1: Algebra Essentials
- Page ID
- 61958
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
Mathematics plays a central role in business, insurance, accounting, and management, from actuaries determining risk before setting prices to banks analyzing profitability for a possible investment. Mathematics is used by engineers to model traffic flow, and by pharmaceutical companies to analyze the safety of a new drug. Companies such as Google and Facebook use mathematics to determine what advertisements you see, and information technology companies use mathematics to route data from around the world to your phone.
Algebra is the basis on which more advanced mathematics is built. In this chapter, we discuss this foundation by exploring real numbers, polynomials, exponents, and factoring.
- 1.1: Real Numbers - Algebra Essentials
- In this section, we will explore sets of numbers, calculations with different kinds of numbers, and the use of numbers in expressions.
- 1.2: Exponents and Scientific Notation
- In this section, we review rules of exponents first and then apply them to calculations involving very large or small numbers.
- 1.3: Radicals and Rational Exponents
- In this section, we will investigate methods of finding solutions to problems involving radicals and rational exponents.
- 1.4: Polynomials
- In this section, we will examine expressions such as this one, which combine several variable terms.
- 1.5: Factoring Polynomials
- In this section, we will look at a variety of methods that can be used to factor polynomial expressions.
- 1.6: Rational Expressions
- In this section, we will explore quotients of polynomial expressions.