Algebra

Algebraic manipulation

Simplifying
2xy means 2  x  y
x3 means x  x  x
2xy  3x2y  6x3y2
Only like terms can be added or subtracted. 2a  2a2  a  a  2a2
3a2b  ab2  a2b  4a2b  ab2
Multiply every term inside a bracket by the term outside. 2(3x  4y)  6x  8y
A negative sign outside the bracket means multiply by 1. 2  (3x  4y)  2  3x  4y
Indices
am  an  amn am  an  amn (am)n  amn a0  1 (a  0)
Simplifying fractions
2
2x 3y
___ 2y 2x x ___ 2x y
​    ​3 ____
​   ​ 5 ___
​   ​   ​ ___ ​ 4 __
​   ​ 5 ​   ​ 3 __
​   ​ 5 2
3 9y x 3 y y y x
3x 2y 9x 1 8y 3x 2y 9x 2 8y
​ ___ ​  ___
​   ​  ________
​   ​ ​ 
   ___ ​ 2 ___
​   ​ 5 ________
​   ​   
4 3 12 4 3 12
Expanding brackets x 2
Use FOIL First Outside Inside Last x x2
2x
(x  2)(x  1)  x2 x 2x 2 2
 x  3x  2 1 x 2
(2x  1)(x  5)  2x2 10x x 5 2
 2x  9x  5
Factorising
x2  3x  x(x  3) 3a2b  9ab2  3ab(a  3b)
x2  x  2  (x  2)(x  1) 2x2  9x  5  (2x  1)(x  5)
An important factorisation is the difference of two squares.
x2  9  (x  3)(x  3) x2  a2  (x  a)(x  a)
Further fractions
To simplify, factorise as much as possible, then cancel.
2 x(x 1 3)
x 1 3x ________
_______
​   ​    ​   ​    x  3
x x
x 2
2 4x x(x 2 4) x
​ ___________  _____________
  ​  ​      ​ _____
​     ​ 
x2 2 x 2 12 (x 2 4)(x 1 3) x 1 3
Add or subtract in the same way as for number fractions.
x 2 1 _____ 4(x 2 1) 2 3(x 1 3) _______________
x 1 3 __________________ 4x 2 4 2 3x 2 9 ______
x 2 13
​ _____
 ​ 
  ​   ​ 
  ​   ​
      ​   ​
      ​   ​ 
 
3 4 12 12 12
3
_____ 2 3(1 2 x) 1 2(1 1 x) _______________
3  3x  2  2x _______
5x
​     ​  _____
​     ​  __________________
​    
    ​ ​    
    ​ ​    ​ 
11x 12x (1 1 x)(1 2 x) (1  x)(1  x) 1  x2
2 2
(x  4)(x  1)  (x  1)(x  3) __________________________
x  3 ___________________________
x  1 _____
_____ (x  5x  4)  (x  4x  3) _____________
1  9x
​   ​ ​ 
   ​ ​ 
       ​
    ​       ​ ​ 
        ​
x1 x4 (x  1)(x  4) (x  1)(x  4) (x  1)(x  4)

Algebra 1
 Formulae If the equation contains fractions, multiply
everything by the LCM to clear the fractions.
Using formulae 5x
Formulae describes how items are related to each Solve _____
​   ​    1  x.
3
other. Substitution and the use of the BIDMAS 5x
​ _____ ​ 
  1  x (Multiply both sides by 3)
mnemonic will enable you to calculate their values. 3
A formulae used in mechanics is s  ut  _​ 2 ​at2.
1 5  x  3(1  x) (Expand bracket)
5  x  3  3x (Collect like terms)
Find s when u  4, a  10 and t  3.
3x  x  3  5 (Simplify)
Substituting gives s  4  3  _​ 2 ​ 10  32
1
2x   2 (Divide both sides by 2)
 12  45  57. x  1
Changing the subject x  1 _____
Solve ​ _____
 ​ 
x  2 __
  ​   ​ 
5
  ​    ​.
6 3 2
Use an identical process to solving equations:
perform the same operation to both sides of the The LCM of 6, 3 and 2 is 6. Multiply everything
formula. by 6.
x1 2 x2 3 5
4
Make r the subject of V  __
​   ​ r3. 6  ​ _____   6  _____
 ​  ​   ​   6  __ ​   ​ 
3 6 3 2
4 x  1  2(x  2)  3  5
V  ​ __  ​r3
3 (Expand bracket)
3V
___ x  1  2x  4  15
​   ​ r3
4
___ (Collect like terms)
3
√
3V
r  ​ ___
​    ​ ​ 
 
4R
3x  18
(Divide both sides by 3)
1  at
Make t the subject of m  ​ ______ 
 ​ x6
1  at
1  at
m  ​ ______ 
 ​ Problems leading to linear equations
1  at
m(1  at)  1  at
• Where relevant, draw a clear diagram and
m  mat  1  at put all the information on it.
m  1  at  mat • Let x stand for what you are trying to find.
m  1  t(a  ma) • Form an equation involving x.
m1 • Solve the equation.
t  _______
​   ​
   • Check that the answer makes sense.
a  ma
The length of a rectangle is 1 cm more than the
width. The perimeter is 14 cm. Find the width.
Linear equations Let the width be x cm, then the length is x  1 cm.
The diagram shows the x�1
Solving linear equations
length of the sides.
The way to solve linear equations is to isolate
x x
the unknown letter by systematically doing the
same operation to both sides of the equation.
Solve 3(x  1)  2(x  3)  10. x�1

3(x  1)  2(x  3)  10 The equation is x  (x  1)  x  (x  1)  14

3x  3  2x  6  10 Simplifying
3x  2x  10  3  6 4x  2  14 (Subtract 2 from both sides)
x1 4x  12 (Divide both sides by 4)
Solve 3(x  1)  2(x  3). x3
3(x  1)  2(x  3) So the width is 3 cm.
3x  3  2x  6 Check: The width is 3 and the length is 4, so the
3x  2x  6  3 perimeter is 3  4  3  4  14
x  9

2 Algebra
 Identities The graph of y plotted against x looks like this.
y
An Identity is an expression which is true for all
values of a variable, say x.
• Show that (x 1 3)(x 2 1) 5 x2 1 2x 2 3
Expanding the left-hand side (LHS)
5 x2 2 x 1 3x 2 3
x
5 x2 1 2x 2 3
5 RHS As x increases, y decreases.
• If (x 1 3)(2x 2 1) 5 Ax2 1 Bx 1 C, where A, k
If y  3 when x  4, then 3  __ ​    ​ ⇒ k  12
B and C are constants, find their value. 4
12
Comparing LHS to RHS. So the equation is y  ​ ___ ​ .
x
LHS 5 2x2 1 5x 2 3 5 Ax2 1 Bx 1 C 1
• y is inversely proportional to x2, y  __ ​  2  ​ 
Comparing terms in x2, x and x0 x
k
[x2]: 2 5 A means y  ​ __2  ​. 
x
[x]: 55B 1
[x0]: 23 5 C • y is inversely proportional to x3, y  __ ​  3  ​ 
x
k
means y  ​ __3  ​. 
x
__
1
• y is inversely proportional to √​  x ​ , y  ___
​  __   ​ 
​  x ​ 
√
k__
Proportion means y  ​ ___    ​ .
​  x ​ 
√

Direct proportion
All these statements mean the same thing.
• y is directly proportional to x.
Simultaneous linear equations
• y varies directly with x.
• y varies as x. Solving simultaneous equations finds the point
y is directly proportional to x means y  kx, of intersection of the graphs of the equations.
for some fixed value of k. There are two main ways to solve simultaneous
The graph of y against x is a straight line linear equations: substitution and elimination.
through the origin. Substitution
y
Use substitution when either x or y is the subject
of at least one equation.
Solve the simultaneous equations y  2x  1
and y  x  2.
y
x
8
If y  12 when x  3, then 12  k  3 ⇒ k  4 7
So the equation is y  4x.
6
• y is directly proportional to x2, y  x2 means 5
y�x�2
y  kx2. 4 Solution
• y is directly proportional to x3, y  x3 means
3
y  kx3. __ __ 2
• y is directly proportional to √
​  x ​ , y  √
​  x ​ means y � 2x � 1
1
y  kRx.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 x
Inverse proportion
k y  2x  1 and y  x  2 means 2x  1  x  2
y is directly proportional to x means y  __
​    ​for 2x  x  2  1
x
some fixed value of k. x3

Algebra 3
 Substituting x  3 into the first equation gives Check: x  5, y  3 satisfies the first equation,
y  5. as 2  5  3  7.
Check: x  3, y  5 satisfies the second So the solution is x  5, y  3.
equation, as 5  3  2. Solve the simultaneous equations x  2y  1
So the solution is x  3, y  5. and 2x  3y  9.
Solve the simultaneous equations y  x  1    x  2y  1 
and 3x  2y  12.   2x  3y  9 
y Multiply  by 2 2x  4y  2 
8 Add  and  7y  7
7   y  1
6 Substituting y  1 into  gives x  2  1 ⇒ x  3
5 Check in : 2  3  3  1  9
Solution y
4 y�x�1
2x � 3y � 9
3 3
2 3x � 2y � 12 Solution
2
1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 x
�1 0 1 2 3 4 5 x
Substitute y  x  1 into the second equation �1
x � 2y � 1
to give �2

3x  2(x  1)  12 �3

3x  2x  2  12 �4
5x  10 So the solution is x  3, y  1
x2
Substituting x  2 into the first equation gives
y  3. Quadratic equations
Check: x  2, y  3 satisfies the second equation,
as 3  2  2  3  12. There are two main ways to solve quadratic
equations: factorising and using the quadratic
So the solution is x  2, y  3.
formula.
Elimination If the question asks for rounded solutions, for
Solve the simultaneous equations 2x  y  7 example to 3 s.f. or 3 d.p., then use the formula.
and x  y  8. If you haven’t managed to factorise the
2x  y  7 equation after about one minute, use the
  x  y  8   (Add the equations together.) formula.
3x  15 Always rearrange the equation so that it equals
  x5 zero before you start.
Substituting x  5 into the second equation
Factorising
gives 5  y  8 ⇒ y  3
y The different types are illustrated below:
2 • No x term
1
2x � y � 7 x2  16  0 ⇒ x2  16 ⇒ x  4
0
• No number term
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 x x  5x  0 ⇒ x(x  5)  0 ⇒ x  0 or 5
�1
• Simple factorising
�2
x2  2x  8  0 ⇒ (x  2)(x  4)  0
�3
x�y�8 Solution ⇒ x  2 or 4
�4 • Number factor
�5 4x2  8x  32  0 ⇒ 4(x2  2x  8)  0
�6 ⇒ 4(x  2)(x  4)  0 ⇒ x  2 or 4

4 Algebra
 • Harder factorising Substitute  into 
3x2  5x  2  0 ⇒ (3x  1)(x  2)  0 x2 x2  2x  1  13
⇒ x  ​ _1 ​or 2 2x2  2x  12  0 (Divide by 2)
3
Using the quadratic formula x2  x  6  0 (Factorise)
________
(x  3)(x  2)  0
2b  √
​  b2 2 4ac ​ 
If ax  bx  c  0 then x  ______________
2
​   ​
     x  3 or 2
2a
It is easy to make a mistake with the signs. Use  to work out the y values, giving solutions
Write down the values of a, b and c. as (3, 2) or (2, 3).
Remember that if b  3 then b  3 and b2
must be positive (it is easy to get this wrong with
a calculator). If either a or c is negative, then Inequalities
4ac will be positive.
Linear inequalities
Problems leading to quadratic equations
These are solved in a similar way to equations,
• Where relevant, draw a clear diagram and except that when both sides are multiplied or
put all the information on it. divided by a negative number the inequality is
• Let x stand for what you are trying to find. reversed. The following examples show the same
• Form a quadratic equation in x and simplify it. inequality solved in two different ways.
• Solve the equation by either factorising or Solve the inequality 3(x  1)  5(x  3),
using the formula. showing the result on a number line.
• Check that the answers make sense.
Method 1
3(x  1)  5(x  3) (Expand brackets)
Solving simultaneous equations, 3x  3  5x  15 (Add 15 to both sides)
one linear and one nonlinear 3x  12  5x (Subtract 3x from both sides)
Graphically this corresponds to the intersection 12  2x (Divide both sides by 2)
of a line and a curve. 6x
Always substitute the linear equation into the Method 2
nonlinear. 3(x  1)  5(x  3) (Expand brackets)
y
3x  3  5x  15 (Add 3 to both sides)
5
3x  5x  12 (Subtract 5x from both sides)
x 2 � y 2 � 13 4 2x  12 (Divide both sides by 2,
3 Solution
remembering to reverse the
2 sign)
1 x6
�5 �4 �3 �2 �1 0 1 2 3 4 5 x 6 7 8 9 10
�1
Solution
�2 A solid circle means  or . An open circle
�3
means , or ..
�4
x�y�1�0
�5

Solve the simultaneous equations

x2  y2  13 
xy10 
The linear equation is equation .
Make y the subject of equation 
yx1
y2  (x  1)2
y2  x2  2x  1 

Algebra 5