Basic Algebra

R.1. Polynomials
Ex 1: Properties of real numbers
(a) (Associative property)
(b) (Distributive property)

Ex 2 Adding and Subtracting Polynomials:

Combine like terms:

+) + (+ ) + (+ ) +

Ex 3 Multiplying Polynomials : (
( (Distributive prop)
 R.2 Factoring
Ex 1: Greatest common factor
(Each term is divisible by )
Ex 2: Factoring a Trinomial
Factor
Soln: Since the coefficient of is 1, factor by finding two numbers whose product is
15 (1X3X5) and whose sum is 8. The numbers 3 and 5 have a product of 15 and a
sum of 8. Hence
Ex
R3 Rational Expressions
 Reducing Rational Expressions:

z 2  5z  6
Ex. Write in lowest terms 2
.
2z  7z  3

Solution: Factor both numerator and denominator in order to

identify any common factors.
( z  2)( z  3)

(2 z  1)( z  3)

( z  2)
 .
(2 z  1)
 Combining Rational Expressions:
Ex. z 2  5z  6 2 z 2  z  1
Perform the following operations 2 2 .
2 z  5z  3 z  2 z  3

Solution: Factor where possible.

( z  2)( z  3) (2 z  1)( z  1)
 
(2 z  1)( z  3) ( z  3)( z  1)
( z  2)

( z  3)
R4 Equations
 Solving a Linear Equation

Ex Solve 3 x  7 4(5 x  2)  7 x.

Solution: 3 x  7 20 x  8  7 x Distributive Property

3 x  7 13 x  8 Combine the like terms.
 10 x  7 8 Add  13 x to both sides.
 10 x 15 Add 7 to both sides.
 10 x 15 1
 Multiply both sides by .
 10  10  10
3
x 
2
Ex: Solve 2m 2  7 m 15.
Solution: First write the equation in standard form.
2m 2  7 m  15 0
Now factor 2m 2  7 m  15 to get
(2m  3)( m  5) 0.
By the zero-factor property, the product (2m  3)(m  5)
can equal 0 if and only if
2m  3 0 or m  5 0.
Solve each of these equations separately to find that the
3
solutions are and  5.
2
 Solving a Quadratic Equation
Ex Solve
Standard form:
Factoring:
By zero-factor property: or
Solving each equation: or

Note: If the quadratic equation cannot be solved by factoring, use the quadratic
formula
Ex: Solve
Soln: Standard form:
Here,
By Quadratic formula
 ( 8)  ( 8) 2  4(1)(6)
x
2(1)
8  40 8 2 10
x 
2 2
2(4  10)
 Factor 8 2 10
2

4  10 Reduce to lowest terms.

The two solutions are 4+ 10 and 4  10.

 Solving a Rational Equations
1 2 1
Solve 2   .
x  4 x 2 x
Solution: Factor x 2  4 as ( x  2)( x  2).
1 2 1
 
( x  2)( x  2) x  2 x
The least common denominator for all the fractions
is x( x  2)( x  2). Multiplying both sides by x( x  2)( x  2)
gives the following:
 1 2  1
x( x  2)( x  2)     x( x  2)( x  2)
 ( x  2)( x  2) x  2  x
Cont….

x  2 x( x  2) ( x  2)( x  2)
x  2 x 2  4 x x 2  2 x  2 x  4 Distributive property
2 x 2  5 x x 2  4
Add  x 2 and 4, Rearrange terms.
x 2  5 x  4 0

( x  1)( x  4) 0
x  1 0 or x  4 0
x  1 x  4
Verify that the solutions are  1 and  4.
 R5 Inequalities

Linear Inequalities: An inequality states that two expressions are unequal. A linear
inequality states that an inequality can be simplified to the form
 Solving a Linear Inequality
Ex Solve 3 z  2  5 z  7.
Solution: 3 z  2  2  5 z  7  2 Add 2 to both sides.
3z  5 z  9

3z  ( 5 z )  5 z  9  ( 5 z ) Add  5 z to both sides.

 2z  9

1 1
 2 z  9 Multiplying by a negative changes
2 2
the direction of the inequality.
9
z
2
 Interval Notation
The inequality represents an interval on the number line. Interval
notation is used for writing intervals. Thus is written as This is half-
open interval since one end point is included.
Graph:

Note: A solid circle is used at -3/5 to indicate that it is a part of the soln.
The open interval correspond to , where neither endpoint is included,
whereas the closed interval includes both endpoints and correspond to
 Graphing a Linear Inequality
Ex: Solve Graph the solution
Soln: First adding to each part

Now multiplying each part by 1/3

A graph of the solution is shown in the figure, here open circles are used to show
that -7/3 and 5 are not part of the solution.
 Solving a Quadratic Inequality
A Quadratic inequality has the form . The highest exponent is 2.
Ex: Solve the quadratic inequality
Soln: (negative)
First solve the equation:
or

Locating -3 and 4 in a number line, determine three intervals A, B and C.

Decide which intervals include numbers that makes .
Cont…..
For example,
Choose - 4 from interval A:
Choose 0 from interval B:
Choose 5 from interval C:
Only number in the interval B satisfy the given inequality, so the
solution is (-3, 4). A graph of this solution is shown below
 Solving a Polynomial Inequality
Ex: Solve the inequality
Soln: This is not a quadratic inequality because of , but it will be solved
in the similar way by factoring the polynomial.

or or
These determine four intervals on the number line : , , and Choose a
number from each interval , substitute and determine whether it
satisfies the given inequality. The solution in interval notation: . A
graph of the soln is
 Solving a Rational Inequality
Inequality with fractions are solved in a similar manner as quadratic inequalities.
Ex: Solve
Soln: which gives , or
For he denominator becomes 0, so we will have the following intervals:
, and
Choose a number from each interval , substitute and determine whether it satisfies
the given inequality. The solution in interval notation . A graph of the soln is
R6 Exponents
 Exponents
Ex: (a)
(b)
(C)
 Simplifying Exponential Expressions
Ex: 2 4
y z 
2

Simplify  y 3z4 
 
( y 2 ) 2 ( z  4 ) 2
Soln  3 2 4 2 Property 4 and 5
( y ) (z )
y  4 z8
 6 8 Property 3
y z

z 8 (  8)
 6 (  4) Property 2
y
z16
 10 .
y
 Calculations with Exponents
Roots: For even values of and nonnegative values of the expressions is
defined to be the positive th root of or the principal th root of For
example, denotes the positive second root, or square root of , while
denotes the positive fourth root of .
When is odd, there is only one th root, which has the same sign as . For
example, , the cube root of , has the same sign as . By definition, if ,
then .
Rational Exponents
 Simplifications of Exponents Expressions
Ex 1:

Ex 2:

Ex 3: Consider the expression

For the above expression factor out the smallest power of the variable,
assuming all variables represent positive real numbers.
Soln: The smallest exponent is ½. Factoring out gives
 R6 Exponents
is defined to be the positive or principal th root of for appropriate
values of and . An alternative notation for uses radicals.

The symbol is a radical sign, the number is the radicand, and is the
index of the radical. The familiar symbol is used instead of .
Ex: (a)
(b)
Note:
 Properties of Radicals
The following properties of radicals depend on the definitions and
properties of exponents.
Radical Calculations
 Simplifying by Factoring
Ex 1: Simplify
Soln: Factoring: . By property 2 of radicals and the definition of absolute
value, we write

Ex 2: Rationalize the denominator in

Soln: Multiply both numerator and denominator by the conjugate of the
denominator,

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Common Mistakes

In your written work beware of the following errors. You will lose marks for
committing any of the following errors (marks will be lost for other errors as well)

In general

Code Name Wrong Right Explanation

IUC Interval : Use (2;6) (2,6) Use a comma for intervals, not a semi-colon
Comma

IIB Interval Is Backward (6,2) (2,6) The smaller number goes on the left in an
interval

B Bad Infinity Plus / Minus sign goes to the left of

∴ and ∴ or
AO And Or It is not possible for to be equal to 0 and equal
to 1 at the same time.