Key Terms Chapter 01: Foundations
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absolute value | The absolute value of a number is its distance from 0 on the number line.
additive identity | The number 0 is the additive identity because adding 0 to any number does not change its value.
additive inverse | The opposite of a number is its additive inverse.
coefficient | The coefficient of a term is the constant that multiplies the variable in a term.
complex fraction | A fraction in which the numerator or the denominator is a fraction is called a complex fraction.
composite number | A composite number is a counting number that is not prime. It has factors other than 1 and the number itself.
constant | A constant is a number whose value always stays the same.
denominator | In a fraction, written ab, where b≠0, the denominator b is the number of equal parts the whole has been divided into.
divisible by a number | If a number m is a multiple of n, then m is divisible by n.
equation | An equation is two expressions connected by an equal sign.
equivalent fractions | Equivalent fractions are fractions that have the same value.
evaluate an expression | To evaluate an expression means to find the value of the expression when the variables are replaced by given numbers.
expression | An expression is a number, a variable, or a combination of numbers and variables using operation symbols.
factors | If a·b=m, then a and b are factors of m.
fraction | A fraction is written ab, where b≠0, and a is the numerator and b is the denominator. A fraction represents parts of a whole.
integers | The whole numbers and their opposites are called the integers.
irrational number | An irrational number is a number that cannot be written as the ratio of two integers. Its decimal form does not stop and does not repeat.
least common denominator | The least common denominator (LCD) of two fractions is the least common multiple (LCM) of their denominators.
least common multiple | The least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers is the smallest number that is a multiple of both numbers.
like terms | Terms that are either constants or have the same variables raised to the same powers are called like terms.
multiple of a number | A number is a multiple of n if it is the product of a counting number and n.
multiplicative identity | The number 1 is the multiplicative identity because multiplying 1 by any number does not change its value.
multiplicative inverse | The reciprocal of a number is its multiplicative inverse.
negative numbers | Numbers less than 0 are negative numbers.
numerator | In a fraction, written ab, where b≠0, the numerator a indicates how many parts are included.
opposite | The opposite of a number is the number that is the same distance from zero on the number line but on the opposite side of zero.
order of operations | The order of operations are established guidelines for simplifying an expression.
percent | A percent is a ratio whose denominator is 100.
prime factorization | The prime factorization of a number is the product of prime numbers that equals the number.
prime number | A prime number is a counting number greater than 1 whose only factors are 1 and the number itself.
principal square root | The positive square root is called the principal square root.
rational number | A rational number is a number of the form pq, where p and q are integers and q≠0. Its decimal form stops or repeats.
real number | A real number is a number that is either rational or irrational.
reciprocal | The reciprocal of a fraction is found by inverting the fraction, placing the numerator in the denominator and the denominator in the numerator.
simplify an expression | To simplify an expression means to do all the math possible.
square of a number | If n2=m, then m is the square of n.
square root of a number | If n2=m, then n is a square root of m.
term | A term is a constant, or the product of a constant and one or more variables.
variable | A variable is a letter that represents a number whose value may change.