ALGEBRA EQUATIONS AND

INEQUALITIES
1) LINEAR EQUATIONS
An equation is something which has certain solutions. It must involve an '='
sign.
Linear Equations involve only one letter (or 'variable') and the letter mustonly have a
power of 1, for example, no squared terms or cubed terms.
To solve them, we must get the letter all on its own by rearranging.
Golden rule: You must always do the same thing to both sides.
One way to think about it is 'letters on one side, numbers on the other.' We do
this by 'getting rid of' things that are on the wrong side.
Remember: Every 'term' (collection of letters and/or numbers - 'terms' are
separated by + or - signs) has its own + or - sign in front of it.
Here's an example:
Solve 3x - 2 = x + 6
There are more x's on the left so we'll collect x's on the left and numbers on the
right:

See if you can solve 7x - 5 = 3x +3.

You should get the answer x = 2.
Try following our simple steps to solve any linear equation:
1. Get rid of any brackets by multiplying out.
2. Get rid of any fractions by multiplying all terms by the denominator.

3. Rearrange by collecting letters on one side and numbers on the other. Remember
that every term has its own sign in front of it. Negative terms need to be added to
both sides to get rid of them.
4. Divide both sides by the number in front of the variable.

2) QUADRATIC EQUATIONS
Quadratic equations are equations that can be written:
ax2 +bx + c = 0
where a, b and c are constants (numbers) and 'a' cannot be zero (-there must be
some x2 's!) You might also see them written in the form (x + p)(x + q) = 0 but we?ll
come to that later.
You solve them by finding the value(s) of x which make them equal to zero.
There are several methods:
1. Factorising.
2. The quadratic formula.
3. Completing the square (most exam boards leave this to AS level).
4. Using the graph.

Factorising
This means 'putting in brackets'. (You also need to be able to multiply the
brackets out to get the equation back to the form: ax2 + bx + c = 0).
You need to find a number to go in each bracket. Use the following conditions to
find the two numbers you need:
1. They must multiply to give 'c'.
2. They must add to give 'b'.
3. If 'c' is positive both numbers must have the same sign (both positive or both
negative). If 'c' is negative then the numbers must be of opposite sign.
There's no magic solution. You just need to practise, practise, practise!
Then, as the brackets multiply to give zero one of the brackets must be zero!

This gives you your solution(s). (Quadratics will either have 0, 1 or 2 solutions).
Here's an example:
Solve x2 + 3x - 10 = 0.
It's already written in the form: ax2 + bx + c = 0, so we don't need to rearrange
anything. We need two numbers that multiply to give -10 (which means they're of
opposite sign) and add to give 3.
There are 4 possibilities: -1 and 10, 1 and -10, -2 and 5, 2 and -5.
The only pair that adds to give +3 is -2 and 5 giving:
(x -2)(x + 5) = 0
If (x - 2) = 0 we get the solution x = 2
If (x + 5) = 0 we get the solution x = -5
Try solving x2 + 5x +6 = 0:

The Quadratic Formula

If an equation won't factorise (the solutions might be decimals or fractions) then you
can try the formula. It looks really complicated but once you've practised using it, it
will seem much easier (honest!). Anyway, it's based on the form: ax2 + bx + c = 0,
and here it is:

You just substitute the numbers in and hey presto! One solution comes from using
the + sign in front of the square root and the other solution by using the - sign.
Here's an example:
Solve x2 - 2x - 4 = 0 using the formula.
Here a = 1, b = -2, and c = -4. So we can put these values into the formula:

Simplifying:

Putting this carefully into your calculator (see 'Calculator' section) gives the
solutions:
x = 3.24, and x = -1.24 (both to 2 decimal places).

3) Solving Equations
Rearranging formulae
To rearrange formula and make one of the variables the subject, you use the same
rules as you use to solve linear equations. The only difference is you are collecting
the variable you want on one side and everything else on the other.
Try and follow these steps:
1. Get rid of any square roots by squaring both sides.
2. Get rid of any brackets by multiplying out.
3. Get rid of any fractions by multiplying all terms by the denominator.
4. Rearrange by collecting the letter you want on one side and everything else on
the other. Remember that every term has its own sign in front of it. Negative terms
need to be added to both sides to get rid of them.
5. Factorise the side your variable is on so there is only one of it.
6. Divide both sides by whatever the variable is multiplied by.
Here's an example:
Here is an example rearranging: a(a2 + y) = b3 making y the subject.
a3 + ay = b3

ay = b3- a3

y = b3 a3/a

Simultaneous equations
Simultaneous equations are two equations both with two different variables in
them.
You cannot solve them on their own (as they have infinite solutions!) so we have to
merge them to end up with a linear equation which we can solve (see earlier section
on 'Linear equations').

You can follow some simple steps which we will show you using this
example:
Solve:
y = 2x - 3
5x - 2y = 8

Simultaneous equations will only have one pair of values for x and y that work in
both equations. Here's how to find them:
1. First write both equations in the form: ax + by = c

-2x + y = -3

5x - 2y = 8

2. Now, you need to match up the numbers in front of either the x's or the y's. To do
this you multiply one (or both) of the equations to get a match. If you multiply a
whole equation by something you must remember to multiply every term. We are
going to multiply the first equation by 2 as this will match the y's.

-4x + 2y = -6

5x - 2y = 8

3. Now you can merge the two equations by adding them or subtracting them from
each other (whichever gets rid of the y's!). In this case we will add them to get rid of
the y's (careful with negative signs!).
x=2
(-4x + 5x just gives x, 2y + -2y disappears and -6 + 8 gives 2)
4. Sometimes you will be left with a Linear Equation in x which you have to solve
but, in this case we were just left with the answer. Now substitute your value of x

into either of the original equations to find y. We will use the first one of the original
equations:
y = 2x - 3
y = 4 - 3, which gives y = 1
5. Now substitute your answers into the other equation to check that they work!
5x - 2y = 8
Putting x = 2 and y = 1 into this gives 10 - 2 = 8 which works!!!
So our answer is x = 2, y = 1
The method we've just shown you is called elimination.
To see how to solve simultaneous equations using a graph see the graph section.

Forming equations
If you are asked to solve a problem by forming an equation it's worth remembering
that equations are just shorthand and you should try to write them in words first
before using your highly tuned mathematical skill to write them in symbols.
Here's an example:
The perimeter of a rectangle is 98cm. One side is 7cm longer than the other. Form an
equation and hence find the length of each side.
If we call the short side x we can draw the following diagram:
Now, in words...
All the sides added together gives 98.
So as an equation...
x + (x + 7) + x + (x + 7) = 98
Simplify this equation and solve it!
4x + 14 = 98
4x = 84

x = 21
So the shorter side is 21cm and the longer side is 28cm.
Just do a quick check to make sure that 21 + 28 + 21 + 28 = 98
And it does. Hurrah!

4) Inequalities
Inequalities are very much like linear equations but instead of an '=' sign
they use the following signs:

The notation a < b means that a is less than b

The notation a > b means that a is greater than b

The notation a b means that a is less than or equal to b

The notation a b means that a is greater than or equal to b

Solving inequalities
You can solve them in exactly the same way you solve linear equations with one
extra rule that it is very important to remember!
If you multiply or divide the terms in an inequality by a negative number
the inequality sign swaps round.
So, < would change to > and so on.
Simple as that! Here's an example:
Solve 12x - 5 < 8x + 3
4x - 5 < 3 (Subtracted 8x from both sides)
4x < 8 (Added 5 to both sides)
x < 2 (Divided both sides by 4 which gives us the answer!)