Table Of ContentCOLLEGE ALGEBRA
Paul Dawkins
College Algebra
Table of Contents
Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii
Outline ........................................................................................................................................... iv
Preliminaries .................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Integer Exponents ...................................................................................................................................... 2
Rational Exponents .................................................................................................................................... 9
Radicals .....................................................................................................................................................15
Polynomials ...............................................................................................................................................24
Factoring Polynomials ..............................................................................................................................30
Rational Expressions .................................................................................................................................40
Complex Numbers ....................................................................................................................................51
Solving Equations and Inequalities ............................................................................................ 57
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................57
Solutions and Solution Sets .......................................................................................................................58
Linear Equations .......................................................................................................................................62
Application of Linear Equations ...............................................................................................................70
Equations With More Than One Variable .................................................................................................80
Quadratic Equations – Part I .....................................................................................................................84
Quadratic Equations – Part II ....................................................................................................................92
Solving Quadratic Equations : A Summary ............................................................................................103
Application of Quadratic Equations ........................................................................................................106
Equations Reducible to Quadratic Form .................................................................................................110
Equations with Radicals ..........................................................................................................................115
Linear Inequalities ...................................................................................................................................121
Polynomial Inequalities ...........................................................................................................................128
Rational Inequalities ...............................................................................................................................134
Absolute Value Equations .......................................................................................................................139
Absolute Value Inequalities ....................................................................................................................146
Graphing and Functions ........................................................................................................... 151
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................151
Graphing .................................................................................................................................................152
Lines ........................................................................................................................................................158
Circles .....................................................................................................................................................168
The Definition of a Function ...................................................................................................................174
Graphing Functions .................................................................................................................................187
Combining Functions ..............................................................................................................................191
Inverse Functions ....................................................................................................................................198
Common Graphs ....................................................................................................................... 205
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................205
Lines, Circles and Piecewise Functions ..................................................................................................206
Parabolas .................................................................................................................................................207
Ellipses ....................................................................................................................................................217
Hyperbolas ..............................................................................................................................................221
Miscellaneous Functions .........................................................................................................................225
Transformations ......................................................................................................................................228
Symmetry ................................................................................................................................................234
Rational Functions ..................................................................................................................................239
Polynomial Functions ................................................................................................................ 245
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................245
Dividing Polynomials .............................................................................................................................246
Zeroes/Roots of Polynomials ..................................................................................................................251
Graphing Polynomials .............................................................................................................................256
© 2007 Paul Dawkins i http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Finding Zeroes of Polynomials ...............................................................................................................264
Partial Fractions ......................................................................................................................................272
Exponential and Logarithm Functions .................................................................................... 280
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................280
Exponential Functions .............................................................................................................................281
Logarithm Functions ...............................................................................................................................286
Solving Exponential Equations ...............................................................................................................296
Solving Logarithm Equations .................................................................................................................303
Applications ............................................................................................................................................309
Systems of Equations ................................................................................................................. 316
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................316
Linear Systems with Two Variables .......................................................................................................317
Linear Systems with Three Variables .....................................................................................................325
Augmented Matrices ...............................................................................................................................329
More on the Augmented Matrix ..............................................................................................................338
Non-Linear Systems ................................................................................................................................344
© 2007 Paul Dawkins ii http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Preface
Here are my online notes for my Algebra course that I teach here at Lamar University, although I
have to admit that it’s been years since I last taught this course. At this point in my career I
mostly teach Calculus and Differential Equations.
Despite the fact that these are my “class notes”, they should be accessible to anyone wanting to
learn Algebra or needing a refresher for algebra. I’ve tried to make the notes as self contained as
possible and do not reference any book. However, they do assume that you’ve had some
exposure to the basics of algebra at some point prior to this. While there is some review of
exponents, factoring and graphing it is assumed that not a lot of review will be needed to remind
you how these topics work.
Here are a couple of warnings to my students who may be here to get a copy of what happened on
a day that you missed.
1. Because I wanted to make this a fairly complete set of notes for anyone wanting to learn
algebra I have included some material that I do not usually have time to cover in class
and because this changes from semester to semester it is not noted here. You will need to
find one of your fellow class mates to see if there is something in these notes that wasn’t
covered in class.
2. Because I want these notes to provide some more examples for you to read through, I
don’t always work the same problems in class as those given in the notes. Likewise, even
if I do work some of the problems in here I may work fewer problems in class than are
presented here.
3. Sometimes questions in class will lead down paths that are not covered here. I try to
anticipate as many of the questions as possible in writing these up, but the reality is that I
can’t anticipate all the questions. Sometimes a very good question gets asked in class
that leads to insights that I’ve not included here. You should always talk to someone who
was in class on the day you missed and compare these notes to their notes and see what
the differences are.
4. This is somewhat related to the previous three items, but is important enough to merit its
own item. THESE NOTES ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ATTENDING CLASS!!
Using these notes as a substitute for class is liable to get you in trouble. As already noted
not everything in these notes is covered in class and often material or insights not in these
notes is covered in class.
© 2007 Paul Dawkins iii http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Outline
Here is a listing of all the material that is currently available in these notes.
Preliminaries
Integer Exponents – In this section we will start looking at exponents and their
properties.
Rational Exponents – We will define rational exponents in this section and extend the
properties from the previous section to rational exponents.
Radicals – Here we will define radical notation and relate radicals to rational exponents.
We will also give the properties of radicals.
Polynomials – We will introduce the basics of polynomials in this section including
adding, subtracting and multiplying polynomials.
Factoring Polynomials – This is the most important section of all the preliminaries.
Factoring polynomials will appear in pretty much every chapter in this course. Without
the ability to factor polynomials you will be unable to complete this course.
Rational Expressions – In this section we will define rational expressions and discuss
adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing them.
Complex Numbers – Here is a very quick primer on complex numbers and how to
manipulate them.
Solving Equations and Inequalities
Solutions and Solution Sets – We introduce some of the basic notation and ideas
involved in solving in this section.
Linear Equations – In this section we will solve linear equations, including equations
with rational expressions.
Applications of Linear Equations – We will take a quick look at applications of linear
equations in this section.
Equations With More Than One Variable – Here we will look at solving equations
with more than one variable in them.
Quadratic Equations, Part I – In this section we will start looking at solving quadratic
equations. We will look at factoring and the square root property in this section.
Quadratic Equations, Part II – We will finish up solving quadratic equations in this
section. We will look at completing the square and quadratic formula in this section.
Quadratic Equations : A Summary – We’ll give a procedure for determining which
method to use in solving quadratic equations in this section. We will also take a quick
look at the discriminant.
Applications of Quadratic Equations – Here we will revisit some of the applications
we saw in the linear application section, only this time they will involve solving a
quadratic equation.
Equations Reducible to Quadratic Form – In this section we will solve equations that
can be reduced to quadratic in form.
Equations with Radicals – Here we will solve equations with square roots in them.
Linear Inequalities – We will start solving inequalities in this section by looking at
linear inequalities.
© 2007 Paul Dawkins iv http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Polynomial Inequalities – In this section we will look at solving inequalities that contain
polynomials.
Rational Inequalities – Here we will solve inequalities involving rational expressions.
Absolute Value Equations – We will officially define absolute value in this section and
solve equations that contain absolute value.
Absolute Value Inequalities – We will solve inequalities that involve absolute value in
this section.
Graphing and Functions
Graphing – In this section we will introduce the Cartesian coordinate system and most of
the basics of graphing equations.
Lines – Here we will review the main ideas from the study of lines including slope and
the special forms of the equation of a line.
Circles – We will look at the equation of a circle and graphing circles in this section.
The Definition of a Function – We will discuss the definition of a function in this
section. We will also introduce the idea of function evaluation.
Graphing Functions – In this section we will look at the basics of graphing functions.
We will also graph some piecewise functions in this section.
Combining functions – Here we will look at basic arithmetic involving functions as well
as function composition.
Inverse Functions – We will define and find inverse functions in this section.
Common Graphs
Lines, Circles and Piecewise Functions – This section is here only to acknowledge that
we’ve already talked about graphing these in a previous chapter.
Parabolas – We’ll be graphing parabolas in this section.
Ellipses – In this section we will graph ellipses.
Hyperbolas – Here we will be graphing hyperbolas.
Miscellaneous Functions – In this section we will graph a couple of common functions
that don’t really take all that much work to so. We’ll be looking at the constant function,
square root, absolute value and a simple cubic function.
Transformations – We will be looking at shifts and reflections of graphs in this section.
Collectively these are often called transformations.
Symmetry – We will briefly discuss the topic of symmetry in this section.
Rational Functions – In this section we will graph some rational functions. We will also
be taking a look at vertical and horizontal asymptotes.
Polynomial Functions
Dividing Polynomials – We’ll review some of the basics of dividing polynomials in this
section.
Zeroes/Roots of Polynomials – In this section we’ll define just what zeroes/roots of
polynomials are and give some of the more important facts concerning them.
Graphing Polynomials – Here we will give a process that will allow us to get a rough
sketch of some polynomials.
Finding Zeroes of Polynomials – We’ll look at a process that will allow us to find some
of the zeroes of a polynomial and in special cases all of the zeroes.
Partial Fractions – In this section we will take a look at the process of partial fractions
and finding the partial fraction decomposition of a rational expression.
Exponential and Logarithm Functions
© 2007 Paul Dawkins v http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Exponential Functions – In this section we will introduce exponential functions. We
will be taking a look at some of the properties of exponential functions.
Logarithm Functions – Here we will introduce logarithm functions. We be looking at
how to evaluate logarithms as well as the properties of logarithms.
Solving Exponential Equations – We will be solving equations that contain
exponentials in this section.
Solving Logarithm Equations – Here we will solve equations that contain logarithms.
Applications – In this section we will look at a couple of applications of exponential
functions and an application of logarithms.
Systems of Equations
Linear Systems with Two Variables – In this section we will use systems of two
equations and two variables to introduce two of the main methods for solving systems of
equations.
Linear Systems with Three Variables – Here we will work a quick example to show
how to use the methods to solve systems of three equations with three variables.
Augmented Matrices – We will look at the third main method for solving systems in
this section. We will look at systems of two equations and systems of three equations.
More on the Augmented Matrix – In this section we will take a look at some special
cases to the solutions to systems and how to identify them using the augmented matrix
method.
Nonlinear Systems – We will take a quick look at solving nonlinear systems of
equations in this section.
© 2007 Paul Dawkins vi http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Preliminaries
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to review several topics that will arise time and again throughout
this material. Many of the topics here are so important to an Algebra class that if you don’t have
a good working grasp of them you will find it very difficult to successfully complete the course.
Also, it is assumed that you’ve seen the topics in this chapter somewhere prior to this class and so
this chapter should be mostly a review for you. However, since most of these topics are so
important to an Algebra class we will make sure that you do understand them by doing a quick
review of them here.
Exponents and polynomials are integral parts of any Algebra class. If you do not remember the
basic exponent rules and how to work with polynomials you will find it very difficult, if not
impossible, to pass an Algebra class. This is especially true with factoring polynomials. There
are more than a few sections in an Algebra course where the ability to factor is absolutely
essential to being able to do the work in those sections. In fact, in many of these sections
factoring will be the first step taken.
It is important that you leave this chapter with a good understanding of this material! If you don’t
understand this material you will find it difficult to get through the remaining chapters. Here is a
brief listing of the material covered in this chapter.
Integer Exponents – In this section we will start looking at exponents and their properties.
Rational Exponents – We will define rational exponents in this section and extend the properties
from the previous section to rational exponents.
Radicals – Here we will define radical notation and relate radicals to rational exponents. We will
also give the properties of radicals.
Polynomials – We will introduce the basics of polynomials in this section including adding,
subtracting and multiplying polynomials.
Factoring Polynomials – This is the most important section of all the preliminaries. Factoring
polynomials will appear in pretty much every chapter in this course. Without the ability to factor
polynomials you will be unable to complete this course.
Rational Expressions – In this section we will define rational expressions and discuss adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing them.
Complex Numbers – Here is a very quick primer on complex numbers and how to manipulate
them.
© 2007 Paul Dawkins 1 http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
Integer Exponents
We will start off this chapter by looking at integer exponents. In fact, we will initially assume
that the exponents are positive as well. We will look at zero and negative exponents in a bit.
Let’s first recall the definition of exponentiation with positive integer exponents. If a is any
number and n is a positive integer then,
an =a⋅a⋅a⋅⋅a
n times
So, for example,
35 =3⋅3⋅3⋅3⋅3=243
We should also use this opportunity to remind ourselves about parenthesis and conventions that
we have in regards to exponentiation and parenthesis. This will be particularly important when
dealing with negative numbers. Consider the following two cases.
(−2)4 and −24
These will have different values once we evaluate them. When performing exponentiation
remember that it is only the quantity that is immediately to the left of the exponent that gets the
power.
In the first case there is a parenthesis immediately to the left so that means that everything in the
parenthesis gets the power. So, in this case we get,
(−2)4 =(−2)(−2)(−2)(−2)=16
In the second case however, the 2 is immediately to the left of the exponent and so it is only the 2
that gets the power. The minus sign will stay out in front and will NOT get the power. In this
case we have the following,
−24 =−(24)=−(2⋅2⋅2⋅2)=−(16)=−16
We put in some extra parenthesis to help illustrate this case. In general they aren’t included and
we would write instead,
−24 =−2⋅2⋅2⋅2=−16
The point of this discussion is to make sure that you pay attention to parenthesis. They are
important and ignoring parenthesis or putting in a set of parenthesis where they don’t belong can
completely change the answer to a problem. Be careful. Also, this warning about parenthesis is
not just intended for exponents. We will need to be careful with parenthesis throughout this
course.
Now, let’s take care of zero exponents and negative integer exponents. In the case of zero
exponents we have,
a0 =1 provided a ≠0
Notice that it is required that a not be zero. This is important since 00 is not defined. Here is a
quick example of this property.
(−1268)0 =1
© 2007 Paul Dawkins 2 http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
College Algebra
We have the following definition for negative exponents. If a is any non-zero number and n is a
positive integer (yes, positive) then,
1
a−n =
an
Can you see why we required that a not be zero? Remember that division by zero is not defined
and if we had allowed a to be zero we would have gotten division by zero. Here are a couple of
quick examples for this definition,
1 1 1 1 1
5−2 = = (−4)−3 = = =−
52 25 (−4)3 −64 64
Here are some of the main properties of integer exponents. Accompanying each property will be
a quick example to illustrate its use. We will be looking at more complicated examples after the
properties.
Properties
1. anam =an+m Example : a−9a4 =a−9+4 =a−5
2. (an)m =anm Example : (a7)3 =a(7)(3) =a21
a4
an−m =a4−11 =a−7
an a11
3. = 1 , a ≠0 Example :
am a4 1 1
am−n = = =a−7
a11 a11−4 a7
4. (ab)n =anbn Example : (ab)−4 =a−4b−4
an an a8 a8
5. = , b≠0 Example : =
b bn b b8
a−n bn bn a−10 b10 b10
6. = = Example : = =
b a an b a a10
1 1
7. (ab)−n = Example : (ab)−20 =
( )n ( )20
ab ab
1 1
8. =an Example : =a2
a−n a−2
a−n bm a−6 b17
9. = Example : =
b−m an b−17 a6
© 2007 Paul Dawkins 3 http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/terms.aspx
