Chapter 1: Algebra Revision

Contents
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9

Formulae and Transpositions . . . .

Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Algebraic Fractions . . . . . . . . .
Partial Fractions . . . . . . . . . .
Definitions in Trigonometry . . . .
Graphs of Trigonometric Functions
Inverse Trigonometric Functions . .
Trigonometric Identities . . . . . .
Quadratic equations . . . . . . . .

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2
3
4
7
9
10
12
13
14

1.1

Formulae and Transpositions

Formulae are everywhere (sorry folks...). We need to be able to hack out what we want
from a given formula:
One for the (electrical) engineers:
V = IR
One for the physicists:

s
T = 2

L
g

One for physicists and engineers:

1
s = ut + at2
2
Lets take the three formulae above as examples:

Example 1.1 Given that V = IR, express I in terms of V, R.

Solution Not too taxing, we want an equation for I, its written as an equation for V ,
so divide both sides by R:
IR
V
=
=I
R
R
In other words, reading it back to front
I=
q
Example 1.2 Given that T = 2
Solution

L
,
g

V
R

express L in terms of T, g.

Get rid of the square root by squaring both sides of the equation.
s !2
L
L
2
= 4 2
g
g

T2 =
multiply both sides by g/4 2

g
g
L
T 2 = 2 4 2
2
4
4
g
and cancel out whatever you can to get
gT 2
=L
4 2

3
Example 1.3 A particle with initial velocity u and constant acceleration a travels a dis1
tance s in time t where s = ut + at2 . Express u in terms of the other letters.
2
Solution

1
ut = s at2 . Dividing both sides by t gives
2
1 2
at
s at
s
=
u= 2
t
t
t
2

Example 1.4 The formula for converting Centigrade (C) to Fahrenheit (F ) is

F = 32 +

9C
5

Express C in terms of F .
Solution

F 32 =

5
5(F 32)
9C
Multiplying each side by
gives C =

5
9
9

Always do the same thing to both sides of the equation.

1.2

Indices

Indices are a notation used to represent multiples of the same quantity:

a2 = a a

b3 = b b b

c1 = c

In an expression such as 26 the base is 2 and the index or power is 6 .

A negative power indicates division by a multiple of the same quantity
32 =

1
1
=
2
3
9

a1 =

1
a

b4 =

1
1
= 4
bbbb
b

The rules for manipulating indices are:

1.

am an = am+n

2.

am
= amn
an

3.

(am )n = amn

4.

a0 = 1

4
These rules apply for all values of m and n . Each rule is described below.
Rule 1: Multiplying Indices of the Same Base
a2 a3 = (a a) (a a a) = a5

thus

a2 a3 = a2+3 = a5 .

To multiply two numbers having the same base: add the indices.
Using rule 1, (2x + 3)5 (2x + 3)4 = (2x + 3)9 .
Rule 2: Dividing Indices of the Same Base
aaaaa
a5
a5
3
=
a

a
=
a
=
thus
= a52 = a3 .
a2
aa
a2
To divide two numbers having the same base: subtract the indices.
Using rule 2,

(y 1)7
= (y 1)3 .
(y 1)4

Rule 3: Powers of Powers

By rule 1 (a5 )3 = a5 a5 a5 = a5+5+5 = a15 .
In general (am )n = amn . To simplify powers of powers, multiply the indices.
Using rule 3,

(w3 )2 = w(3)(2) = w6 .

Rule 4 : The meaning of a0 .

a
= a11 = a0 .
By rule 2,
a
a
= 1 we have that a0 = 1 .
Since
a

1.3

Algebraic Fractions

First a bit of terminology. Polynomials are sums of powers of x like

x3 + 3x2 + 2x + 1
or

x2 + 2x + 3

Algebraic fractions are the ratios of two polynomials like

x3 + 3x2 + 2x + 1
x2 + 2x + 3
If the numerator (top) has a higher power of x than the denominator (bottom) then the
fraction is improper, otherwise it is proper.
We often need to deal with fractional expressions when we are trying to use formulae,
rearranging them to extract the particular variable we are interested in. Lets look at some
examples of doing this.

5
Example 1.5 Given that x =
Solution

3
and y = 6m2 , express y in terms of x .
m

2
3
69
54
y=6
=
= 2
2
x
x
x

Example 1.6 Solve the equation

Solution

2x
4
+ 6 = (x + 2) .
3
5

We first remove the fractions by multiplying through by 3 5 = 15 . Then

10x + 90 = 12(x + 2) = 12x + 24

Thus 2x = 66 so that x = 33 .

Example 1.7 Solve the equation

Solution

2
4
+
= 1.
x6 x+3

We first remove the fractions by multiplying through by (x 6)(x + 3) . Then

2(x 6)(x + 3) 4(x 6)(x + 3)
+
= (x 6)(x + 3)
x6
x+3

so that 2x + 6 + 4x 24 = x2 3x 18 .
Thus x2 9x = 0 so that x(x 9) = 0 and x = 0 or x = 9 .

Example 1.8 Express as a single fraction: (a)

Solution
(b)

(a)

2 4
+
3 5

The common denominator is 15 so

The common denominator is ab and

(b)

2 4
+
a b

(c)

4
3
+

x+2 x+1

2 4
10 12
22
+ =
+
=

3 5
15 15
15

2
2b
4
4a
=
while
=

a
ab
b
ab

2b + 4a
2 4
+ =
a b
ab
(c)

3
4(x + 1) + 3(x + 2)
4x + 4 + 3x + 6
7x + 10
4
+
=
=
=

x+2 x+1
(x + 2)(x + 1)
(x + 2)(x + 1)
(x + 2)(x + 1)

Example 1.9 Express 3 +

Solution
Then

We write 3 =

2
as a single fraction.
x4

3
so that the common denominator is 1 (x 4) = (x 4) .
1

3+

2
3(x 4) + 2
3x 10
=
=

x4
x4
x4

6
Example 1.10 Express a in terms of x and y when

5 3
1
= +
a
x y

5 3
5y + 3x
+ =
.
x y
xy
1
5y + 3x
xy
Then
=
so that a =

a
xy
5y + 3x

Solution

Example 1.11 Express x in terms of y when y =

5x 1

x+3

5x 1
so that y(x + 3) = 5x 1 . Thus yx + 3y = 5x 1 .
x+3
Collecting terms in x gives 3y + 1 = 5x xy = x(5 y) . Hence
Solution

y=

x=

3y + 1
5y

Example 1.12 A student runs a certain distance at x ms1 , and then walks half that
distance at y ms1 . If the total time taken is t seconds, find the total distance travelled.
Solution Let t1 and t2 be the time taken for the first and second stages so that
t = t1 + t2 . Let d be the distance of the first stage.
d
d
and t2 =

Then t1 =
x
2y
t = t1 + t2 =
Hence d =

d
d(2y + x)
d
+
=

x 2y
2xy

2txy
and the total distance is
2y + x
3d
3txy
=
2
2y + x

1.4

Partial Fractions

Often we are interested in either splitting up fractions or sticking them together when we
5
2
+
can be written as
are dealing with formulae. For instance the expression
x1 x+4
a single fraction by introducing the common denominator (x 1)(x + 4) :
5
2(x + 4) + 5(x 1)
7x + 3
2
+
=
=

x1 x+4
(x 1)(x + 4)
(x 1)(x + 4)

The method of partial fractions provides a means of performing the reverse operation.
First we describe the simplest case when
(i) The denominator of the fraction can be expressed as a product of two linear factors;
for example (x 1)(x + 4) .
(ii) The numerator is linear; for example 7x + 3 .
Example 1.13 Express
Solution

Let

7x + 3
in terms of partial fractions.
(x 1)(x + 4)
A
B
7x + 3
=
+
(x 1)(x + 4)
x1 x+4

We have to find the values of A and B so the above is true for all x.
Multiplying by (x 1)(x + 4) :
A(x 1)(x + 4) B(x 1)(x + 4)
(7x + 3)(x 1)(x + 4)
=
+
(x 1)(x + 4)
x1
x+4
Hence
7x + 3 = A(x + 4) + B(x 1) .
We choose values of x to make the term involving A or the term involving B disappear.
Put x = 1 then 7 1 + 3 = A(1 + 4) + 0 .
Thus 10 = 5A so A = 2 .
Put x = 4 then 7 (4) + 3 = 0 + B(4 1) .
Hence 25 = 5B so B = 5 .
2
5
7x + 3
=
+
(x 1)(x + 4)
x1 x+4

8
Example 1.14 Express
Solution

Let

2x 1
in terms of partial fractions.
(2x + 1)(x 3)
2x 1
A
B
=
+
(2x + 1)(x 3)
2x + 1 x 3

Multiplying by (2x + 1)(x 3) :

2x 1 = A(x 3) + B(2x + 1) .
Put x = 3 then 6 1 = 0 + B(6 + 1) .
5
Then 5 = 7B so that B = .
7
1
Put x = .
2
1
Then 1 1 = A( 3) so that
2
7A
4
2 =
and A =
2
7
2x 1
4
5
=
+
(2x + 1)(x 3)
7(2x + 1) 7(x 3)
We can also handle the case where there is a repeated bracket such as
different guess.
Example 1.15 Express
Solution

10x+18
(2x+3)2

by making a

10x + 18
in terms of partial fractions.
(2x + 3)2

Let

10x + 18
B
A
+
=
2
(2x + 3)
2x + 3 (2x + 3)2
and multiply both sides by (2x + 3)2 . Comparing the top lines
10x + 18 = A(2x + 3) + B
so equating the coefficient of x on both sides gives 10 = 2A, i.e. A = 5 and equating the
constants gives 18 = 3A + B, so B = 3.
Guesses to make:
A
B
mx + n
=
+
(px + q)(rx + s)
(px + q) (rx + s)
B
mx + n
A
+
=
2
(px + q)
(px + q) (px + q)2
Multiply up and compare top lines.

1.5

Definitions in Trigonometry

Angles can be measured in degrees or radians. A radian is the angle subtended at the
centre of a circle by an arc which has the same length as the radius. In figure 1(a), when
r = s the angle x is 1 radian.
In general, for an angle x radians we have s = rx . Since the complete circumference has
length 2r we have that 360 = 2 radians. Hence 180 = radians and this can be
used to convert between degrees and radians.
If an angle is a simple fraction of 180 , then it can be written in terms of
90 =

radians ,
2

60 =

radians ,
3

45 =

radians ,
4

30 =

radians
6

r
x

(b)

(a)

Figure 1

In a right angled triangle, as shown in figure 1(b), we can define a number of ratios as
follows:

sin x =

BC
AB

cos x =

AC
AB

tan x =

BC
AC

In addition, there are three reciprocal ratios:

cosec x =

1
sin x

sec x =

1
cos x

cot x =

1
tan x

10
On your calculator the buttons sin , cos and tan can be used to find the sine, cosine and
tangent of an angle. It is important to be able to use your calculator using either degrees
or radians. Use your calculator to check the following:

cos( ) = 0.5
3

sin(40 ) = 0.64 ,

1.6

tan(14 ) = 0.25

Graphs of Trigonometric Functions

The graphs of sine and cosine are shown below. Note that
sin(180 x) = sin x

cos(360 x) = cos x

sin(x)

0.5

0.5

Graph of sin(x)

cos(x)

0.5

4
x

0.5

Graph of cos(x)
For the functions f (x) = sin x,
f (x) = cos x we have that f (x + 2) = f (x) for all
x. In general, any function which repeats itself in this way is called a periodic function,
that is if f (x + p) = f (x) for all x where p is a constant. The smallest such p is called the
period.
As we have seen, we can also define tan x = sin x/ cos x, whose graph is shown below. Since
cos(/2) = 0, tan x goes to at these points.

11
20

tan(x)

10

1.5

0.5

0.5

1.5

10

20

Graph of tan(x)
The function f (x) = sin x has a maximum value of 1 and a minimum value of 1. For
g(x) = A sin x the corresponding maximum and minimum values are A and A.
Wave motions can be described by periodic functions like sine and cosine. The maximum
value provides a measure of the strength of the wave and is called the amplitude. The
graph of 5 sin 3x is shown in figure 5.

5sin (3x)

5
0

90

180
x (degrees)

Figure 5

270

360

12

1.7

Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Since sin is periodic, there are many values of such that sin = y if y is between 1
and 1 . In order to get a unique value of we restrict the values of to 2 2
(or 90 to 90 ). Thus,
= sin1 y means that sin = y and 2

sin1 y is the inverse sine function. Another notation for sin1 y is arcsin y. Also
= cos1 y means that cos = y and 0
= tan1 y means that tan = y and 2 < <

On a calculator the buttons are usually denoted by sin1 and cos1 . The reader should
use a calculator to check that:
sin1 (0.5) = 30

sin1 (0.32) = 18.7

cos1 (0.2) = 78.5

tan1 (1) = 45

Example 1.16 Let f (x) = cos(2x 5 ) . Find the values of x between 0 and for which
f (x) = 0 , leaving your answers in terms of .
Solution

cos A = 0 if A =

3
2

and A =

Similarly, another solutions is x =

17
20

. If 2x

then x =

We can draw graphs for sin1 and cos1

1.5
arcsin(x)
1

0.5

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.8

0.5

1.5

Graph of sin1 x
3

2.5

arccos(x)

1.5

0.5

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2

Graph of cos

0.4

0.6

7
20

13
although these might look a little peculiar at first sight we can see that they are just the
result of reading the graphs for sin and cos backwards. As x runs between minus one
and one (the minimum and maximum that sin and cos can take) sin1 x and cos1 x run
between /2, +/2 and 0, respectively.

1.8

Trigonometric Identities

Dont panic, these are on the formulae sheet you get in the exams....!
Its worth reproducing some of them here though, and looking at using them.
1.

sin2 A + cos2 A = 1

2.

sin(A + B) = sin A cos B + cos A sin B

3.

sin(A B) = sin A cos B cos A sin B

4.

cos(A + B) = cos A cos B sin A sin B

5.

cos(A B) = cos A cos B + sin A sin B

Note that we can add the identities above to also get

2 sin A cos B = sin(A + B) + sin(A B)
2 cos A cos B = cos(A + B) + cos(A B)

which can also come in handy.

Example 1.17 If x = 4 sin + 3 and y = cos , show that (x 3)2 + 16y 2 = 16 .
Solution

x 3 = 4 sin and using identity 1,

(x 3)2 + 16y 2 = 16 sin2 + 16 cos2 = 16(sin2 + cos2 ) = 16.

Example 1.18 Suppose that sin x = 35 with 2 < x < , and sin y =
Find the exact value of cos(x y) without using a calculator.
Solution Using identity 1, cos2 x = 1 sin2 x =
cos x < 0 . Hence cos x = 45 .
Similarly, cos y =

5
13

16
25

. Since

12
13

with 0 < x <

< x < , we have that

. Using identity 5,

5
3
12
16
4
+
=
cos(x y) = cos x cos y + sin x sin y =
5
13
5
13
65

Example 1.19 Simplify : (a) sin 4x cos xsin x cos 4x ,

(b) cos 3 cos +sin 3 sin .

14
Solution
we obtain

(a) Using sin(A B) = sin A cos B cos A sin B with A = 4x , and B = x ,

sin 4x cos x sin x cos 4x = sin(4x x) = sin 3x .

(b) Using cos(A B) = cos A cos B + sin A sin B with A = 3 , and B =

cos 3 cos + sin 3 sin = cos(3 )

Example 1.20 Show that for all values of x ,

tan x +

1
1
=
tan x
sin x cos x

Solution We have to show that the two sides are equal. We must not write them
down as equal from the start.
tan x +

1
sin x cos x
sin2 x + cos2 x
1
=
+
=
=
tan x
cos x sin x
sin x cos x
sin x cos x

using identity 1.

1.9

Quadratic equations

We can solve surprisingly few equations exactly. Quadratics, for one:

ax2 + bx + c = 0
where the a, b, c are known numbers and x is what we are after. More on this anon. We
can also solve cubics
ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0
where again a, b, c, d are numbers we know, and quartics
ax4 + bx3 + cx2 + dx + e = 0
but once we get to x5 there arent general formulae for the solutions any more.
How do I solve a quadratic? If Im lucky I can factorize it.
Example 1.21 Solve x2 5x + 6 = 0
Solution I can see that this factorizes into (x 3)(x 2) = 0. Either bracket can be
zero, so the possible solutions are x = 3 and x = 2.
Where did the 2 and 3 appear from? Multiplying out gives
(x 3)(x 2) = x2 3x 2x + 6 = x2 5x + 6 = 0

15

In general
(x m)(x n) = x2 (m + n)x + mn
so to factorize I look for numbers which add to give the number
in front of the x and multiply to give the constant.

Example 1.22 Solve 6x2 7x + 2 = 0

Solution This is a bit trickier since there is now a number in front of the x2 . I ask how
to factorize 6x2 . A possibility would be 2x and 3x, so my guess for the brackets is
(2x ....)(3x ....) = 0
where I have to fill in the dots. Looking at the original equation I can see that the numbers
have to multiply to give 2, which means I only have 1 and 2 to choose from. The 7 in front
of x tells me which way they have to go:
(2x 1)(3x 2) = 0
which means that the answer is x = 1/2 or x = 2/3.
Another useful technique for solving quadratics is completing the square. This follows from
the observation that

x2 + 2kx = (x + k)2 k 2

Example 1.23 Complete the square for x2 + 16x.

Solution

From the general recipe above x2 + 16x = (x + 8)2 64

Example 1.24 Complete the square for 5x2 + 4x.

Solution First write 5x2 + 4x = 5(x2 + 45 x) then apply the recipe again (x2 + 45 x) =
4
(x2 + 25 )2 25
. Remembering to multiply the 5 back in then gives
4
2
4
5(x2 + x) = 5(x2 + )2
5
5
5

Both of these are a bit hit and miss. If the inspiration fails me I may not be able to see how
to factorize the equation or complete the square. Fortunately there is a general formula
which gives me both solutions in all cases.

16
The two solutions of ax2 + bx + c = 0 are given by:

b b2 4ac
x=
2a
A final way to solve quadratics is by drawing a picture. y = x2 is a parabola
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
-1

-0.5

0.5

Graph of y = x2
but so is any other quadratic.
Example 1.25 Solve x2 4x + 1 = 0 graphically.
6

0
-1

x
-2

Graph of y = x2 4x + 1
Ive plotted y = x2 4x + 1 so the solutions of the quadratic are where y = 0. Looking at
the graph these are roughly at x = 0.27 and x = 3.73.
If we check this with the quadratic formula

4 16 4
x=
= 3.73205.. 0.2679
2
Not bad.

A final point about the types of solutions we can have to quadratic equations. Going back
to the quadratic formula:

x=

b2 4ac
2a

17

b2 4ac determines whether we have:

Two real solutions b2 4ac > 0

A double solution b2 4ac = 0

No real solutions b2 4ac < 0

It is clear that

In the last case we can either give up or invent numbers that are the square roots of negative
numbers, more anon.