Algebra and Functions

Indices
Indices are numbers that are raised to a power (eg. 251/2). The laws of indices are as follows:

ya yb = ya+b ya yb= ya-b y -b = 1/yb ym/n = (ny)m (yn)m = ynm y0 = 1

Surds
Surds are numbers left in root form to give exact answers when they equal numbers with lots of decimal places (eg. ). Rationalising Surds is a way of modifying surd expressions so that the square root is in the numerator of a fraction and not in the denominator. The method is to multiply the top and bottom of the fraction by the square root. If there is an expression such as in the denominator, you can use the difference of two squares to rationalise it. In this case is would be achieved by multiplying the top and bottom of the fraction by

In general

Fractions in the form Fractions in the form Fractions in the form

multiply top and bottom by multiply the top and bottom by multiply the top and bottom by

Quadratic Functions
A quadratic equation is an equation where the highest power of x is x2, so it is an equation of the form ax2 + bx + c = 0. There are various methods of solving quadratic equations, as shown below. NOTE: If x2 = a, then x = + or -

Since it is only possible to take square roots of positive numbers, the quadratic formula only gives real solutions if b2 - 4ac is greater or equal to 0. The expression b2 - 4ac is therefore important, and is known as the discriminant. If b2 - 4ac is less than zero, then there are no solutions. This means that there are no values of x giving a value of y of zero, hence the graph of the curve will not cross the x-axis.

If b2 - 4ac = 0 then the quadratic formula says that x = - b/2a, so there is only one solution. The graph will only touch the x-axis at one point, therefore. However, if b2 - 4ac > 0, there will be 2 solutions to the equation and so the curve will cross the x-axis at 2 points.

Completing the Square

To write a quadratic equation in form of a squared bracket, we divide the co-efficient of the x term by 2. The x2 and x terms are then put into a squared bracket. It will now be in the form (x+ )2. When this is expanded, it does not equal the original equation, therefore plus or minus values to the bracket to ensure both sides of the equation are equal. It should now be in the form:

This can now be used to solve quadratic equations and find the maximum/minimum value: To do this, set the expression you have just found by completing the square to zero. It is then a case of finding what x would equal were the bracket to be zero. At this value of x, you then need to find the value of y, which will give you a set of coordinates for the maximum or minimum value on a graph depending on whether the function is positive or negative. Example Suppose we wish to nd the minimum value of the quadratic function f(x) = x2 6x 12. We know that because f(x) = x26x12 has a positive x2 term the graph will have a minimum value. This will occur when (x 3)2 is zero. The minimum value will be when y =21 and x = 3.

NOTE: Completing the square can be used to find max/min points on a graph pr solve a function. The above shows how to find max/min points, however to solve the function, complete the square and manipulate to find x (both + and value for a root).

Quadratics can also be solved by factorizing or the quadratic formulae: 4

Simultaneous equations
To solve simultaneous equations you need to find values for x and y which satisfy both of the equations. You need to know how to solve both linear and nonlinear simultaneous equations.

Linear equations
Linear equations typically take the form ax + by = c, the highest power is 1. Two linear equations can be solved simultaneously by using two methods. B y e li m in at io n : Solution by elimination means trying to eliminate one of the variables, be it x or y. To do this you must subtract one equation from the other. However for this to eliminate one variable you typically will have to multiply one equation. Example Solve these simultaneous equations and find the values of x and y. 2x + y = 7 and 3x - y = 8 Add the two equations to eliminate the ys: (2x + y = 7) + (3x - y = 8) 5x = 15, x = 3 Now you can put x = 3 in either of the equations 6 + y = 7, y = 1 So the answers are x = 3 and y = 1 B y su b st it u t io n : To solve by substitution you need to rearrange one of the equations so either x or y is the subject, then substitute that equation for x or y into the other equation. Example: Solve the simultaneous equations y - 2x = 1 and 2y - 3x = 5 Rearranging Equation 1, we get y = 1 + 2x. We can replace the y in equation 2 by substituting it with 1 + 2x. Equation 2 becomes: 2(1 + 2x) - 3x = 5, so 2 + 4x - 3x = 5 2 + x = 5 x = 3. Substituting x = 3 into Equation 1 gives us y - 6 = 1, so y = 7

Quadratic Equations
You may have to solve two simultaneous equations where on is quadratic, i.e. has an x2 term. To do this you follow the same steps as solving by substitution.

Inequalities
The process of solving linear inequalities is a similar to that of solving linear algebraic equations, ie you must always do the same to both sides. Multiplication (and Division, as the inverse function) is slightly different. It is true that one can multiply by the same positive number on either side of an inequality, however, multiplying by negative numbers has an effect on the inequality symbol. Consider the following: and What happens if one is to multiply both sides of the inequality Normally this would suggest that the inequality becomes However, the scalar value of a is greater than b, so when multiplied by a negative number, it has a larger negative value than b. It then follows that: by c

This is important. If one is to divide, or multiply both sides of an inequality by a negative value, it will reverse the inequality sign.

With quadratic inequalities, make it equal to zero and factorise. You will then have two limits (eg x=1 and x=4). To work out whether x is greater/less than each limit, draw a sketch to see which satisfies the inequality.

Graphs and their Fuctions

Graphs are used to plot two variables (x and y) against each other. Simple graphs include linear, quadratic, cubic and inverse.

Linear graphs are given in the form y=mx+c, where 'm' is the gradient of the graph and 'c' is the intercept.

Quadratic graphs have x2 as the highest power in the function. They form parabolas

Cubic Graphs have x3 as the highest power in their function

Inverse Fuctions generally are in the form k/x, and tend towards the asymptote on both axis.

Graphs can be translated left and right by adding or subtracting quantities, and stretched or squashed by multiplying or dividing by quantities.

Co-ordinate Geometry
Distance Between Two Points:
The length of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is:

Example Find the distance between the points (5, 3) and (1, 4). (So in this case, x2 = 1, x1 = 5, y2 = 4 and y1 = 3). Distance = 4 =

The Midpoint of a Line Joining Two Points:

The midpoint of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is:

Example Find the coordinates of the midpoint of the line joining (1, 2) and (3, 1). Midpoint = = (2, 1.5)

The Gradient of a Line Joining Two Points:

The gradient of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is:

Example

Find the gradient of the line joining the points (5, 3) and (1, 4). Gradient = 4 - 3 = 1 = -0.25 1 - 5 -4

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines:

If two lines are parallel, then they have the same gradient. If two lines are perpendicular, then the gradients of the two lines are reciprocals of each other.

Example a) y = 2x + 1 b) y = - x + 2 c) y = x - 3 The gradients of the lines are 2, - and 2 respectively. Therefore (a) and (b) and perpendicular, (b) and (c) are perpendicular and (a) and (c) are parallel.

The Equation of a Line Using One Point and the Gradient: The equation of a line which has gradient m and which passes through the point (x1, y1) is:

Example Find the equation of the line with gradient 2 passing through (1, 4). y - 4 = 2(x - 1) y - 4 = 2x - 2 y = 2x + 2

Since m = y2 - y1 x2 - x1 The equation of a line passing through (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) can be written as:

Sequences and Series

A sequence is a list of ordered numbers found by applying a formula to the nth term.

Recurrence Relationships:
This is where the next term of a sequence is defined using the previous term(s). To define a recurrence relation, you have to give the first term. Then you give a formula to tell you how to work out the next term from the previous ones. For example, consider the sequence: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, ... . Each term in the sequence is got by doubling the previous term. So to define the recurrence relation, we give the first term, written U1 = 2. Then we write: Un = 2(Un-1). This just means that the nth term, Un is equal to 2 the (n-1)th term, Un-1. An example of a recurrence relationship is Un = Un-1 + 5.

Series:
The series of a sequence is the sum of the sequence to a certain number of terms. It is often written as Sn. So if the sequence is 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ... , the sum to 3 terms = S3 = 2 + 4 + 6 = 12. The Sigma Notation The Greek capital sigma, written S, is usually used to represent the sum of a sequence. This is best explained using an example:

This means replace the r in the expression by 1 and write down what you get. Then replace r by 2 and write down what you get. Keep doing this until you get to 4, since this is the number above the Sigma. Now add up all of the term that you have written down. This sum is therefore equal to (31) + (32) + (33) + (34) = 3 + 6 + 9 + 12 = 30. The General Case

This is the general case. For the sequence U, this means the sum of the terms obtained by substituting in 1, 2, 3,... up to and including n in turn for r in Ur. In the above example, Ur = 3r + 2 and n = 3. Arithmetic Progressions

An arithmetic progression is a sequence where each term is a certain number larger than the previous term. The terms in the sequence are said to increase by a common difference, d. For example: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, is an arithmetic progression where d = 2. The nth term of this sequence is 2n +1. In general, the nth term of an arithmetic progression, with first term a and common difference d, is:

The Sum to n terms of an Arithmetic Progression This is given by:

This formula is derived as follows:

The sum to n terms is given by: Sn = a + (a + d) + (a + 2d) + + (a + (n 1)d)

Written backwards, we get:

Sn = (a + (n 1)d) + (a + (n 2)d) + + a

Now lets add and

2Sn = [2a + (n 1)d] + [2a + (n 1)d+ + + *2a + (n 1)d] So Sn = n [2a + (n 1)d]