Algebra

We are spending a few days revising algebra. This is a really important topic as it comes up all over the paper 1 and 2 as well as in 2 algebra-only questions (Paper 1 Q2 and Q3).

We started by looking at the 2007 questions.
Q2 involved solving inequalities. Key points:
- know how to graph on the numberline or work out the solution set = { , , } if x is an element of N, Z and R
- know how to handle cases like -x <>3 ]

It also involved manipulating indices. It is too difficult to format the rules here... look them up in your book and make sure you know them. With equations, get the same number raised to different powers on each side of the =.
Eg 2^(x+1) = 4^x
rewrite 4^x as (2^2)^x or 2^2x
Then equate the powers:
x+1 = 2x
x = 1

We will look at the rest of Q2 and Q3 tomorrow. Here is a slightly revised version of the algebra 1-page overview.