and
Exponents
For any even number n, the following is always true
if an only if the following is also true
For example, given n = 4, an even number:
Conversely, if
is an odd number, then the following is true:
For example; given
where n = 6
then
For any odd number m greater than 1, the following is always true:
Whether i is positive or negative depends on the value of m. When working with with odd number powers of i,
you always split the powers into a sum of even and odd numbers. For example:
which is the same as
The even part of the exponent determines whether i is positive or negative as determined in the previous
property.
Division
Imaginary numbers can be divided just as any other number if there is only one term:
If there are two terms divided by two terms, we use the complex conjugate
To evaluate the following complex number, we multiply by the complex conjugate over itself.
We multiply by the complex conjugate of the denominator to eliminate the complex number and make it a real
constant.
As mentioned earlier, complex numbers consist of both a real and an imaginary part. Any imaginary number
can also be considered as a complex number with the real part as zero, i.e.
It is important to remember that the real and imaginary parts of the complex number do no interact directly,
for example:
When adding or subtracting complex numbers, add the real part to the real part and the imaginary part to the
imaginary part:
Multiplication and division can be done on a complex number using either a real or imaginary number, i.e.
It is important to remember that when writing a complex or imaginary number, do not write the imaginary part
in the denominator like this:
In such situations, we rationalize the denominator to become:
For more on rationalization, refer to the section on rationalization.
Complex Numbers Examples

Example 1
Solve the following
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
remember that i x i = -1
Step 4
Example 2
Evaluate the following:
Step 1
This example serves to emphasize the importance of exponents on i. The first step is to inspect all the
exponents and apply the properties we listed above.
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
putting it all together
Factor Theorem
Written by tutor Eric J.
Overview of the Factor Theorem

The Factor Theorem is an algebraic topic that involves finding the roots (or zeros) of a polynomial function.
There are two methods that one can use in discovering the roots:
Trial and Error Method
Berry Method (for binomial functions only)
The definition for factor theorem is for a function, f(x) and when f(s)=0 then (x-s) is a factor of the polynomial.
The other factors can be found using long division or synthetic division once (x-s) has been established.
Polynomials
All polynomials have the same basic form, the only difference is what degree they are i.e. 2nd degree,
3rd degree,..., to nthdegree.
Example 1 - Ax2 + Bx + C (2nd degree or binomial)
Example 2 - Ax3 + Bx2 + Cx + D (3rd degree or trinomial)
Note- Where A,B,C,D are constants
Factoring into Binomials

Factoring a polynomial of the 2nd degree into binomials is the most basic concept of the Factor Theorem. For
example, given the polynomial f(x) = x2 + 6x + 5, the factors are (x+1) and (x+5), which make the roots or zeros of
the function -1 and -5. Lets take a look at how I arrived to this conclusion:
With the function given above you can start always on your scratch paper by writing down (x+?)(x+?) this will be
the same for all functions where the constant in front of the x2 term is 1. The key is finding what the question
marks are. This can be achieved by using the Berry Method. The question I would ask myself is what two same
numbers add to be 6 and multiply to be 5 (Constants B and C).
Incorporating the Berry Method
As you can see in the above diagram I placed 5 and 6 in the upper and lower part of the X. And the 1 and 5 in
the left and right part of the X, and as you can see 5 and 1 do add to be 6 and 5 and 1 do multiply to be 5. So
the roots are -5 and -1. This diagram can be used in any other similar examples so a student can easily evaluate
the roots of the binomial. Lets take a look at one more example...
Suppose you see the function f(x) = x2 - 14x + 45 and you are asked to find the roots. What is the correct
answer? You can use the Berry method diagram again if needed or just ask yourself what two same numbers
add to be negative 14 and multiply to be positive 45. In this case it is negative 5 and negative 9. So the roots
would be positive 5 and positive 9.
(x-5)(x-9) = 0, where x equals 5 and 9.
Factoring into Trinomials

Factoring a polynomial into a set of trinomials can be a bit more difficult but can also be easily achieved as well.
In this case, you will have to use a trial and error method to find a factor (x-s). Suppose you have the function
f(x) = x3 - 6x2 + 11x - 6 and you need to find the zeros of the function. The zeros turn out to be 1, 2, and 3. Lets
see how we got to these answers:
Trial and Error Method

With the trial and error method you will need to try and guess a number that makes the polynomial equal to
zero. This sounds like a time consuming task but most algebra texts will have a zero of a function between
negative 5 and positive 5. Say you try plugging in 4 into the above equation. If you do, you will get an answer of
f(x) = 6 which is not equal to zero so 4 cannot be a root. But say you plug in 1, now you do get f(x) = 0 so 1 is a
root so you can conclude that (x-1) is indeed a factor of the polynomial.
Using Synthetic Division to find other factors

Now that we have established that (x-1) is one factor of the trinomial you can use synthetic division to find the
other two factors.
So by synthetic division another factor of the trinomial is (x2 - 5x + 6) which can further be factored into
(x-2)(x-3) (See above notes on factoring into binomials.)
So now f(x) can be written as f(x) = (x-1)(x-2)(x-3). So to find the roots you set each of these factors equal to zero.
(x-1)(x-2)(x-3) = 0, where x equals 1, 2, and 3.
Conclusion
Factoring polynomials can seem difficult at first but with practice it become easy and second nature. The main
thing is to practice similar examples to the ones I have given in this help section to gain confidence. Always
remember practice makes perfect.
Factor Theorem Quiz

True or false? When you factor a 3rd degree polynomial it factors into trinomials.
Correct Answer
A.
True
B.
False
The correct answer here would be A.

True or false? If given a polynomial function f(x) and f(s)=1, then (x-s) is a factor of the polynomial.
A.
True
Correct Answer
B.
False

True or false? The trial and error method is used in factoring a polynomial of the 3rd degree.
Correct Answer
A.
True
B.
False

True or false? You cannot use synthetic division to find other factors of a 3rd degree polynomial.
A.
True
Correct Answer
B.
False

True or false? Practice makes perfect.
Correct Answer
A.
True
B.
False
Remainder Theorem
Before tackling Remainder theorem, you might want to revisit long division (also known as synthetic division)
and quadratic equations. Just like numbers, polynomials can be divided through by numbers.
The Remainder Theorem is a useful mathematical theorem that can be used to factorize polynomials of any
degree in a neat and fast manner.
The Remainder Theorem states that when you divide a polynomial P(x) by any factor (x - a); which is not
necessarily a factor of the polynomial; you'll obtain a new smaller polynomial and a remainder, and this
remainder is the value of P(x) at x = a, i.e P(a)
Remainder Theorem operates on the fact that a polynomial is completely divisible once by its factor to obtain a
smaller polynomial and a remainder of zero. This provides an easy way to test whether a value a is a root of the
polynomial P(x).
For example, given a polynomial P(x), and also given that a is a root of the polynomial, then when P(x) is
divided by the factor (x - a), the result should be a smaller polynomial P1(x) and a remainder zero.
Below is an example that serves to prove the remainder theorem
prove that x = 1 is a root of P(x),

solution:
which implies that x = 1 is a root of the polynomial P(x), and (x - 1) is a factor of P(x)
Therefore if we were to synthetically divide through P(x) by (x - 1), we should get a new smaller polynomial and
a remainder of zero:
Remainder Theorem Examples

The first step of syntheic division is to arrange the polynomial and the factor in the format below. The factor is
the divisor and is on the outside, while the polynomial is the dividend and goes under the division bar.
The next step is to divide the first term of the polynomial (the first term should be the one with the highest
power) by the x part of the factor. In this case, you divide x3 by x, to get x2 which you then write at the top of the
division bar.
Next you multiply the term that you wrote at the top by the entire divisor, in this case you multiply x2 by (x 1) to get (x3 - x2)which you then subtract from the polynomial under the division bar as shown below.
By subtracting, you get rid of the term with the largest exponent to reduce the size of the polynomial which is a
remainder as shown below:
Now we have a new polynomial for which we repeat the second step. In this example, we divide -5x2 by x and
add the result which is -5xto the term already at the top of the division bar
Next we repeat the third step, we multiply this result which is on top of the division bar (only the most recently
added) by the entire divisor and then subtract what you get from the divident polynomial, as shown in this
step below:
Once again we have a new polynomial under the division bar.
As you have probably guessed, we repeat the second step by dividing the first term of the polynomial by
the x part of the divisor and add the result to whatever is already on top of the division bar.
Next we multiply the most recently added term by the entire divisor and again subtract the result from the
dividend polynomial.
Now the subtraction step is repeated to obtain a new polynomial.
The remainder here is zero because we have completely divided through P(x) by the factor (x - 1). When you
reach this step, you're done, dividing any further by zero would result in zero.
Now lets try to use the remainder theorem to find a value of P(-1), to see what we result with. We already know
that x = -1 is not a root of the polynomial P(x)
The first step is the same as in the previous example; arrange the divisor and dividend on the outside and
inside of the division bar respectively.
Next we perform the first division; the first term of the dividend by the x term of the divisor
Then comes the multiplication; the most recent result by the entire divisor and subtract the result from the
dividend
The subtraction gets rid of the term with the largest power and yields a new dividend under the division bar.
We once again divide the first term of the dividend by the x term of the divisor and add the result to whatever is
already on top of the division bar.
Next we repeat the multiplication step
Then we subtract the result from the dividend to obtain a new polynomial dividend.
Once again we divide the first term of the dividend by the x term of the divisor.
Multiplication once again:
Then subtraction:
and we're left with a remainder. We can't continue division any further since the x term in the divisor has a
higher exponent (x1) than the x in the dividend polynomial (which in this case happens to be x0) and we don't
want to end up with negative exponents so we stop there and say that whatever is left is the remainder which
in this case is -24.
Next we check to see if the value of P(-1) is the same as the remainder obtained above
Thus we have proved the remainder theorem. You may try a few more values of x as a way of practicing
synthetic division of polynomials.
Solving Polynomials Using the Remainder Theorem

From the section on polynomials, we know that the root of a polynomial P(x) is defined as the value of x for
which the polynomial is equal to zero.
Using Remainder Theorem, we can redefine a root as a value a for which the factor (x - a) divides through the
polynomial P(x) to get a remainder of zero. In other words it divides through the polynomial completely.
The remainder theorem is especially useful in finding the roots of polynomials of a large degree (4 or more). By
finding the one root and using it to synthetically divide through the polynomial, we're able to obtain a smaller
polynomial for which we repeat the process until we find the last root.
The example below better explains the steps involved;
Given the polynomial P(x) below, find all its roots.
Solution:
From the degree of the polynomial P(x) which is 5, we can tell that P(x) will have 5 roots.
The first step is to use small numbers values of x to find which ones will give a value of zero ie we need to find
So we first attempt x = 0, we substitute for x = 0 into P(x)
since P(0) is not equal to zero, we can safely conclude that 0 is not a root of P(x)
Next we move on to another number, let's try substituting for x = -3
P(-3) = 0 which means that -3 is a root of the polynomial and that (x + 3) is a factor of the polynomial. So now
we can use synthetic division to get a smaller polynomial
We obtain a new polynomial, lets call this polynomial f(x)
We then repeat the process for f(x). We try to find a root of f(x) by trial and error
First we try x = 1
f(1) is not equal to zero, so we move on to another value of x

Try x = 3
f(3) = 0 which implies that x = 3 is a root of the polynomial and (x-3) is a factor.
Next we divide f(x) by (x - 3)
We obtain a new polynomial g(x) and a remainder of zero
We repeat the process one last time.

Since we can see that g(x) is a polynomial of degree 2 and that there only addition operators in the polynomial,
we can conclude the that one of the roots of g(x) must be a negative.
So we try to substitute for x = -4
since g(4) is equal to zero, we conclude that x = -4 is a root of the polynomial and (x+4) is a factor, which allows
us to perform synthetic division on g(x)
from which we get the last factor of the P(x) as (x + 3) and thus the root as x = -3.
So now we can rewrite P(x) as
and the roots of P(x) are x = {4,-3,-3,3}
Exponents
Exponents are algebraic operators that are used to multiply a number by itself a certain number of times.
Exponents are also known as powers of numbers. Exponents are written as
where a is referred to as the base and n is known as the exponent, and the whole expression is said to
be: a raised to the power of n.
is the same as saying: multiply a by itself n times. i.e.
where the last term is the nth term.

An exponent can be positive or negative, whole or fractional, a value or a variable and all these cases are dealt
with differently.
Positive Exponents
Positive Exponents or powers have the effect of multiplying the base by itself as many times as the value of the
exponent. As a general form, we say that if n is positive, then
is the same as multiplying a by a, n times.

For example
is the same as multiplying 3 by itself 4 times, i.e.
Raising a number or variable by the power of two is in effect squaring the number.
Similarly, raising a number or variable to the power of three is in effect cubing the number.
Negative Exponents
Negative exponents or powers have the effect of reciprocating the number or variable on which they appear,
i.e.
observe that the denominator now contains the base raised to the positive power. In other words, numbers
raised to negative exponents are the same as finding the reciprocal or inverse of the same number raised to
the positive base. (Reciprocal means 1 divided by the number).
For example
The only exception to the rule above is if the base is zero. Remember that dividing by zero is not allowed, and
zero raised to a negative power would result in 1 divide by zero:
which is not allowed.
Special Exponents
Certain numbers as exponents cause the base to behave in a special way.
Zero Exponent
As a general rule, any variable or non-zero number raised to the power zero is equal to one.
This is always true regardless of what the base a is. The base can be a non-zero number or a variable, positive
or negative and, as long as it is raised to the power zero, it will equal to one. The only exception is the number
zero itself because when zero is raised to the power zero, the result is still zero.
So it is important to remember that any other number, except zero, when raised to the power of zero is equal
to one. For example:
Positive One Exponent

The number one is another interesting exponent. Any number raised to the power of positive one is equal to
the number itself. This is regardless of whether the number is positive or negative.
and
Odd and Even Whole Number Exponents

When a positive number is raised to an odd or even whole number, the result is always positive. Negative
numbers, on the other hand, behave differently.
When a negative number is raised to an even whole number power, the result will ALWAYS be a positive
number. For example:
The above is also true if the exponent is a negative whole number:
You can try out different negative numbers and raise them to even whole numbers and the result is always a
positive number.
Conversely, when a negative base is raised to an odd whole number exponent, the result is ALWAYS a negative
number. For example:
the same applies to negative exponents:
Exponents of Ten
Ten (10) is a special number because raising ten to any whole number exponent is the in effect adding a
number of trailing zeros to 10, and these are as many as the value of the exponent, i.e.
where the last 0 is the nth zero.

For example:
Fraction Exponents
Exponents can be whole numbers or fractions. Whole number exponents have been discussed above.
Fractional Exponents behave different, instead of having the effect of multiplication of the base by itself, they
have the effect of finding the root of the base. i.e.
is the same as finding the nth root of a, which is also written as:
Thus to find the square root of a number, we can also write:
n can be positive or negative, but in order to get real roots, a must be positive. Negative a would result in
complex roots. For example;
Properties of Exponents
Numbers or variables with exponents satisfy the following properties which makes them easy to manipulate.
If the bases in a given exponential equation are equal, the exponents are also equal.
i.e.
would imply that
More on this later.
When multiplying two numbers or variables with the same base, the effect is the same as
adding their exponents.
i.e.
The above is true regardless of what the base is or what values the exponents have.
For example:
This can be proved as shown below:
When dividing two numbers or variables with the same base, the effect is the same as
subtracting their exponents from each other as shown below:
Observe that the exponent of the denominator is subtracted from the exponent of
the numerator.
For Example:
Which we can prove as follows:
Exponents distribute equally into parentheses as shown below
Exponents can only be multiplied or divided if they are in the following form:
Exponential operations are NOT associative i.e.
When solving expressions such as the one above, follow the procedure as in the
example below:
First only consider the exponent of 4
then substitute the answer back
Solving Exponential Equations

Exponential equations are those with polynomials as exponents, for example:
Ordinarily, such exponential equations would be solved by using logarithms (refer to section on logarithms), but
some exponential equations can be solved using the property mentioned above
applying this property to the equations above:
would become
which then implies that x = 2 since the bases are the same
Similarly,
is the same as
from which you would proceed to solve for x.
From the above example, you should have noticed that we had to put all the components of the exponential
equation into the same base in order to apply that property.
So this property will only apply if the bases can be expressed in one base. For example, while the property can
be used to solve the equation below
because 128 and 16 can be expressed as exponential functions of the same base, i.e.
which using another of the properties mentioned before becomes
which then leads to:
from which you can solve for x (refer to section on polynomials)

The same can not be said of the exponential equation below:
This is because 2 and 81 can't be expressed into exponential equations of the same base. This kind of
exponential equation can however be solved using logarithms.
A sure way to tell if the bases can be expressed into exponential equations of the same base is to check if they
are multiples of each other. In other words, check if they share a common factor that factors both of them
completely leaving no remainder.
In the examples above, 128 and 16 are multiples of each other and share 2 as a common factor. In the second
example, 2 and 81 are not multiples of each other and share not factors.
For a more in depth explanation on exponential functions, see exponential functions in Precalculus.
Logarithms
A logarithm of a number to a given base is defined as the power to which the base is raised in order to produce
that number. In simpler terms, a logarithm is the opposite of an exponent: A logarithm is the operation you
perform to undo an exponent. Just as division on a number would undo whatever multiplication was done to
the original number, logarithms and exponents have a similar relationship.
A logarithm is expressed as follows:
where a is known as the base, x and y are defined by the equation below:
from which you can see that y is the power to which the base a is raised, in order to get the number whose
logarithm we were trying to find. Note that x MUST be positive (i.e. non-negative) and NOT zero!
To prove the above equation, first consider the following simple logarithmic identities
In the above identities where the base is not explicitly shown, consider the base to be 10.
If we were to start with the following equation:
then taking the logarithm of the above expression to some arbitrary base
this can also be expressed as
and from this we can see that
Logarithm Examples
Example 1: Evaluate the following
solution
Example 2: Find a in the following equation
solution
Logarithmic Identities
See Logarithmic Functions in Pre-Calculus for help with functions involving logarithms.

A square root is defined as a number which when multiplied by itself gives a real non-negative number called a
square.
A square root is best defined using geometry where, considering a square (which is a four sided polygon whose
sides are all equal), a square root is defined as the length of the diagonal of this square (a diagonal is a line
drawn from one vertex/corner to the opposite vertex of the square).
A radical is a root of a number. A square root is a radical. Roots can be square roots, cube roots, fourth roots
and so on.
A square root is commonly shown as
where
is known as the radical sign and
is known as the radicand.
A square root of a number can also be represented as
and a radical as
where we say that in the above, we're finding the nth root of x. For more on the above notation, refer to
section on exponents.
A radical can also be represented as
A square root is also represented as
A cube root as
A fourth root as
Every square has two square roots; one positive and the other negative. This is shown as:
which is written as
This can be proved in the following way. Consider a number, a
but also
the latter is because a negative multiplied by a negative equals a positive.

And so it follows that
For example,
but also
Therefore,
Thus it follows that any real positive number has two roots. But when talking about radicals
in other words,
only refers to +x which is known as the principal square root. So despite having said above
that
we usually only consider
especially if the
is used.
But if the question asked is in the form
always give both the positive and negative roots, i.e.
Although any real positive number can be considered a square number and thus has a square root, we only
consider numbers with whole number square roots as squares.
For example
Properties of Square Roots and Radicals
Properties of square roots and radicals guide us on how to deal with roots when they appear in algebra.
Examples of Square Roots and Radicals

Evaluate the following:
1.
Solution:
2.
Solution:
3.
Solution:
4.
Solution:
The above is left as is, unless you are specifically asked to approximate, then you use a calculator.
5.
Solution:
Quiz on Square Roots and Radicals

1. Simplify the following expression without using a calculator
A.
B.
Correct Answer
C.
D.
The correct answer here would be C.

The answer is obtained as follows:
First factor out both the numerator and denominator into numbers whose square roots are easy to find
From here you can cancel the terms that appear in both the numerator and denominator:
See Radical Functions in Pre-Calculus for help with functions involving square roots and radicals.
Rationalization
Rationalization, as the name suggests, is the process of making fractions rational. The need for rationalization
arises when there are irrational numbers, surds or roots (represented by
denominator of a fraction.
The following are examples of fractions that need to be rationalized:
) or complex numbers in the
Although fractions with surds and complex numbers in their denominators are not wrong, it is a general
consensus that they should not be written that way hence the need to simplify them by rationalization.
Rationalization is all about moving the surd (
) or complex number to the numerator. Rationalization does not
change the value of a number or function but only re-writes it in a more acceptable and most times easier to
understand form.
Rationalization of fractions involves the use of conjugates.
You should observe from above that a conjugate is formed by changing the sign in front of either the surd or
the complex number. This is not a rule but it is a good practice for the sake of uniformity.
Conjugates are useful because they when a number is multiplied by its conjugate, the result will not have surds
or complex numbers in it.
Rationalization of Surds
As mentioned above, leaving surds in the denominator of a fraction is not good mathematical practice. So the
question becomes how to get rid of them without changing the actual number or function.
The answer to this is simple: Multiply the surd in the denominator by its conjugate to get rid of the surd. This
works because
But in order not to change the number, you multiply the denominator and the numerator by the same
conjugate which is in effect multiplying by one.
and it should be clear that
So the above becomes
To prove this, let's use a value of a as 4
therefore if asked to solve for following
This example is relatively simple enough to be a good proof that rationalization does not change a number
This is the same answer you would get if you solved directly as
A better example of when this would be more useful is solving the following:
This is solved the same as the previous example:
considering only the denominator;
substituting the above into the fraction;
The above algorithm works with any real values of a and b , as in the example below:
Since there is no obvious way to simplify the above without a calculator, we rationalize it:
As you can see, the above is much easier to understand than the original expression. If you want to confirm
that they are indeed the same, use a calculator to compare the values.
One common mistake most students make when rationalizing fractions is to misplace the signs on the
conjugate, for example
is correct, while
and
are both wrong because they change the value of the expression. Therefore, it is important to remember to be
consistent and not misplace any signs as that changes the entire expression.
One sure way to check if you have made any errors is to observe whether or not the denominator factors as
nicely as in the examples before. If it does not, check your work for errors.
Rationalization of Complex Numbers

Complex numbers with imaginary numbers in the denominator are rationalized in a similar manner to the
procedure outlined above. The identity that allows for rationalization of complex numbers is shown below:
because
and from the section above we've seen that
therefore
As in surds, in order not to change the number when rationalizing, we multiply both the numerator and
denominator by the same conjugate which is in effect multiplying by one, i.e.
The conjugate used in rationalizing complex numbers is called a Complex Conjugate because the imaginary
part of the complex number is the one that gets conjugated (as in the complex conjugate of (a + bi) is (a - bi)).
Rationalization of complex numbers always follows the following algorithm:
Given a complex fraction of the form
To further illustrate the algorithm above, let's take the following example:
Rationalize the fraction below
As always, begin by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of the
denominator.
Quiz on Rationalization
1. Evaluate the following without using a calculator
Correct Answer
A.
B.
C.
D.

First multiply the numerator and denominator by the conjugate of the denominator to get rid of the surd in the
denominator.
2. Simplify the following expression:
A.
B.
C.
Correct Answer
D.

3. Rationalize the expression below
A.
B.
Correct Answer
C.
D.

First step in rationalizing the above is to multiply both the numerator and denominator by the complex
conjugate of the denominator:
4. Simplify the following expression
A.
B.
Correct Answer
C.
D.
The above is not the final solution, there is a complex number in the denominator so we have to rationalize
further to get rid of it:
A rational expression, also known as a rational function, is any expression or function which includes
a polynomial in its numerator and denominator. In other words, a rational expression is one which contains
fractions of polynomials. For example:
The last equation also has a polynomial in the denominator, keeping in mind that
thus
becomes
The important thing to remember is that the denominator must never equal to zero, otherwise you'll end up
dividing by zero.
When asked to find the domain of a rational function, though solving may result in many variables, you must
always pick only those which will result in the polynomial in the denominator not equal to zero.
Rational Expression Examples

For example; find the domain of
What the question is asking for are the values of x for which the rational function is said to exist or make
mathematical sense. In other words, find the values of x for which the denominator is not equal to zero. So the
first step is equating the denominator to zero i.e.
from which you can see that
and then we say that the domain is: all values of x except for x = 3
Notice on the graph of the function, we have an asymptote at x = 3 which means that this value is not in the
domain. If it is not in the domain, then a range value (y-value) cannot exist.
Example: Find the domain of the expression below
As before, start with equating the denominator to zero and then find factor the resulting equation to find its
roots
which means that the roots of the denominator are
These are the values for which the denominator is equal to zero, thus we say that the domain of the expression
is given by:
all values of x except
Example: Find the domain of
Equate the denominator and factor
so the whole rational expression becomes
Although we have expressions in both the denominator and denominator, the expression in the numerator
does not affect the domain of the entire rational expression, so we only consider the denominator
Therefore,
which means that x = {1,3,4}

And thus the domain of the rational expression is:
all values of x except for x = {1,3,4}
Simplifying Rational Expressions

Rational Expressions can be factored and simplified as in the example below:
First factor both numerator and denominator
then you can see that x is a common factor in both the numerator and denominator, so the above is the same
as:
However, it is important to remember you should never simplify the rational expression before finding the
domain. In case you still feel like simplifying before finding the domain, then you must keep track of the factors
which you 'cancel' out.
For the example above, to find the domain from the simplified expression
set the denominator equal to zero, then solve for x
from which
However, x = 2/3 is not the only factor for which the denominator of 3x/(2x - 3x2) is equal to zero. Since we
divided through by a factor to get the simplified expression, we must set that factor to zero as well and solve for
x.
In this case since we divided through by x, we say
and then we give the domain as: all values of x except for x = {0,2/3}
Example: Simplify the rational expression and the also state the domain
Step 1
First factor both the numerator and denominator to get
Step 2
In this form, it should be easy to see the common factors
Step 3
but (x - 3) and (3 - x) are very similar can can be manipulated so that we can also cancel them from the
expression
Step 4
factoring out -1 gives
Step 5
substituting the above into the expression
the above is the simplified expression needed.

Step 6
To find the domain; equate the factors to zero to get the points where the denominator will be zero i.e.
and the domain is given as:

all values of x except
Conic Sections
Conic Sections are figures that can be formed by slicing a three dimensional right circular cone with a plane.
There are different ways to do this, and each way yields a different figure. These figures can be represented on
the graph as well as algebraically. The four conic sections are circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas.
Conic Sections have been studied for a quite a long time. Kepler first noticed that planets had elliptical orbits.
Depending on the energy of an orbiting body, orbit shapes that are any of the four types of conic sections are
possible.
A conic section can be formally defined as a set or locus of a point that moves in the plane of a fixed point
called the focus and the fixed line is called the directrix.
The general equation for all conics is
and
Circles
A circle is formed by cutting a circular cone with a plane perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the cone. This
intersection is a closed curve, and the intersection is parallel to the plane generating the circle of the cone. A
circle is also the set of all points that are equally distant from the center.
The equation of a circle is defined as
where (h,k) is the center of the circle and r is the radius.

(1) Graph the circle centered at (3,-2) with radius 4
In standard form, the equation would be
Ellipses
An ellipse is formed by cutting a three dimensional cone with a slanted plane. This differs from a circle in that
an ellipse does not have a constant radius. It has a radius that changes in between an x radius and y radius.
However, an ellipse has two focal points in which the sum of the length of both focal points to any given point
on the ellipse is always the same.
The standard equation of an ellipse is given as follows.
where (h,k) is the center of the ellipse, rx is the distance from the center of the circle in the x direction and ry is
the distance from the center in the y direction.
The foci of an ellipse is distance c, which is given by
from the center of the ellipse on the major axis. The major axis is the line of the ellipse that has the biggest
distance from the center of the circle. If the major axis is horizontal, 2rx is the length and c2=rx2-ry2. If the major
axis is vertical, 2ry is the length and c2=ry2-rx2.
where j+i = m+n = p+q. The sum of the distances from any point on the ellipse to both foci will always be the
same.
If the foci are close to the center, the ellipse will be closer to a circle. If the foci are farther from the center, the
ellipse will look more like an oval.
Let's do an example.
(2) Graph the ellipse given by the equation
We first need to put it in standard form so we can find the x and y radius. We set the right side equal to 1 by
dividing both sides by 16.
Putting this in standard form, we would have
We can see that the radius is (2,-4) and the x and y radii are 2 and 4 respectively.
Since y is the major axis, the foci will be determined by c2=ry2-rx2, so c2=42-22 which yields the square root of 10
for c. When we add and subtract c on the major axis from the center, we get the foci.
Parabolas
A parabola is formed by intersecting the plane through the cone and the top of the cone. Parabolas can be the
only conic sections that are considered functions because they pass the vertical line test. We have worked with
parabolas before inquadratic equations, but parabolas formed by conic sections are a little different.
A parabola is the set of points that are equally distant from a focus point and the directrix, a fixed line. The
standard equation depends on the axis of symmetry. A vertical axis has a focus at (h,k+p) and the equation (xh)2=4p(y-k). A horizontal axis has a focus at (h+p,k) and the equation (y-k)2=4p(x-h). The vertex is always
halfway in between the focus and directrix at a distance pfrom both.
In this image, b = d, e = f, and g = h.

(3) Graph x2 = -16y and locate the focus and directrix.
By inspection, we can see that the x is squared so the parabola will either be opening upwards or downwards.
The value in front of y is negative so it must open downwards. The vertex is also located at (0,0) and the length
of the focus from the vertex is 4. By going down from the vertex by 4, we can see that the focus is at (0,-4) and
the directrix will be at y = 4.
Hyperbolas
A hyperbola is formed when a plane slices the top and bottom section of the cone. The equation for a
hyperbola is
where (h,k) is the center between the curves and it's two asymptotes go through the points (+a,-b) and (-a,
+b) as well as (a,b)and (-a,-b) starting at the center point.
(4) Graph the image of the parabola given the equation
We can see the center is (0,3) and the vertices of the parabolas formed will be 2 left and right from the center.
Once we have our diagonal asymptotes, we can construct the hyperbola.
Which forms the image of the hyperbola

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ALGEBRA

Basic Algebra Properties

The Order of Operations

The Distributive Property

Graphing Linear Equations

Graphing Linear Inequalities

The Quadratic Equation

The Quadratic Formula

The Remainder Theorem

Square Roots and Radicals

Basic Rules of Algebra

Commutative Property of Addition

We can add numbers in any order.

Commmutative Property of Multiplication

We can also multiply numbers in any order.

Associative Property of Addition

Associative Property of Multiplication

For an in depth discussion, see Distributive Property

Additive Identity Property

If we add 0 to any number, we will end up with the same number.

Multiplicative Identity Property

If we multiply 1 to any number, we will end up with the same number.

Additive Inverse Property

If we adda number by the opposite of itself, we will end up with 0.

Multiplicative Inverse Property

If we multiply a number by its reciprocal, we will end up with 1.

Add c to each side

Multiply both sides by c

Subtract c from both sides

Divide both sides by c

0 added or subtracted to anything equals itself

0 multiplied by anything equals 0

0 divided by anything equals 0

Zero Product Property

Properties and Operations of Fractions

Generate Equivalent Fractions

Add/Subtract with Like Denominators

Add/Subtract with Unlike Denominators

find a common denominator

top times the top and bottom times the bottom

when dividing two fractions, multiply the divisor by the reciprocal

The Associative Property

The Associative Property of Addition

The Associative Property of Multiplication

The Order of Operations

Alternatively, one can also evaluate the expression as follows:

Out of two possible solutions, only the second is correct.

Examples of the Order of Operations

Next, evaluate the exponent:

Quiz on the Order of Operations

Step 1: Evaluate the inner parentheses first

Step 2: Evaluate the multiplication within the parentheses

Step 3: Evaluate the subtraction within the parentheses

Step 4: Finally evaluate the last multiplication

2. Evaluate the following

3. Evaluate the following

4. Evaluate the following

You might notice that the above equation is the same as

The distributive property can also be applied to division:

Another interesting case is shown below:

This is the same as:

Quiz on the Distributive Property

2. Evaluate the following without using a calculator

Solving One Variable Equations