MU123

Discovering mathematics

BOOK A

Units 1–4
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First published 2010.
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ISBN 978 1 8487 3021 2
1.1
 Contents

Contents
UNIT 1 Starting points 7
Welcome to MU123! 8

Introduction 9

1 Studying MU123 9
1.1 The course units 9
1.2 Studying effectively 10

2 Working with numbers 12

2.1 Getting the order right 12
2.2 Using your calculator 14
2.3 Units of measurement 15
2.4 Rounding numbers 18
2.5 Checking your answers 25
3 Negative numbers and fractions 28
3.1 Negative numbers 28
3.2 Fractions 33
3.3 Percentages 37

4 Thinking mathematically 44
4.1 An odd pattern 44
4.2 From folding to fractals 49

5 Preparing your assignments 52

5.1 Reviewing your progress 52
5.2 iCMA questions 53
5.3 TMA questions 54

6 Reviewing your study methods 58

Learning checklist 59

Solutions and comments on Activities 60

UNIT 2 Mathematical models 65

Introduction 66

1 Planning a journey 67
1.1 Clarifying the question 67
1.2 Estimating distances 69
1.3 Understanding speed 72
1.4 Finding the time 73
1.5 Checking and interpreting your results 74
1.6 Route planners and models 76
1.7 The modelling cycle 78

3
Contents

2 Investigating vehicle stopping distances 80

2.1 Two different models 80
2.2 The distance model and the modelling cycle 81
2.3 Comparing the models 82
2.4 Developing the models further 87

3 Using formulas 88
3.1 From words to letters 88
3.2 Writing formulas concisely 94
3.3 Constructing your own formulas 98
4 Inequalities 103
4.1 Notation for working with inequalities 103
4.2 Illustrating inequalities on a number line 105
5 Improving your mathematics 108
5.1 Some problem-solving strategies 108
5.2 Reading mathematics 109
5.3 Using feedback 110

Learning checklist 111

Solutions and comments on Activities 112

UNIT 3 Numbers 119

Introduction 120

1 Natural numbers 120

1.1 Multiples 121
1.2 Factors 122
1.3 Prime numbers 124
1.4 Prime factors 126
1.5 Powers 131
2 Rational numbers 136
2.1 What is a rational number? 136
2.2 Adding and subtracting fractions 138
2.3 Multiplying and dividing fractions 140
2.4 Negative indices 143
2.5 Scientific notation 145

3 Irrational numbers and real numbers 148

3.1 What is an irrational number? 148
3.2 Roots of numbers 151
3.3 Surds 152
3.4 Fractional indices 157

4
 Contents

4 Ratios 159
4.1 What is a ratio? 159
4.2 Aspect ratios 163

Learning checklist 168

Solutions and comments on Activities 169

UNIT 4 Statistical summaries 175

Introduction 176
1 Questions, questions 176
1.1 Types of statistical question 177
1.2 The statistical investigation cycle 180
2 Dealing with data 183
2.1 Primary and secondary data 183
2.2 Discrete and continuous data 185
2.3 Checking and cleaning data 188
2.4 Spurious precision 189
2.5 Single and paired data 191

3 Summarising data: location 193

3.1 Scanning data 195
3.2 Measuring location 195
3.3 Mean versus median 199

4 Summarising data: spread 200

4.1 Range 200
4.2 Quartiles and the interquartile range 201
4.3 Standard deviation 205
4.4 Investigating spread 207

5 Measuring with accuracy and precision 210

5.1 Summarising a set of scientific measurements 211
5.2 Accuracy and precision 213

Learning checklist 214

Solutions and comments on Activities 215

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 221

INDEX 222

5
UNIT 1

Starting points
 Unit 1 Starting points

Welcome to MU123!
This unit is the first step on a mathematical journey which will be full of
ideas and exploration. Mathematics has a fundamental role in almost
every aspect of modern life, from the media and business to science and
medicine, and beyond. As mathematics plays such an important part in
the world, using mathematics in practical situations is one of the four main
themes of the course. You’ll see how you can use mathematics in everyday
life – for example, how to use it to make sense of the numbers you see in
the media, and how to interpret tables of data. And you’ll see some more
specialised applications of mathematics, such as how mathematics is used
in developing route-planning software to help drivers get from one place to
another as quickly as possible.
But there’s more to mathematics than solving practical problems: the
subject is also fascinating in its own right. It can be appreciated for its
beauty, and it can surprise, delight and challenge you just as much as
subjects like literature and art. Abstract mathematics is the second theme
of the course. You’ll be introduced to some surprising facts about numbers
and number patterns, and you’ll learn how it’s possible to prove that
certain facts hold not just for a few numbers, but for infinitely many.
Remarkably, some areas of abstract mathematics that initially seemed to
have no practical applications now have important uses: for example,
modern-day data encryption relies heavily on an abstract subject known as
number theory, as you will see.
The third theme of the course is developing your mathematical skills. You
need to be able to work confidently with numbers and other elements of
mathematics if you’re to be effective in using mathematics in your
everyday life, in your workplace or in further courses. You’ll learn new
mathematical skills in statistics, geometry and trigonometry, and some
fundamental skills in algebra, that will open up new possibilities for your
future study and career options.
The final theme of the course is mathematical communication. You’ll learn
how to interpret mathematics that’s presented to you, and how to present
your mathematics to others so that it can be easily understood. You’ll find
that the feedback you get from your tutor is particularly helpful in helping
you to develop your skills in mathematical communication.
The four themes of the course are interlinked: most parts of the course
involve more than one of them. In summary, in MU123 you will develop
your mathematical skills and your abilities in mathematical communication
by studying both practical and abstract mathematical ideas.

Mathematics has been used to describe and explain the world for
thousands of years. The regular marks engraved on a piece of bone
found in Africa, known as the Ishango bone (Figure 1), appear to
indicate that people were counting and thinking mathematically over
20 000 years ago. More sophisticated mathematical activities such as
Figure 1 The two sides of measuring size and using money were also adopted by many
the Ishango bone civilisations thousands of years ago.

8
 Introduction

Introduction
This book contains the first four of the fourteen units in the course; this
first unit introduces you to the main themes of the course and the different
teaching materials that are used. It also helps you to revise some basic
mathematical skills and to start studying mathematics more effectively.
Section 1 gives you some brief advice on studying the course.
In Sections 2 and 3 you will revise some basic mathematical skills, such as
rounding numbers, using your calculator and working with negative A particular model of calculator
numbers, fractions and percentages. Your study of later units will be much is recommended in the
easier if you are fluent in these basic skills, so these sections give you an Course Guide.
opportunity to practise them and make sure that there are no gaps in your
understanding. In these sections you will also see some everyday
applications of mathematics, and how the media (newspapers, television,
radio and the internet) use numbers.
You will need to keep the Course Guide to hand throughout your study of
Sections 2 and 3, as it contains several calculator activities that you will be Activities 5, 16 and 20, on
asked to do. If you are not using the recommended calculator, then you pages 15, 33 and 36, respectively,
may need your calculator manual as well. If you do not have the Course are in the Course Guide.
Guide to hand when you reach these activities, then you can return to
them later.
Section 4 introduces you to abstract mathematics. You will see how two
simple ideas – adding odd numbers and folding paper strips – can be
developed mathematically, with intriguing results.
The final two sections in this unit will help you to think constructively
about your study methods. Section 5 gives advice on doing your course
assignments and introduces you to the topic of how to write mathematics
so that it can be easily understood by others. Section 6 looks at how you
might review and improve your study methods.

1 Studying MU123
This short first section tells you what to expect in the course, and helps
you to start planning a method of study that will be effective for you.

1.1 The course units

Each unit of MU123 is structured in a similar way. As well as explanations
of the mathematics, there are worked examples to study and activities to
do. The worked examples show you how to do the mathematics and how
to set out your working, and in the activities you are asked to do some
mathematics yourself. The best way to learn mathematics is to practise it, ‘Exercise is the beste
so it is important to work through the activities carefully, and to do as instrument in learnyng.’
many as you can. There are solutions at the end of each unit, which you Robert Recorde (1510–1558),
can use to check your answers, or to obtain a hint if you are stuck! mathematician.

Key facts and strategies are highlighted in pink boxes, so that you can
refer to them easily. You will also see blue boxes, like the one on the right,
which tell you some of the rich history of mathematics, or contain other
interesting items.

9
 Unit 1 Starting points

Next to some worked examples and activities you will see a computer icon,
like the one alongside Activity 1 below. This icon means that you need to
use your computer, for example for software and tutorial clips (clips in
There are other resources which tutors explain worked examples).
available via your computer,
such as the practice quizzes As you work through each unit you may find it helpful to keep the
which are online activities that Handbook to hand. You can use it to look up ideas covered in other units,
provide further practice, with and you can annotate it with helpful notes and examples.
instant feedback. There are also
occasional references to websites The first activity asks you to watch the first course video, which introduces
that are not part of the course; you to some of the ideas in the course and gives you a glimpse of what it is
the computer icon is not used like to be a mathematician. It doesn’t contain any details that you have to
for these. learn, so there is no need to take notes – just sit down and enjoy it! If it is
not convenient for you to watch the video now, then you can leave it until
later, and continue working through the unit. But try to watch the video
as soon as possible, as it will help set the scene for studying the unit.

Video Activity 1 The first course video

The video is on the DVD. Watch the video ‘Welcome to MU123 Discovering mathematics’.

1.2 Studying effectively

Before you start on the mathematics in MU123, it’s a good idea to check
that you’re organised to study effectively, especially if this is your first
course with The Open University. This subsection will help you to do that,
and there is further advice throughout the course.

Finding time and using it effectively

It is important for you to think about how your study of MU123 will fit in
with the rest of your life, and what adjustments you may need to make.
Each unit is designed to take about 13 hours of study for an average
student: the time that you will need will depend on your mathematical
background, and some units may take you longer than others. You will
also need to allow some extra time for the assignment questions and other
activities such as tutorials. It is important to keep up with the schedule in
The study planner is on the the study planner as much as possible, or you could find that you have run
course website. out of time to study the units needed to complete an assignment before its
cut-off date. So try to plan your study times, fitting them in with your
‘I can work at home and in other commitments, to make sure that you do not fall behind.
my office, and those are the
two places I work most. Just Some people study late in the evening while others are more alert first
anywhere where I’ve got a thing in the morning. Which are you: a nightingale or a lark – or neither?
pad of paper and a biro . . . What is the smallest study period that is likely to be useful to you? Some
But if you’re sitting waiting students find that even a ten-minute burst is enough to try an activity or
in an airport lounge, which
to keep them going and set them musing, whereas others find that they
for many people would be a
very boring experience, for a need at least half an hour for effective study.
mathematician it isn’t. Get If you do not have continuous access to a computer, then it is worth
out some paper and have a
think about things.’
checking which sections, or parts of sections, can be studied without one,
and planning ahead accordingly. However, you are advised to study the
Timothy Gowers, Professor of
Mathematics, University of course material in the order in which it is presented, as in later parts you
Cambridge, and Fields will often need some of the skills and knowledge covered earlier.
medallist.
It can take some time to find out what study pattern works best for you,
and it’s worth thinking about this as you work through this first unit.

10
 1 Studying MU123

Making notes
Some students find that making their own notes in a notebook or on sheets
of paper is an invaluable part of their learning process, as putting things in
their own words helps them to make sense of ideas and remember them.
These notes may include summaries of the main ideas, new terminology
and notation, things learned from doing the activities, useful examples or
even diagrams summarising the main ideas and how they fit together.
Other students use different methods to help them to understand and
remember the material, such as highlighting bits of the text, jotting brief
notes and questions in the margins, and making annotations in the
Handbook.
Whatever you decide about making notes, you are advised to write out
your solutions to the activities, and to keep them organised. It can be
useful to refer to them when you do assignment questions – particularly if
you annotate them with brief notes about anything you first got wrong but
then corrected, or found difficult but then resolved. Writing out your
solutions in full will also give you useful practice in writing mathematics
well. This is a skill that you will need for the assignment questions, and
there is advice on it in Section 5.
It is a good idea to think about how to keep track of any non-urgent
questions that you want to ask your tutor by phone or at a tutorial. For
example, you could make a list in your notes, or stick labels on the edges
of relevant pages.

Getting help
Remember that you are not alone with the course materials. Your tutor is
there to help you with any mathematical problems that you encounter,
and he or she can also provide advice on other matters to do with your
progress on the course, such as what you should do if you are worried
about completing a part of the course in time. You can also discuss the
course with other students, for example at tutorials or on the online course
forum. They may be able to help you with certain topics, and you may be
able to help them too. Trying to explain an idea to someone is often an
excellent way of learning – especially if they ask lots of questions! You
should also find it interesting and reassuring just to see how other students
are studying the course.
If you are stuck on a particular mathematical point, then it’s worth
spending a few minutes trying to resolve it yourself – if you can, then you
are likely to learn from the process, and you should remember what you
have learned more easily in future. It may help to look back at the
material that led up to that point, and make sure that you fully
understand it. But you should not spend a large amount of time puzzling
over a particular point without making progress. Many difficulties can be
resolved rapidly if you contact your tutor or post a message on the course
forum, leaving you more time to get on with the rest of the unit.

An occasion when you resolve a problem is often called a ‘Eureka

moment’. The Greek mathematician Archimedes (c. 287–212 bc) was
interested in all the mathematical sciences, from geometry and
arithmetic to mechanics and astronomy. There is a story that he was
in the bath one day when he suddenly realised that the way objects
displace water gave the answer to a problem that had been puzzling
him – he leapt out of the bath shouting ‘Eureka!’ (‘I have found it!’).

11
 Unit 1 Starting points

If a problem arises because you are a little rusty on some of the basic
mathematical skills that you are expected to have before the start of the
course, then you may find it useful to set aside some extra study time and
refer to Maths Help. This is an online resource provided by The Open
University, which contains help with basic mathematics. There is a link to
Maths Help on the course website.

Figure 2 An Italian postage 2 Working with numbers

stamp celebrating
Archimedes
This section and Section 3 will help you to revise and practise some of the
basic mathematical and calculator skills that you will need to be able to
use fluently in later units. If you have already made sure that you have the
basic mathematical skills needed for the course, as recommended in the
course description, then you should find most of these two sections
straightforward.
Most students find that they need to improve their fluency in at least some
of the skills, and sort out small gaps in their knowledge, so it is important
that you work through these sections thoroughly, doing the activities and
checking your answers against the solutions at the end of the unit. You
may not be aware of some of the gaps in your knowledge or skills, so even
if you feel confident about a topic you should still try the activities to
make sure.
If you feel that you need more practice on a topic than is provided in the
printed unit, then visit the website to see whether there are any suitable
practice quiz questions. For some topics you may also be able to find
further practice in Maths Help. There are references in the margins to tell
you which topics are covered in Maths Help, and where.

2.1 Getting the order right

Suppose that you are buying a box of wallpaper paste costing £8, and
12 rolls of wallpaper at £14 each. The calculation for the total cost in £
can be written as
8 + 12 × 14.
To work out the cost, you first do the multiplication and then do the
addition, which gives the answer £176. You know that you should do the
multiplication before the addition because you know the context of the
calculation.
But will your calculator do the same? Or will it work from left to right
and do the addition first and then the multiplication, to obtain the
answer £280? Try it! Type the whole calculation into your calculator and
press the ‘=’ key.
You should find that your calculator gives the correct answer of £176.
This is because the following convention is used in mathematics.

12
 2 Working with numbers

Order of operations: BIDMAS

Carry out mathematical operations in the following order.
B brackets
I indices (powers and roots)
&
D divisions
same precedence
M multiplications
&
A additions
same precedence
S subtractions
When operations have the same precedence, work from left to right.

The BIDMAS rules tell you the order in which to deal with the operations
+, −, × and ÷, and also powers and roots. Remember that to raise a
number to a power, you multiply it by itself a specified number of times.
For example, 23 means three 2s multiplied together:
23 = 2 × 2 × 2. 23 is read as ‘two cubed’, and 52
(in Example 1) is read as ‘five
The superscript 3 here is called the power, index or exponent. Roots are squared’. For powers other than
revised in Unit 3. 2 or 3, you say ‘to the power’:
for example, 74 is read as ‘seven
Example 1 reminds you how to use the BIDMAS rules. It also illustrates to the power four’ or ‘seven to
another feature that you will see throughout the course. Some of the the four’ for short.
worked examples include lines of green text, marked with icons like .
The plural of ‘index’ is ‘indices’.
This text tells you what someone doing the mathematics might be
thinking, but wouldn’t write down. It should help you to understand how
you might do a similar calculation yourself.

Example 1 Using the BIDMAS rules

Work out the answers to the calculations below without using your For help with the BIDMAS
calculator. rules, see Maths Help Module 1,
Subsections 3.5 and 3.6.
(a) 8 − 2 + 5 − 1 (b) 5 + 12 ÷ 4 (c) 4 × 52 (d) (5 − 3) × 4
Solution
(a) The addition and subtractions have the same precedence, so do
them in order from left to right.
8 − 2 + 5 − 1 = 6 + 5 − 1 = 11 − 1 = 10
(b) Do the division first, then the addition.
5 + 12 ÷ 4 = 5 + 3 = 8
(c) Work out the power first, then do the multiplication.
4 × 52 = 4 × 25 = 100
(d) Do the calculation in brackets first, then do the multiplication.
(5 − 3) × 4 = 2 × 4 = 8

13
 Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 2 Using the BIDMAS rules

Four fours puzzle Work out the answers to the calculations below without using your
A well-known puzzle asks you calculator.
to use four fours, together (a) 9 + 7 − 2 − 4 (b) 2 × (7 − 4) (c) (3 + 5) × 3
with mathematical symbols
such as +, −, ×, ÷ and (d) (3 + 4) × (2 + 3) (e) 32 + 43
brackets, to write down a
calculation for each of the
numbers from 1 to 10. For Activity 3 More BIDMAS
example,
1 = 44 ÷ 44 Check whether each of these calculations is correct. For those that are
and incorrect, add brackets to make them correct.
3 = (4 + 4 + 4) ÷ 4.
You might like to try the
(a) 2 × 5 + 3 = 16 (b) 3 + 4 × 7 = 49 (c) 1 + 2 × 3 = 7
other numbers. (There are (d) 9 − 3 × 2 = 3 (e) 2 × 3 + 3 × 5 = 60
answers on the course
website.)

Mathematical terms
There are many terms that have specific meanings in mathematics. When
the meaning of a term is explained in the course, the term is printed in
bold. Important terms and their definitions are also collected together in
the Glossary in the Handbook.
Some terms used for calculations are explained below.

Some terms for calculations

The sum of two numbers is the result of adding them together.
A difference between two numbers is the result of subtracting one
from the other. There are two possible answers, depending on which
way round you take the numbers, but usually the smaller number is
subtracted from the larger.
The product of two numbers is the result of multiplying them.
A quotient of two numbers is the result of dividing one by the other.
There are two possible answers, depending on which way round you
take the numbers.

Activity 4 Sums and differences

By trying some positive numbers less than 10, can you find the following?
(a) Two numbers with sum 12 and product 32
(b) Two numbers with difference 2 and quotient 2

2.2 Using your calculator

You are expected to use your calculator for most numerical calculations in
MU123. You can refer to either the ‘Calculator guide’ section in the

14
 2 Working with numbers

Course Guide (if you are using the recommended calculator) or your
calculator manual to remind yourself which keys to press. Sometimes you The manual for the
may find that it is quicker to do a simple calculation in your head or on recommended calculator
paper. contains much more information
than is covered in the Course
Occasionally you are asked not to use your calculator. This is usually so Guide.
that you can practise a technique that you will need to use later when you
learn algebra.
When you type a calculation into your calculator, it is important to think
about the BIDMAS rules, to ensure that the operations are carried out in
the order you intend.
In the next activity you will practise the following basic calculator skills.
• Enter calculations correctly, using the number keys, the +, −, × and ÷
keys and the bracket keys.
• Display answers as either decimals or fractions.
• Use the power keys.
• Correct mistakes in entering calculations.

Activity 5 Getting to know your calculator

If you are not using the
recommended calculator, then
Work through Subsection 4.1 of the Course Guide. you may need your calculator
manual as well as the Course
Guide.

2.3 Units of measurement

Many everyday calculations involve measurements of some kind: for For more help with units, see
example, lengths, times, amounts of money, and so on. In the UK, both Maths Help Module 1, Section 2.
the metric and imperial systems of measurements are used. In the metric
system, the different units for the same type of quantity are related to each
other via powers of ten: for example, 1 metre is the same as 100 (or 102 ) In the US, ‘metre’ is spelt as
centimetres. In the imperial system, the units are related in different ways: ‘meter’.
for example, 1 stone is the same as 14 pounds.
This course mostly uses the standard metric system known as the Système The metric system was
Internationale d’Unités (SI units). This system is used by the scientific founded in France in the wake
community generally and is the main system of measurement in nearly of the French Revolution, and
work on SI units has been
every country in the world. ongoing since the middle of
There are seven base SI units, from which all the other units are derived. the twentieth century. At the
time of writing, the only
The base units (and their abbreviations) used most frequently in the
countries who have not
course are the metre (m), the kilogram (kg) and the second (s). Prefixes adopted SI units as their sole
are used to indicate smaller or larger units. For example, millimetres, or primary system of
centimetres, metres and kilometres are all used to measure length. The measurement are the United
most common prefixes are shown in Table 1, and there is a more extensive States, Burma (Myanmar)
list in the Handbook. and Liberia.

Table 1 Some common prefixes

Prefix Abbreviation Meaning Example
"
1
$ 1
milli m a thousandth 1000 1 millimetre (mm) = 1000 metre
" 1 $ 1
centi c a hundredth 100 1 centimetre (cm) = 100 metre
kilo k a thousand (1000) 1 kilometre (km) = 1000 metres

15
 Unit 1 Starting points

Converting units
Sometimes you need to convert measurements from one unit to another.
For example, suppose that you are thinking of installing new kitchen
cabinets. If you measure lengths in your kitchen in metres and then find
that the dimensions of new kitchen cabinets are given in millimetres, then
you will need to convert both sets of measurements to the same units, say
In much of Europe the decimal millimetres. Or if your answer to a calculation is 0.006 kg, then it will
point is denoted by a comma usually be better to convert it to grams, since 6 g is both simpler and
rather than a dot, so 0.006 kg easier to imagine.
would be written as 0,006 kg.
To convert from one unit to another, you should first find how many of the
smaller units are equivalent to one of the larger units – if the units are
metric, then you can tell this from the prefixes. If you want to convert to
the smaller unit, then there will be more of these units so you need to
multiply by this number. If you want to convert to the larger unit, then
there will be fewer of these units so you need to divide by the number.
This is illustrated in the next example.

Example 2 Converting measurements to different metric units

(a) Convert 580 cm to m.

(b) Convert 0.65 g to mg.
Solution
(a) To convert to a larger unit, divide.
There are 100 cm in 1 m, so
580 cm = (580 ÷ 100) m = 5.8 m.
(b) To convert to a smaller unit, multiply.
There are 1000 mg in 1 g, so
0.65 g = (0.65 × 1000) mg = 650 mg.

A few other metric units are commonly used alongside the SI units. The
metric tonne (t), which is equivalent to 1000 kg, is often used to measure
heavy masses, such as vehicles. The litre (l) is often used to measure
volumes, particularly of liquids, even though the SI unit for volume is the
cubic metre. One litre is equivalent to 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3 or cc),
so 1000 litres is equivalent to 1 m3 .
There is an SI unit for temperature – the kelvin (K) – but it is mainly used
by scientists. In the UK most people use the Celsius scale, which is part of
the metric system. Some people still use the non-metric Fahrenheit scale.
Time is also often measured in non-metric units – you have probably never
heard of a kilosecond! Seconds (s), minutes (min), hours (h) and days are
used, even though this makes conversion calculations more complicated.

16
 2 Working with numbers

Example 3 Converting units of time

(a) Convert 2.85 hours into minutes.

(b) Convert 54 hours into days.
Solution
(a) To convert to a smaller unit, multiply.
There are 60 minutes in 1 hour, so
2.85 hours = (2.85 × 60) minutes
= 171 minutes.
(b) To convert to a larger unit, divide.
There are 24 hours in a day, so
54 hours = (54 ÷ 24) days
= 2.25 days.

If Example 3(a) had asked for 2.85 hours to be converted into hours and
minutes, then just the 0.85 hours would need to be converted into minutes:
0.85 hours = (0.85 × 60) minutes = 51 minutes.
So 2.85 hours is the same as 2 hours and 51 minutes.

Activity 6 Converting units

Make the following conversions.

(a) 6100 m into km (b) 560 kg into t (c) 3.45 hours into minutes
(d) 0.35 g into mg (e) 450 ml into l (f) 75 cm into m

The UK has embraced metric units rather less enthusiastically than most
other countries, and many of its traditional imperial units are still used. If NASA lost the Mars Climate
you live in the UK, you may be comfortable with measuring kitchen Orbiter spacecraft in 1999 as
cabinets in millimetres and buying petrol in litres, for example, but you a result of an error caused
because one team working on
may think of your height in feet and inches, and your weight in stones and the project used imperial
pounds. Most British recipe books give both metric and imperial units of measurement while
measurements for ingredients. When following recipes, it is advisable to another used metric units.
use one or the other, not mix the two!

In 1969 the UK government set up the Metrication Board, with the

aim of ensuring substantial adoption of metric units in the UK by
1975. In particular, it was planned that road sign conversion would
take place in 1973. However, in 1970 the conversion programme was Figure 3 An early metric
put on hold indefinitely, and successive British governments have road sign in the UK, on
negotiated with the European Union to opt out of using metric units Barnespool Bridge in
on road signs. London, which was put up for
the 1908 Olympic Games.
The sign uses ‘kilos’ as an
abbreviation for kilometres.

17
 Unit 1 Starting points

If you are more familiar with imperial units than metric units, then the
rhymes in Figure 4 might help you to remember the approximate sizes of
some of the metric units.

Figure 4 Rhymes for metric units

Alternatively, measuring some items in or around your home in metric
units may help you to visualise the sizes of the units – most doors are
about 2 metres high, for example.

Using units
When you answer a question that involves units:
• remember to include units in your answers
• check whether you are asked to give your answers in particular
units.

2.4 Rounding numbers

For help with rounding numbers, When you make a measurement, it is sometimes helpful to round your
see Maths Help Module 2, answer. For example, if you were measuring the height of a child, then an
Section 1. answer rounded to the nearest centimetre would probably be adequate. If,
say, your measurement was as shown in Figure 5 – between 91 cm and
92 cm but closer to 91 cm – then you would round it down to 91 cm. If
your measurement was between 91 cm and 92 cm but closer to 92 cm, then
you would round it up. The measurement 91.5 is halfway between the two
values, so you could round it either way, but it is usual to round up.

92 These numbers
round up to 92.

Height These numbers

91 round down to 91.

Figure 5 Measuring the height of a child

Another situation where you often need to round numbers is when you are
A (decimal) digit is one of the doing calculations, since the answers provided by your calculator can
symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. consist of long strings of digits.

18
 2 Working with numbers

Decimal places
Numbers arising from calculations are sometimes rounded to a particular
number of decimal places. The decimal places are the positions of the For more help with rounding to
digits to the right of the decimal point, as shown in Figure 6. The a number of decimal places, see
abbreviation ‘d.p.’ is often used for ‘decimal place(s)’. Maths Help Module 2,
Subsection 1.4.

0.0582

1st d.p. 2nd d.p. 3rd d.p. 4th d.p.

Figure 6 Decimal places

For example, in a calculation involving money, the final answer might be
rounded to two decimal places, so that it can be interpreted in pounds and
pence.
Once you have decided where to round a number, you should use the
following rule to decide whether to round up or down.

Strategy To round a number

Look at the digit immediately after where you want to round.
Round up if this digit is 5 or more, and down otherwise.

When you round a number, you should state how it has been rounded, in
brackets after the rounded number. This is shown in the next example.

Example 4 Rounding to a number of decimal places

Round the following numbers as indicated.

(a) 0.0582 to three decimal places
(b) 7.056 83 to one decimal place A long string of digits is easier
to read if there are thin spaces
(c) 2.3971 to two decimal places between groups of three digits,
Solution as in 12 345 and 0.123 45. (Some
↓ texts use commas instead of thin
(a) Look at the digit after the first three decimal places: 0. 058 2. spaces.)
It is 2, which is less than 5, so round down.
0.0582 = 0.058 (to 3 d.p.)
↓
(b) Look at the digit after the first decimal place: 7. 0 56 83. It is 5,
which is 5 or more, so round up.
7.056 83 = 7.1 (to 1 d.p.)
↓
(c) Look at the digit after the first two decimal places: 2. 39 71. It is 7,
which is is 5 or more, so round up.
2.3971 = 2.40 (to 2 d.p.)

Notice that in Example 4(c), a 0 is included after the 4 to make it clear

that the number is rounded to two decimal places. You should do likewise
when you round numbers yourself.

19
 Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 7 Rounding to a number of decimal places

Round the following numbers as indicated.

(a) 2.2364 to two decimal places
(b) 0.005 47 to three decimal places
(c) 42.598 17 to four decimal places
(d) 7.98 to one decimal place

As an alternative to writing in brackets how you rounded a number, you

can replace the equals sign by ≈, the ‘approximately equals’ sign. For
example, instead of writing
2.3971 = 2.40 (to 2 d.p.),
you can write
The symbol ≈ is read as 2.3971 ≈ 2.40.
‘is approximately equal to’.
However, it is usually preferable to state the rounding that you used.
You should not write just
2.3971 = 2.40,
because this is incorrect: the numbers 2.3971 and 2.40 are not equal.

There have been a few reports of fraudsters in the US using rounding

to become rich. They used computer programs to remove tiny
amounts of money from lots of bank accounts, by rounding down to
the nearest cent and putting the remaining fractions of cents into
other accounts. These small amounts were not noticed as missing
from any particular account, but they built up into huge sums of
money. This is an example of so-called salami-slicing or
penny-shaving fraud, in which thin slivers of money are removed from
many accounts. Modern-day banking systems have built-in checks to
prevent this type of fraud.

Significant figures
Another way of specifying where a number should be rounded involves
looking at its significant figures. The first significant figure of a number
For more help with rounding to is its first non-zero digit (from the left). The next significant figure is the
a number of significant figures, next digit, and so on, as illustrated in Figure 7. Common abbreviations for
see Maths Help Module 1, ‘significant figure(s)’ are ‘s.f.’ and ‘sig. fig.’.
Subsections 1.5 and 1.6.

4508 0.02715

1st s.f. 2nd s.f. 3rd s.f. 4th s.f. 1st s.f. 2nd s.f. 3rd s.f. 4th s.f.

Figure 7 Significant figures

The first significant figure of a number is the most important digit for
telling you how big the number is. For example, the digit 4 in the
20
 2 Working with numbers

number 4508 in Figure 7 tells you that the number is between four and five
thousand, while the digit 2 in the number 0.027 15 tells you that this
number is between two hundredths and three hundredths. The second
significant figure is the next most important digit for telling you how big
the number is, and so on.
The usual ‘5 or more’ rule in the strategy on page 19 is used when
rounding to a particular number of significant figures.

Example 5 Rounding to a number of significant figures

Round the following numbers as indicated.

(a) 36.9572 to four significant figures
(b) 0.000 349 to one significant figure
(c) 56.0463 to one significant figure
(d) 0.0198 to two significant figures
Solution ↓
(a) Look at the digit after the first four significant figures: 36.95 72.
It is 7, which is greater than 5, so round up.
36.9572 = 36.96 (to 4 s.f.)
↓
(b) Look at the digit after the first significant figure: 0.000 3 49.
It is 4, which is less than 5, so round down.
0.000 349 = 0.0003 (to 1 s.f.)
↓
(c) Look at the digit after the first significant figure: 5 6.0463. It is 6,
which is greater than 5, so round up.
56.0463 = 60 (to 1 s.f.)
↓
(d) Look at the digit after the first two significant figures: 0.0 19 8.
It is 8, which is greater than 5, so round up.
0.0198 = 0.020 (to 2 s.f.)

In Example 5(d) a 0 is included after the 2 to make it clear that the

number is rounded to two significant figures. You should do likewise when
you round numbers yourself.
One or more zeros in a rounded number may be significant figures. For
example, the final zero in the number 0.020 in the solution to
Example 5(d) is significant: this number is rounded to two significant
figures, and the second significant figure just happens to be zero. In
contrast, the zero in the number 60 in the solution to Example 5(c) is not
significant, as the number is rounded to just one significant figure.
If you are told that a distance is 3700 metres, say, without any information
about how the number has been rounded, then you cannot tell whether the
zeros are significant. The number 3700 could be the result of rounding In the first case neither of the
3684 to two significant figures, 3697 to three significant figures, or 3700 to zeros is significant, in the second
four significant figures, for example. This is one reason why it is important case only the first zero is
significant, and in the third case
to state how a number has been rounded, as shown in Example 5. both zeros are significant.
When you see a measurement such as 3700 metres with no information
about whether or how the number has been rounded, you can usually
assume that any zeros at the end are not significant.

21
Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 8 Rounding to a number of significant figures

Round the following numbers as indicated.

(a) 23 650 to two significant figures
(b) 0.005 47 to one significant figure
(c) 42.598 17 to four significant figures

Other types of rounding

Numbers are also sometimes rounded to the nearest ten, or hundred, or
thousand, and so on. For example, if you were writing a report on a
concert that had an audience figure of 58 217, then you might choose to
round this number to the nearest thousand, to give 58 000, or perhaps to
the nearest ten thousand, to give 60 000. The ‘5 or more’ rule is used to
decide whether to round up or down. Similarly, you can also round to the
nearest metre, or the nearest 10 kilograms, and so on.

Choosing which type of rounding to use

Rounding to a number of significant figures is often the most useful type of
rounding to use. For example, the height of a mountain might be usefully
quoted as 4559 m to the nearest metre, but if you need to know the height
of a woman who is 1.65 m tall then an approximation to the nearest metre
is not useful. In each case, however, rounding to three significant figures
gives a useful approximation: 4560 m for the height of the mountain and
1.65 m for the height of the woman.

Rounding answers appropriately

Often, the measurements that you have used in a calculation give you an
indication of the amount of rounding that you should use for your answer.
For example, the road distance from Paris to Lyon is 465 km. Suppose that
you want to convert this distance into miles. You can use the fact that
1 km = 0.621 371 192 miles (to 9 s.f.).
Multiplying the distance in km by the conversion factor gives the distance
in miles as
465 × 0.621 371 192 = 288.937 604 3.
It is inappropriate to leave the answer as 288.937 604 3 miles, as this
suggests that the distance has been measured very carefully indeed! The
original measurement seems to be given to three significant figures, so your
answer should be similarly rounded – to three, or possibly fewer,
significant figures. Rounding to three significant figures gives the distance
as 289 miles.
To see why this amount of rounding is appropriate, let’s consider what the
actual distance could be. It was given as 465 km to the nearest kilometre,
so it could be anything from 464.5 km up to (but not including) 465.5 km,
as shown in Figure 8.

22
 2 Working with numbers

464 464.5 465 465.5 466

Figure 8 Numbers that round to 465

Now, 464.5 km is equivalent to 288.626 918 7 miles, and 465.5 km is

equivalent to 289.248 289 9 miles. Since the actual distance lies between
these two values, it is certainly 289 miles when rounded to three significant
figures, as you can see from Figure 9. So the amount of rounding was
appropriate.

288.5 289 289.5

288.626 918 7 289.248 289 9

Figure 9 Numbers between 288.626 918 7 and 289.248 289 9

When you are rounding answers, you should round to no more significant
figures than the number of significant figures in the least precise number in
the calculation. For example, in the calculation above, the measurement
and the conversion factor were rounded to three and nine significant
figures, respectively, so the answer should be rounded to no more than
three significant figures.
Sometimes it is appropriate to round to fewer significant figures than the
number of significant figures in the least precise number. A full analysis of
rounding is outside the scope of the course, so activities and TMA
questions will often state what rounding to use in your answers.
Otherwise, rounding to the number of significant figures in the least precise
number used should be acceptable. The number of significant figures an
answer is stated to is known as the precision of the answer.

Activity 9 Rounding an answer appropriately

In this activity you are asked to convert 465 km into miles again, but this
time using the following less precise conversion factor:
1 km is approximately equal to 0.62 miles.
(a) Do the calculation and round your answer to the nearest mile.
Compare your answer to the answer found in the calculation on
page 22, and comment on why they are not the same.
(b) Round your answer appropriately.

23
 Unit 1 Starting points

Rounding at the right time

The next activity shows that it is important not to round too early in a
calculation.

Activity 10 Rounding at different stages of a calculation

Suppose that you want to calculate the length, in miles, of a return

1 km = journey to a town 36 km away. Use the conversion factor given earlier
0.621 371 192 miles (to 9 s.f.) (repeated in the margin) to carry out the following calculations.
(a) Convert 36 km to miles, and round your answer to the nearest mile.
Use this answer to find the total length of the journey.
(b) Convert 36 km to miles. With the unrounded answer still in your
calculator display, type ‘× 2’ into your calculator, and press the ‘=’
key to obtain the total length of the journey. Round your answer to
the nearest mile.
(c) Comment on which of parts (a) and (b) is the better way of carrying
out the calculation.

As you saw in Activity 10, if you do a calculation in two or more steps,

and round your answer after one of these steps, then your final answer may
It was reported in the be inaccurate. This is known as a rounding error.
New York Times in 1991 that
Tina Lubin, a public servant Whenever you use an earlier answer in a later calculation, you should use
who dealt with the all the digits that your calculator provided for the earlier answer, to avoid
$14.8 billion payroll for the rounding errors. This is known as ‘using full calculator precision’. You
city government of New York, may not need all the digits, but it is usually not clear how many digits you
had ‘learned to think of do need, so it is simplest to use them all.
$10 million as a rounding
error’ ! If you cannot use a full-calculator-precision number displayed on your
calculator immediately, then you can note it down for later, or store it in
your calculator’s memory. You will be reminded about how to use the
memory key on your calculator later in the course.
When you use a full-calculator-precision number that has a long string of
digits after the decimal point, you do not need to include all the digits in
the working that you write down. You can write down just a few of them –
usually at least three digits after the decimal point, or at least three
The symbol ‘. . . ’ is called an significant digits – and use the symbol ‘. . . ’ to show that you have omitted
ellipsis and is used when the rest. For example, if your calculator gives you the number 2.478 260 87,
something has been left out. It and you then use the calculator to multiply this number by 6, then you
is read as ‘dot, dot, dot’.
might write down
2.478 . . . × 6 = 14.869 . . . = 14.87 (to 4 s.f.).
When you omit some of the digits of a number just before you round it,
you should make sure that you have written down enough digits so that
someone reading your working can see that the rounding is correct. This is
done for the number ‘14.869 . . .’ above.

24
 2 Working with numbers

Considering the context

When you round an answer, it is also important to consider the context.
For example, if you are calculating how many cupboards will fit along your
kitchen wall and your answer is 7.9, then you should round down and buy
only seven cupboards, because eight cupboards wouldn’t fit! On the other
hand, if you are painting your kitchen and need 1.2 tins of paint, then you
should round up and buy two tins; otherwise you will run out of paint.
The box below summarises the key points about rounding.

Rounding answers
• Use full calculator precision throughout calculations, to avoid
rounding errors.
• Round your answer appropriately, taking account of the
measurements used and the context.
• Check that you have followed any instructions on rounding given
in a question.

2.5 Checking your answers

When you carry out a calculation, it is helpful to have a rough idea of the For help with estimating
expected answer. If your answer is very different from your estimate, then answers, see Maths Help
you know to look for a mistake. The mistake could be in your working, or Module 2, Section 2.
it might have occurred when you used your calculator.
One simple way to estimate an answer is to think about the context. For
example, if you were totting up a weekly shopping bill for a family of four,
then you might expect an answer between £100 and £200. You would be
surprised if your answer turned out to be £1500 or £15!
Another way to estimate an answer is to round all the numbers in the
calculation – perhaps to one significant figure, or to nearby numbers that
are easy to work with – and carry out the calculation with the rounded
numbers. It should be possible to do this fairly quickly, either in your head
or on a piece of paper, as the next example shows. This type of estimate
may not highlight a mistake in your working, as you could make the same
mistake when you do the calculation with the rounded numbers. But it
will help you to spot mistakes that happen when you use your calculator.

Example 6 Estimating an answer

The road distances in kilometres between three places in Scotland are

shown overleaf. Suppose that you are planning a round trip in which you
start at Edinburgh, visit Perth and Glasgow, and return to Edinburgh, in
a minibus whose fuel consumption is 12 kilometres per litre of fuel.

25
 Unit 1 Starting points

Perth

95 km

69 km

Edinburgh

Glasgow
83 km

(a) Estimate the amount of fuel needed for the trip.

(b) Use your calculator to work out the amount of fuel needed, to the
nearest litre.
Solution
(a) Round the numbers to one significant figure.
An estimate for the total distance in km is
70 + 100 + 80 = 250.
The minibus can travel about 10 km on 1 litre of fuel, so the amount of
fuel needed, in litres, is approximately
250 ÷ 10 = 25.
So an estimate for the amount of fuel needed is 25 litres.
(b) The amount of fuel needed, in litres, is
(69 + 95 + 83) ÷ 12 = 21 (to the nearest whole number).
So the amount of fuel needed is 21 litres, to the nearest litre.
The answer is fairly close to the estimate, so there is no evidence of
a mistake.

Checking for calculator mistakes

If your answer to a calculation seems to be wrong (you might know this
because you estimated it) and you suspect that you made a mistake when
you used your calculator, then the first thing to check is whether you have
mistyped something. If the calculation is displayed on your calculator
If your calculator does not screen, then you should check the numbers and operations carefully, and
display calculations, then to edit the calculation to correct any errors.
check for mistyping you should
enter the calculation again. The next thing to check is whether the calculation you entered was the
correct one. You need to think about the BIDMAS rules. For example, if
you had intended to carry out the calculation in Example 6(b), and had
typed
69 + 95 + 83 ÷ 12,
then you would have obtained the wrong answer, because your calculator
would do the division before the additions. You need to include the
brackets, as in the solution above.
26
 2 Working with numbers

If you still cannot find a mistake, then you can try breaking the calculation
into simpler steps. For example, to do the calculation in Example 6, you For help with checking answers,
could first work out the total distance, which is 247 km, and then divide see Maths Help Module 2,
247 by 12 to find the amount of fuel in litres. Section 3.

If nothing seems to be wrong with the way you used your calculator, then
you may need to check your estimate, or refine it – it could be the problem!
Here is a summary of some key points to check when using your calculator.

Checking your answers when using your calculator

• Have you entered the calculation correctly?
• Have you used brackets where needed?
• Is the answer reasonable? Think about the context or work out an
estimate.

Activity 11 Spotting errors in a calculation

A craftswoman makes handmade jewellery boxes. It takes her 2 hours and

30 minutes to make each box, and 1 hour and 45 minutes to apply the
decoration. She works for 7.5 hours each day. Suppose that you need to
know how many working days it would take the craftswoman to make and
decorate 48 jewellery boxes.
(a) Estimate the number of days needed.
(b) A student typed the calculation shown below into a calculator, and
concluded that the number of days needed is 12. Try to identify the
two mistakes.

SHIFT ON
ALPHA MODE SETUP

REPLAY

Abs x3 x -1 log

(c) Use your calculator to find how many days are needed, and round your
answer appropriately.

In this section you have revised some basic skills in working with numbers;
you will need to use these skills frequently throughout the rest of the
course.

27
 Unit 1 Starting points

3 Negative numbers and fractions

Negative numbers, fractions and percentages (which can be thought of as a
type of fraction) occur frequently in both everyday and abstract
mathematics. In this section you will revise some basic skills with these
types of numbers and see some everyday applications of these skills.

3.1 Negative numbers

For help with negative numbers, You are probably familiar with negative numbers in the context of
see Maths Help Module 1, temperatures. For example, the minus sign in ‘−5◦ C’ indicates a
Subsections 1.9 and 1.10. temperature five degrees below zero. Negative numbers are also used to
represent debt.
You can think of all numbers as lying on a line, called the number line.
An integer is any one of the Figure 10 shows part of the number line, with the positions of the integers
numbers marked. The positive numbers are to the right of zero, and the negative
. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . . numbers are to the left. Zero itself is neither positive nor negative.

negative numbers positive numbers

−6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 10 The number line

The numbers on the number line get bigger as you go from left to right.
The number −1 is read as For example, the number −1 is greater than the number −3, since −1 lies
‘minus 1’ or ‘negative 1’. further to the right. You may find it helpful to use Figure 10 when you do
the next activity.

Activity 12 Comparing temperatures

The noon temperatures on six consecutive winter days are given in the
table below.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

−3◦ C −6◦ C −2◦ C 2◦ C 0◦ C −4◦ C

On which days was the noon temperature lower than on Sunday?

Higher or lower?
In 2007 a lottery scratchcard game was withdrawn, within a week of
being launched, because players could not understand the negative
numbers involved. To win a prize, players had to scratch away a
window to reveal a temperature lower than the temperature shown on
the card. As the game had a winter theme, the displayed temperature
was usually negative. Many players thought that −3 was lower
than −4, for example, and complained to the lottery company when
they thought they had won a prize but were told that they had not.

28
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

You will often need to use negative numbers in MU123. The rest of this
subsection reminds you how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them.

Adding and subtracting negative numbers

No matter what number you start with – whether it is positive, negative or See Maths Help Module 1,
zero – if you want to add a positive number to it then you move along the Subsections 3.16–3.19.
number line to the right. For example,
−2 + 5 = 3,
as illustrated in Figure 11.

+5

−6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 11 Adding a positive number

Similarly, to subtract a positive number you move along the number line to
the left. For example,
−1 − 4 = −5,
as illustrated in Figure 12.

−4

−6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 12 Subtracting a positive number

Activity 13 Adding and subtracting positive numbers

Work out the following calculations without using your calculator.

(a) −6 + 2 (b) −1 + 3 (c) 2 − 7 (d) −3 − 4 (e) 5 − 7 − 2

To add and subtract negative numbers, use the rules in the box below.

Adding and subtracting negative numbers

Adding a negative number is the same as subtracting the
corresponding positive number.
Subtracting a negative number is the same as adding the
corresponding positive number.

The next example illustrates these rules. There is a tutorial clip for this
example, as indicated by the icon in the margin. If you find the example
difficult to follow, try watching the clip. The clip also discusses the reasons
behind the rules.

29
 Unit 1 Starting points

Notice that some of the negative numbers in this example are enclosed in
brackets. This is because no two of the mathematical symbols +, −, × and
÷ should be written next to each other, as that would look confusing. So if
you want to show that you are adding −2 to 4, for example, then you
should put brackets around ‘−2’ and write 4 + (−2), not 4 + −2.

Tutorial clip Example 7 Adding and subtracting negative numbers

Work out the following calculations without using your calculator.

(a) −3 + (−6) (b) 4 + (−2) (c) 0 − (−6)
(d) 1 − (−2) (e) −2 − (−3)
Solution
To add a negative number, subtract the corresponding positive
number.
(a) −3 + (−6) = −3 − 6 = −9
(b) 4 + (−2) = 4 − 2 = 2
To subtract a negative number, add the corresponding positive
number.
(c) 0 − (−6) = 0 + 6 = 6
(d) 1 − (−2) = 1 + 2 = 3
(e) −2 − (−3) = −2 + 3 = 1

Activity 14 Adding and subtracting negative numbers

Work out the following calculations without using your calculator.

(a) 2 + (−7) (b) −8 + (−5) (c) 1 − (−3) (d) −6 − (−9)
(e) −4 − (−4) (f) 3 − (−2) + (−4) (g) 7 + (−6) − 3

So far, adding and subtracting zero has not been mentioned. As you would
expect, this has no effect on the number you start with: for example
−4 + 0 = −4 and 3 − 0 = 3.

Multiplying and dividing negative numbers

For help with multiplying and Now let’s look at how to multiply and divide negative numbers. First
dividing negative numbers, see consider the multiplication 3 × (−2). This means ‘three lots of −2’, so
Maths Help Module 1,
Subsections 3.20–3.22. 3 × (−2) = (−2) + (−2) + (−2)
= −2 − 2 − 2
= −6.
The order in which you multiply numbers doesn’t matter, so the
calculation above also tells you that
(−2) × 3 = −6.
This example illustrates the first rule in the box below.

30
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

The following table might help

Multiplying and dividing negative numbers you to remember these rules:
When two numbers are multiplied or divided: + −
+ + −
• if the signs are different, then the answer is negative − − +
• if the signs are the same, then the answer is positive. For example, if you want to
multiply a positive number by a
negative number, look for the
entry corresponding to the row
The parts of the numbers other than the signs are just multiplied or
and column headings + and −,
divided in the usual way. The next example illustrates these rules. Its respectively: the entry is −, so
tutorial clip explains the calculations in more detail, and also contains the answer is negative.
more explanation of the rules.

Example 8 Multiplying and dividing negative numbers Tutorial clip

Work out the following calculations without using your calculator.

(a) (−5) × 6 (b) 9 ÷ (−3) (c) (−3) × (−7)
(d) (−70) ÷ (−10) (e) (−2) × 3 × (−4)
Solution
(a) A negative times a positive (different signs) gives a negative.
(−5) × 6 = −30
(b) A positive divided by a negative (different signs) gives a
negative.
9 ÷ (−3) = −3
(c) A negative times a negative (same signs) gives a positive.
(−3) × (−7) = 21
(d) A negative divided by a negative (same signs) gives a positive.
(−70) ÷ (−10) = 7
(e) Do the multiplications one at a time. In the first multiplication, a
negative times a positive gives a negative. Then this negative, times a
negative, gives a positive.
(−2) × 3 × (−4) = (−6) × (−4) = 24

Activity 15 Multiplying and dividing negative numbers

Work out the following calculations without using your calculator.

(a) 5 × (−3) (b) (−2) × (−4) (c) 6 × (−10) (d) 25 ÷ (−5)
(e) (−49) ÷ (−7) (f) (−36) ÷ 12 (g) (−2) × (−5) × (−4)

A minus indicating a negative in a calculation has the same precedence as

subtraction in the BIDMAS rules. For example, in the calculation −32 , the
power is dealt with first, so the answer is −9. The calculation does not
mean the square of −3, so the answer is not (−3) × (−3) = 9.

31
Unit 1 Starting points

Despite their importance in modern-day mathematics, negative

numbers were rejected by some British mathematicians as late as the
eighteenth century. Francis Maseres (1731–1824) wrote that they
‘darken the very whole doctrines of the equations and make dark of
the things which are in their nature excessively obvious and simple’.
However, over a thousand years earlier, the Indian mathematician
Brahmagupta (598–670) wrote down the rules for adding, subtracting,
multiplying and dividing negative numbers, in terms of debt (negative
numbers) and fortune (positive numbers).

The result of multiplying any number (whether positive, negative or zero)

by zero is zero. For example,
4 × 0 = 0, 0 × (−3) = 0, 0 × 0 = 0.
However, no number can be divided by zero. For example,
−3 ÷ 0
has no meaning. (This is because the answer to this calculation would have
to be a number such that if you multiplied it by zero you would get −3,
and there is no such number.)
On the other hand, the result of dividing zero by any non-zero number is
zero. For example,
0 ÷ (−3) = 0.

Brahmagupta was also the first known person to write down rules for
doing arithmetic with the number zero, though later medieval
mathematicians remained confused about how a symbol used to
represent the concept of nothing could itself be a number.

The best way to become confident with operations on negative numbers –

as with all topics in mathematics – is to practise.

Practise, practise, practise!

Throughout your studies in mathematics, try as many activities as
you can. You may think that you understand the mathematics you
are reading, but you need to try it yourself to be sure. The more you
practise, the more confident and fluent you will become, and the
better you will remember how to do the mathematics when it comes
up again. Each unit of the course contains plenty of practice
activities, both within the text and in the practice quizzes.

Negative numbers on your calculator

Another way to practise calculations involving negative numbers is to
make up some examples of your own and check your answers on your
calculator. The next activity reminds you how to use your calculator for
negative number calculations.

32
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

Activity 16 Using your calculator for negative numbers

Work through Subsection 4.2 of the Course Guide.

3.2 Fractions
Although decimal numbers are used in many everyday situations, there are For help with fractions, see
occasions when fractions are appropriate. For example, in 2002 it was Maths Help Module 1,
reported that the populations of four-fifths of the bird species, half of the Subsection 1.7.
plant species and a third of the insect species on arable farmland in Great Source: Robinson, R.A. and
Britain had declined. The fractions here make it clear that the populations Sutherland, W.J. (2002)
of most of the bird species had declined, but that the insect species had ‘Post-war changes in arable
farming and biodiversity in
fared better. Great Britain’, Journal of
Fractions are also important in mathematics, particularly in algebra. In Applied Ecology, vol. 39,
this subsection you will revise how to work with fractions, and you will see pp. 157–76.
some everyday uses of them.
A fraction is a number that describes the relationship between part of
something and the whole. For example, the disc in Figure 13 is divided
into five equal parts, of which three are shaded. To express this, we write
that 53 (three-fifths) of the disc is shaded. The fraction 53 can also be
written as 3/5.
The top number in a fraction is called the numerator and the bottom
number is called the denominator. So the fraction 53 has numerator 3 Figure 13 3
5 of a disc
and denominator 5.
Fractions can be converted to decimal form by dividing the numerator by
the denominator. For example,
3 2
5 = 3 ÷ 5 = 0.6 and 11 = 2 ÷ 11 = 0.181 818 18 . . . .
However, it is usually best not to convert fractions to decimals, but to
leave them as they are. This is especially true for a fraction that does not
2
have a short exact decimal form, such as 11 .

Equivalent fractions
Each fraction can be written in many different, but equivalent, forms.
For example, 21 is the same as 24 , 63 and 48 , as you can see from Figure 14.
You can use the following method to convert between different forms of a
fraction.

To find a fraction equivalent to a given fraction

Multiply or divide the numerator and denominator by the same
non-zero number.

1 2 3 4
For example, Figure 14 2 = 4 = 6 = 8
5 5×4 20 25 25 ÷ 5 5
= = and = = .
6 6×4 24 50 50 ÷ 5 10

33
 Unit 1 Starting points

Simplifying fractions
When you divide the top and bottom of a fraction by a whole number
larger than 1, you get an equivalent fraction with a smaller numerator and
denominator. This is known as cancelling the fraction. When a fraction
has been cancelled to give the smallest possible numerator and
denominator (but still whole numbers), it is said to be in its simplest
form or lowest terms.
For help with simplifying For example, the fraction 24
30 can be cancelled by dividing top and bottom
fractions, see Maths Help by 6. This calculation would normally be set out as follows:
Module 1, Subsection 1.8.
4
24
✑
✑ 4
= .
30
✑
✑ 5
5
The fraction 45 is in its simplest form because there is no whole number
that divides exactly into both 4 and 5.
24
Cancelling can be carried out in stages. For example, to cancel 30 you
could divide top and bottom first by 2, and then by 3:
4
✑
12
✑
24
✑
✑ 4
= .
30
✑
✑ 5
✑
15
✑
5

Activity 17 Writing fractions in their simplest forms

(a) Express each of the following fractions in its simplest form, without
using your calculator.
7 48 35
(i) 21 (ii) 72 (iii) 105
(b) In a survey of 1200 students, 720 said that they have a part-time job.
What fraction of the students is this? Give your answer in its simplest
form.

Fractions (and percentages, which are discussed in Section 3.3) are often
used in media headlines because of their impact. For example, if a media
article were to be written about the survey in Activity 17(b), then it might
have the headline ‘Three-fifths of students have part-time jobs’. This
would have more impact than ‘720 out of 1200 students questioned have
part-time jobs’.
However, the fractions and percentages in headlines can sometimes be
misleading. When you read a headline that involves a fraction or a
percentage of a group of people, it is worth reading the article to see
whether it includes the answers to the following questions.
• How many people were included in the survey?
• Are the people in the survey representative of the overall population?
For example, you might not be impressed by the headline ‘Three-fifths of
students have part-time jobs’ if you found that it was based on interviewing
five students in a supermarket, and three of them were working on the tills!

34
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

Mixed numbers and improper fractions

A proper fraction is a fraction in which the numerator is smaller than
the denominator, such as 32 .
A number that consists of a whole number plus a proper fraction is called
a mixed number. For example, the mixed number 1 32 is illustrated in
Figure 15. Each mixed number can also be written as an improper
fraction – a fraction in which the numerator is larger than the Figure 15 The mixed
denominator. For example, you can see from Figure 16 that 1 32 contains number 1 23
five thirds altogether, so it is the same as 35 . An improper fraction is also
known as a top-heavy fraction.

Example 9 Converting between mixed numbers and top-heavy fractions

(a) Write 2 85 as a top-heavy fraction.

13
(b) Write 4 as a mixed number. Figure 16 The improper
Solution fraction 35 = 1 23
(a) There are eight eighths in one whole, so 2 58 can be written as two
lots of eight eighths plus five more eighths.
2×8+5
2 58 = = 21
8
8
(b) Divide 4 into 13. The answer is 3, remainder 1.
13
4 = 3 14

Activity 18 Converting between mixed numbers and top-heavy fractions

(a) Write 5 32 as a top-heavy fraction.

18
(b) Write 5 as a mixed number.

Fractions of quantities
Sometimes you need to calculate fractions of quantities. For example, if
you have a recipe that serves eight people, and you want to make it for
three people or thirty people, say, then you have to scale the quantities of
the ingredients. The next example shows you two ways of doing this. The
second method involves fractions and is slightly quicker.

Example 10 Scaling a recipe

A recipe for eight people specifies 750 g of strawberries. What quantity of Of course, instead of working
strawberries would be needed for three people? out the correct quantity of
strawberries for three people,
Solution you could just halve the
quantity for eight people and
First method serve bigger portions!
Work out the quantity of strawberries needed for one person. Use this
to find the quantity of strawberries needed for three people.
The quantity of strawberries needed for one person is
750 g ÷ 8 = 93.75 g.
35
Unit 1 Starting points

So the quantity of strawberries needed for three people is

3 × 93.75 g = 281.25 g = 280 g (to 2 s.f.).
Second method
Find the fraction of the original quantity that is needed, and use this to
calculate the quantity of strawberries needed.
Three-eighths of the original quantity is required. So the quantity of
strawberries needed for three people is
3
8 × 750 g = 3 ÷ 8 × 750 g = 281.25 g = 280 g (to 2 s.f.).

In Example 10, the answer to a question was calculated in two different

ways. There are often many different ways to solve a problem, so you may
sometimes find that you have used a method different from one used in the
unit or suggested by someone else. As long as your reasoning and answer
are correct, this doesn’t usually matter. However, it is a good idea to look
at any model solution provided, as it may suggest an alternative and
possibly quicker method that you could use to solve a similar problem in
the future.

Activity 19 Calculating fractions of quantities

(a) Work out the following fractions of quantities.

4 5
(i) 5 of 60 ml (ii) 8 of 20 kg
(b) A recipe for potato curry for 6 people uses 900 g of potatoes. If you
are making the curry for 20 people, what quantity of potatoes do you
need?

In theory you can scale any recipe to cater for a group of any size, but in
practice you may wish to adjust your answers a little. It is important that
you have enough food for everyone, but you may also wish to minimise
waste and cost. The larger the group of diners, the more likely it is that a
few people will eat only small portions or none at all, so caterers often use
guidelines such as the following:
Allow 150 g of potatoes per person for up to 10 people; for more
than 10 people, allow 125 g per person.
In general, when you are using mathematics to make practical decisions, it
is important to think about whether your calculations are appropriate for
the situation.

Fractions on your calculator

In the next activity you will use your calculator to carry out calculations
involving fractions.

Activity 20 Using your calculator for fractions

Work through Subsection 4.3 of the Course Guide.

36
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

3.3 Percentages
You may have noticed that relatively few types of fraction are used in the For help with percentages, see
media – the only types commonly used are halves, thirds, quarters, and Maths Help Module 3,
9
perhaps fifths or eighths. You don’t usually come across fractions like 20 or Subsection 3.1.
37
54 , because fractions like these are difficult to visualise and compare.
Instead, percentages are often used.
This subsection reminds you of some basic techniques for calculating with
percentages, and shows you how they can be used to make comparisons
and describe changes. It also shows you how some of the numbers and
percentages quoted in the media might have been manipulated to portray
an author’s point of view, or to make a news story seem more dramatic
than it really is.
The term ‘per cent’ means ‘per 100’. So, for example, if the packaging of a
20
cake tells you that 20% of the cake is fat, then it means that 100 (or 51 ) of The symbol % is read as
the cake is fat. ‘per cent’.

A percentage can be converted to a fraction or a decimal. To do this, you For help with these conversions,
first write the percentage in the form of a fraction with denominator 100, see Maths Help Module 3,
then you simplify this to get a fraction, or divide out to get a decimal. For Subsection 3.2.
example,
45 9
45% = =
100 20
and
45
45% = = 45 ÷ 100 = 0.45.
100
Similarly,
100
100% = = 1.
100
To convert the other way – from a fraction or decimal to a percentage –
you just need to multiply by 100%. Because 100% = 1, this does not
change the value of the fraction or decimal; it just allows it to be written
as a percentage. For example,
2 2
5 = 5 × 100% = 40%
and
0.015 = 0.015 × 100% = 1.5%.

Activity 21 Converting between percentages, fractions and decimals

(a) Complete the following table.

Percentage Decimal Fraction

60%
7
8
1.35

(b) Convert 3.8% to a decimal.

37
Unit 1 Starting points

It is often helpful to express one number as a percentage of another. This

is done by expressing the first number as a fraction of the second number,
and then converting the fraction to a percentage, by multiplying by 100%.
This is summarised in the box below.

Strategy To express a number as a percentage of another number

Calculate
first number
× 100%.
second number

Example 11 Expressing a number as a percentage of another number

In a survey of 1500 mature students, 465 agreed with the statement that
higher education is vital for getting a new career. What percentage of the
group is this?
Solution
Write down the fraction and convert it to a percentage.
The fraction of students who agreed with the statement is
465
.
1500
So the percentage of students who agreed with the statement is
465
× 100% = 31%.
1500

Activity 22 Expressing a number as a percentage of another number

In the survey in Example 11, 420 of the 1500 mature students said that
their main reason for going to university was the potential to earn more
money. What percentage of the group is this?

Using percentages to make comparisons

One advantage of using percentages rather than fractions is that they are
easy to compare. For example, if you were informed that 79 of the pupils in
a year group at a school attained the nationally expected standard in
English, while 43 of the year group attained the nationally expected
standard in mathematics, then you might not be able to tell immediately
which subject had the better performance. On the other hand, if you were
informed that 78% and 75% of the year group attained the expected levels
in English and mathematics, respectively, then you would know
immediately that the performance in English is slightly better.
In the example above there is only one group – a year group at a school –
but percentages also make it easy to compare figures for different groups.
For example, if you were told that 121 pupils from a year group at one
school and 86 pupils from the corresponding year group at another school
had achieved a certain standard, then you could not tell which school had
performed better because the year group at one school might have many
38
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

more pupils than the year group at the other school. To compare the
performance of the two schools, you need to calculate the percentage of
pupils at each school who achieved the standard.
A comparison which takes account of underlying numbers in this way is
called a relative comparison. Here the comparison is relative to the
numbers of pupils in the year groups at the two schools. If no account is
taken of the underlying numbers – for example, if you just compare the
numbers of pupils achieving the standard – then the comparison is known
as an absolute comparison.

Activity 23 Making a relative comparison

Some fictional results from two English schools in 2009 are given in the
table below.

Number of pupils tested Number of pupils achieving five or

more GCSEs at grades C and above
School A 194 121
School B 130 86

Calculate, for each school, the percentage of pupils who achieved five or
more GCSEs at grades C and above. Which school had the better
performance, on this measure?

Even when it is clear that a relative comparison is fairer than an absolute

one, it is not always clear what the comparison should be relative to. For
example, the relative comparison in Activity 23 shows which of the two
schools had the better performance, but it certainly does not show which
school had the better teaching. It might be that the pupils at one of the
schools tended to have poorer skills when they started at the school than
the pupils at the other school. A fair relative comparison would need to
take figures for this issue, and probably others, into account. This is why
school league tables do not always provide a good way to compare schools.
‘Value-added’ measures of performance, which take into account the
attainment of the pupils at the time when they start at the school, are
better, but it is difficult to devise a truly fair method of comparison.
You might like to watch out for examples of absolute and relative
comparisons in the media, as different viewpoints can be put forward
depending on the comparison used. For example, an article reporting that
a police force had solved fewer crimes one year than it had solved in the
previous year might lead you to think that the crime-solving peformance of
the force had deteriorated. However, if it turned out that fewer crimes
were reported in the second year than in the first, then a relative
comparision might show that the crime-solving performance of the force
had improved. When you read a media report it is worth thinking about
what the viewpoint of the author might be, and whether the figures could
be analysed in a different way. We’ll return to this topic at the end of this
section.

39
 Unit 1 Starting points

Percentages of quantities
Sometimes you need to work out a percentage of a quantity. For example,
at the time of writing, if you buy a house in the UK costing £300 000, then
Stamp duty is a tax on land and you have to pay 3% of this cost in stamp duty. Calculations like this can
property transactions in the UK. be worked out using the strategy below.

Strategy To calculate a percentage of a quantity

Change the percentage to a fraction or a decimal, and multiply by the
quantity.

Example 12 Calculating a percentage of a quantity

What is 3% of £300 000?

Solution
3
3% of £300 000 = 100 × £300 000 = £9000.

Activity 24 Calculating percentages of quantities

(a) Work out the following.

(i) 30% of 150 g (ii) 110% of 70 ml (iii) 0.5% of £220
(b) To sell an item, an internet auction site charges a fee of £1.50 for the
insertion of an advertisement, together with fees of 9% of the first £30
of the selling price and 5% of the remainder of the selling price. If you
use the site to sell an item for £75, what is the total fee that you pay?

Percentage increases and decreases

For help with percentage Another common use of percentages is in indicating how quantities have
increases and decreases, see changed. For example, the depreciation in the value of a car during a year,
Maths Help Module 3, and the change in house prices from one month to the next, can both be
Subsections 3.3–3.5.
conveniently described by percentages.
A percentage increase or decrease is calculated by expressing the increase
or decrease as a fraction of the original value, and then converting the
fraction to a percentage, by multiplying by 100%. This is summarised in
the box below.

Strategy To calculate a percentage increase or decrease

Calculate
actual increase or decrease
× 100%.
original value

40
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

Example 13 Calculating a percentage increase

Last year 1450 students enrolled on a mathematics course. This year 1870
students have enrolled. What is the percentage increase in the number of
students?
Solution
The actual increase is 1870 − 1450 = 420.
So the increase as a percentage of the original number is
420
× 100% = 29% (to 2 s.f.).
1450
Hence there is a 29% increase in the number of students.

Activity 25 Calculating a percentage decrease

The number of complaints received by a customer services department has

fallen from 145 to 125 over the last month. What is the percentage
decrease?

Often you know about a percentage increase or decrease in the value of

something, and you want to work out the new value. For example, if an
item you want to buy is priced at £599 and the shop is advertising a
‘15% off day’, then you might want to calculate the reduced price. There
are two main ways of working out the new value that results from a
percentage increase or decrease. The next example shows you both
methods.

Example 14 Calculating a value resulting from a percentage decrease

A computer originally priced at £599 is reduced by 15% in a sale. What is

the new price?
Solution
First method
Calculate the decrease in price and subtract it from the original
price.
The decrease in price is
15% of £599 = 0.15 × £599 = £89.85.
So the reduced price is
£599 − £89.85 = £509.15.
Second method
Use the fact that you have to pay 100% − 15% of the original price.
The reduced price is 100% − 15% = 85% of the original price. So the
reduced price is
85% of £599 = 0.85 × £599 = £509.15.

41
Unit 1 Starting points

When you use the second method to calculate the result of a percentage
increase, you have to multiply the original value by a percentage greater
than 100%, as illustrated in the next example.

Example 15 Calculating a value resulting from a percentage increase

The rent on a flat is £800 per month and is to be raised by 5%. What is
the new rent?
Solution
The new rent is 100% + 5% = 105% of the original rent. So the new rent is
105% of £800 = 1.05 × £800 = £840.

Activity 26 Calculating values resulting from percentage changes

(a) Work out the new price of a car if the original price was £15 400 and
the price has been reduced by 20%.
(b) If a weekly wage of £360 is increased by 2.5%, what is the new weekly
wage?
(c) If a barrel of oil costs $90 and the price rises by 100%, what is the new
price?

You may have found part (c) of Activity 26 quite surprising: if something
increases by 100%, then it doubles. You can also work out that if
something increases by 200% then it triples, and if something increases by
300% then it quadruples, and so on.
Here is another example that you might find surprising. From the third
quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of 2007, the average price of a house in
the UK rose from £165 000 to £200 000. The actual increase was
£200 000 − £165 000 = £35 000, so the percentage increase was
35 000
× 100 = 21% (to 2 s.f.).
165 000
By the fourth quarter of 2008, the average house price had fallen back to
about £165 000 again. This is a percentage decrease of
35 000
× 100 = 18% (to 2 s.f.).
200 000
So the average house price rose by 21%, but had to fall by only 18% to get
back to the original value! This is because the rise started from a smaller
value than the fall did.

42
 3 Negative numbers and fractions

In 2008, the UK government reduced the rate of value added tax

(VAT) from 17.5% to 15%, in response to the economic situation at
the time. Many people thought that this meant prices should drop
by 2.5%, but in fact the reduction was smaller: only about 2.1%. To
see why, consider an item that cost £100 exclusive of VAT. When the
VAT rate was 17.5%, the item cost £117.50, and when the VAT rate
was 15%, it cost £115. So the VAT cut caused the price to decrease
by £2.50 from an original price of £117.50, and hence the percentage
decrease was
2.5
× 100% = 2.1% (to 2 s.f.).
117.5
Many shops had to put up notices explaining the perceived
discrepancy. Some of the notices included worked examples like the
one above!

Making sense of numbers in the media

The final activity in this section asks you to use some of the techniques
that you’ve met to make sense of two fictitious newspaper cuttings.
Although both cuttings use the same data, their conclusions appear
contradictory.
Table 2 shows the total UK government spending in England and the
amount spent on public order, in 2002–3 and 2006–7. The public order category
includes spending on the police,
Table 2 UK government spending fire services, law courts, prisons
and associated research.
in England (£ billion)
A billion (bn) is a thousand
2002–3 2006–7
million.
Total expenditure 274.2 359.2
Public order and safety 18.7 23.7

Source: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
The two cuttings below illustrate how the figures in Table 2 can provide
evidence for either praise or criticism of the government’s spending on
public order in England, depending on how the numbers are manipulated.
To understand the numbers in the cuttings, you also need to know that the
population of England was about 50 million in 2007.

Spending on public order

rises by 27% in 4 years PUBLIC ORDER SERVICES
Government spending on public
LOSE OUT BY £800 MILLION
order rose from £18.7 billion In 2002, out of every £1 it spent, the
in 2002 to £23.7 billion in 2006. government spent a miserly 6.8p on public
This increase of £5 billion order. By 2006, it had fallen to 6.6p – a
represents an extra £100 spent on drop of 3%. Based on 2006 government
public order for every man, spending figures, this represents a loss to
woman and child throughout law and order of almost £800 million.
England.

Figure 17 Two fictional newspaper articles based on the data in Table 2

43
 Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 27 Checking the figures

(a) Explain how the figures of 27% and £100 in the cutting on the left of
Figure 17 were derived.
(b) For each of 2002–3 and 2006–7, calculate the percentage of total
expenditure that was spent on public order. Check that these
percentages correspond to the amounts of 6.8p and 6.6p in the cutting
on the right of Figure 17.
(c) How much would the government have spent on public order in 2006–7
if it had spent the same percentage of total expenditure as in 2002–3?
Give your answer to three significant figures.
(d) Use your rounded answer to part (c) to explain how the figure of
£800 million in the second cutting has been derived.
(e) What criticisms could you make of each article?

In this subsection you have revised some of the ways that percentages are
used, and met the idea of absolute and relative comparisons. You have also
seen how percentages and other numbers can be used in the media to
promote particular points of view. You may read media articles more
critically in future!

4 Thinking mathematically
‘I really think that solving a In the previous two sections, you concentrated on practical mathematics
mathematical puzzle is a little and the sorts of calculations that you can do to describe or understand
bit like trying to find who everyday situations. In this section you will explore some mathematical
done it in a murder mystery.’
ideas that are interesting in their own right. These ideas come from a
Marcus du Sautoy, Professor branch of mathematics known as pure mathematics. This is mathematics
of Mathematics, University of
Oxford.
that does not necessarily have practical applications, but is studied
because it is interesting and intriguing, and often beautiful.

4.1 An odd pattern

This first subsection invites you to think about a mathematical problem
that arises from curiosity about numbers. First, here are the names given
to various special types of numbers.
The usual counting numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, . . .
are called the natural numbers (or positive integers).
Each natural number is either even or odd. The even natural numbers,
2, 4, 6, 8, . . . ,
are those that can be divided by 2 exactly; that is, an even number can be
divided ‘evenly’ into two parts. For example,
8 ÷ 2 = 4.

44
 4 Thinking mathematically

The odd natural numbers,

1, 3, 5, 7, . . . ,
are those that cannot be divided by 2 exactly; that is, when an odd
number is divided by 2, there is 1 left over. For example,
7 ÷ 2 = 3 remainder 1.
There might be an odd number of socks in your sock drawer!

1 3 5

Figure 18 Odd socks

It is not just the positive integers that are either even or odd. For example,
0, −2 and −4 are even numbers, and −1 and −3 are odd numbers.
However, this subsection is about positive integers, so, for example, ‘the
first four odd numbers’ means the first four positive ones: 1, 3, 5 and 7.
The square numbers
1, 4, 9, 16, . . .
are obtained by multiplying each natural number by itself:
1 = 1 × 1 = 12 ,
4 = 2 × 2 = 22 ,
9 = 3 × 3 = 32 ,
16 = 4 × 4 = 42 ,
and so on. The square numbers can be represented as patterns of dots
arranged as squares, as shown in Figure 19. These patterns explain why
multiplying a number by itself is called squaring.

1
4
9
16
25

Figure 19 The first five square numbers as patterns of dots

Perhaps you hadn’t thought of representing numbers as patterns of dots

before, but you will see shortly that this can be helpful in discovering
properties of numbers.

45
 Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 28 Types of numbers

Write down the following numbers.

(a) The sixth natural number
(b) The sixth even number
(c) The sixth odd number
(d) The sixth square number

Now imagine that you are walking down one side of a street, looking at the
Houses are not always house numbers 1, 3, 5, . . .. What happens if you add these numbers up?
numbered with odd numbers
on one side of the street and
even numbers on the other.
In remote parts of Australia
they are sometimes numbered
according to their distance
from a junction, so house 265
is 2650 metres from the
junction, for example. Houses
may also be numbered
according to when they were
built: 1 for the first house,
2 for the second, and so on.
The numbering system used
may depend on what
information it is important to
convey!

Activity 29 Adding odd numbers

(a) Complete the following table of sums of odd numbers.

How many odd numbers Sum

1 1=1
2 1+3=4
3 1+3+5=
4 1+3+5+7=
5 1+3+5+7+9=
6 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 =

(b) What do you notice about these sums?

In Activity 29 you might have spotted a rather surprising result. The sums
look familiar – they are all square numbers. Moreover, each sum is the
square of the number of odd numbers that are added. It looks as if adding
consecutive odd numbers starting from 1 always results in the square of
the number of odd numbers that are added. At this stage, this statement
is a conjecture – an informed guess about what might be true, from
considering a few cases. So far, there is not enough information to
conclude that what we have observed will always happen, no matter how
many odd numbers are added.
46
 4 Thinking mathematically

If we use the letter n to represent any natural number, then the conjecture
can be expressed in the following neat way.

Conjecture
If you add up the first n odd numbers, then the sum is always n2 .

To develop more confidence in this conjecture, you can check that it works
for cases you haven’t tried. According to the conjecture, when you add the
first seven odd numbers the answer should be 72 , which is 49. Checking
this sum gives 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13, which is indeed equal to 49.
At this point, it seems increasingly likely that the conjecture is true, and
you can check it for many natural numbers n. But no amount of checking
of individual cases can prove that it is true for all natural numbers n.
However, it turns out that we can prove this by considering patterns of
dots.
You have seen that the square numbers can be represented as square
patterns of dots. What about the odd numbers? One way to represent
them is as L-shaped patterns of dots. Figure 20 shows the first four odd
numbers represented in this way.

1
3
5
7

Figure 20 L-shaped patterns for 1, 3, 5 and 7

Let’s consider the sum of these four odd numbers. It is 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16,

and you know that this number of dots can be arranged in the square
pattern shown in Figure 21.

Figure 21 The 4 × 4 square

Now, a good question is: can you combine the four L-shaped patterns of
dots to make the square pattern? Figure 22 shows how this can be done –
the lines show the four separate L-shaped patterns.

1
3
5
7

Figure 22 Four odd numbers make a 4 × 4 square

47
 Unit 1 Starting points

This picture is very suggestive and you are surely itching to add to it the
next L-shaped pattern of 9 dots and so make a 5 × 5 square! This is shown
in Figure 23.

1
3
5
7
9

Figure 23 Five odd numbers make a 5 × 5 square

You can make larger and larger squares of dots by adding larger and larger
L-shaped patterns of dots. At each stage you add on the next odd number
of dots, and the result is the next square number. So, if you put together
the first n of the L-shaped patterns of dots, where n is a natural number,
‘The mathematician’s then the result is a square of n2 dots. This is shown in Figure 25.
patterns, like the painter’s or
the poet’s, must be beautiful;
the ideas, like the colours or
the words, must fit together
in a harmonious way. Beauty
is the first test: there is no
permanent place in the world
for ugly mathematics.’ n
G.H. Hardy, in
A Mathematician’s Apology,
Cambridge University Press,
1940.
n

Figure 25 n odd numbers make an n × n square

Because you can do this for any natural number n, you can see that the
conjecture is true. That is, the sum of the first n odd numbers is
always n2 . So the conjecture has now been proved.
A mathematical statement that has been proved is called a theorem or a
result. So we now have the following result.

Result
Figure 24 G.H. Hardy If you add up the first n odd numbers, then the sum is always n2 .
(1877–1947)

Activity 30 Using the result

Use the result above to find the sum of the first 100 odd numbers.

48
 4 Thinking mathematically

Such is the power of mathematics – it is certainly easier to use the result

than to add 100 numbers!
In this subsection a result about adding odd numbers was proved using
geometric reasoning. However, for many results there is no geometric
proof. Instead, mathematicians often use algebra. You will learn about
algebra later in the course, and in Unit 9 you will see an algebraic proof of
a formula for adding up sequences of numbers.

4.2 From folding to fractals

In this subsection, you will see how recognising a pattern that arises from Origami, the ancient art of
simply folding a strip of paper leads to some surprising and far-reaching paper folding, has many
ideas. practical applications, from
the design of solar panels on
In the video that you watched in Activity 1, you saw a strip of paper being satellites and space telescopes
folded in half repeatedly. The strip was partially unfolded after each fold, to modelling the performance
and the patterns that were seen by looking at the strip edge-on are shown of airbags.
in Figure 26.

(a) First fold (b) Second fold (c) Third fold (d) Fourth fold

Figure 26 Folds in a strip of paper

It is difficult to fold a piece of paper in half more than about six or seven If you want to try folding a strip
times, even if you start with a long strip. For a long time it was thought of paper yourself to produce the
that the limit was eight folds, but twelve folds have now been achieved. So patterns in Figure 26, then you
need to be careful to always fold
only a few patterns can be generated by physically folding a paper strip. the strip the ‘same way’, or you
However, by thinking mathematically you can generate the pattern that will obtain different patterns.
corresponds to as many folds as you like! If you think carefully about the There are instructions for folding
the strip on the course website.
patterns in Figure 26 (and quite a bit of thought is needed), you can see
that to get from one pattern to the next you replace each line in the old
pattern by two new lines at right angles to each other – this is what
happens when you make a new fold. The two new lines are either to the
right or to the left of the old line: the first pair of new lines is to the right,
the next pair to the left, and so on. This is illustrated in Figure 27.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 27 How to get each edge pattern from the one before

You can use this process to find the next few patterns. The first ten
patterns are shown in Figure 28.

49
 Unit 1 Starting points

(a) First fold (b) Second fold (c) Third fold (d) Fourth fold (e) Fifth fold

(f) Sixth fold (g) Seventh fold (h) Eighth fold (i) Ninth fold (j) Tenth fold

Figure 28 The first ten patterns

From a mathematical point of view, the pattern can be developed to

Infinite means endless and correspond to infinitely many folds, when, amazingly, it is no longer a
without limit. collection of lines, but forms a filled-in shape, as shown in Figure 29. This
shape is called the Heighway dragon, and it is an example of a fractal.
The Heighway dragon is
sometimes called the Jurassic
Park dragon, as it was printed
in copies of Michael
Crichton’s novel Jurassic
Park. It is also sometimes
known as the Harter–
Heighway dragon, or even just
the dragon curve. It was first
investigated by NASA
physicists John Heighway,
William Harter and Bruce
Banks and was described by
Martin Gardner in Scientific
American in 1967.

Figure 29 The pattern after infinitely many folds

The word ‘fractal’ was coined by the French mathematician Benoit

‘As to the word fractal, I Mandelbrot to describe a shape that is irregular at all scales, no matter
coined it on some precisely how closely you look. Many fractals can be split into parts, each of which
datable evening in the winter is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole shape. A
of 1975, from a very concrete
Latin adjective, fractus, shape that has this property is said to be self-similar. In Figure 29, you
which denoted a stone’s shape can see that many parts of the Heighway dragon have a shape that is
after it was hit very hard.’ similar to the whole shape.
Benoit Mandelbrot, quoted in Mathematicians have carried out a great deal of research into the
Hargittai, I. and Laurent,
properties of fractals in recent years. Fractals are also used in many
T.C. (eds) (2002) Symmetry
2000, pp. 133–41, Portland practical situations, from modelling internet traffic and fluctuations in
Press. world stock markets, to medical research. They also abound in nature, for
example in the structure of clouds and snowflakes, and in the patterns of
lightning. Our own bodies contain a myriad of self-similar fractal systems:
for instance, our circulatory systems have this structure – the branching of
tiny capillaries is similar to the branching of major arteries and veins.
Some more examples of self-similar shapes are shown in Figure 30.

50
 4 Thinking mathematically

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 30 Self-similarity in (a) a human lung, (b) Romanesco broccoli and (c) a fern

Isn’t it surprising that a shape as curly as the Heighway dragon arises

naturally from straight lines and right angles? Another surprising fact is
that, despite the rough shape of the Heighway dragon, you can cover a flat
surface with Heighway-dragon-shaped ‘tiles’, with no gaps or overlaps! In
fact this can be done in several different ways, two of which are shown in
Figure 31.

Figure 31 Heighway dragon tilings

In this section you have seen some surprising patterns emerge from simple
beginnings – adding odd numbers and folding paper. In the first example
you saw how by thinking mathematically – representing numbers as ‘Now let me explain a
patterns of dots – you could prove that a property was true for any wonderful thing: the more
number of odd numbers, not just for those you had checked. In the second mathematics you learn, the
more opportunities you will
example you saw how by thinking about a pattern mathematically you find for asking new questions.’
could extend it beyond what is possible physically, with intriguing results.
Ian Stewart, Professor of
These examples illustrate just a little of the power and beauty of the kind Mathematics, University of
of mathematics that fascinates many mathematicians. You can look for Warwick (2006) in Letters to
mathematics in all kinds of situations: asking yourself the tantalising a young mathematician, New
question ‘What would happen if . . . ?’ is often a good way to start! York, Basic Books.

51
 Unit 1 Starting points

5 Preparing your assignments

There are two kinds of assignments in MU123: interactive
computer-marked assignments (iCMAs) and tutor-marked assignments
(TMAs). This section helps you to prepare for these assignments and gives
you some advice on how to tackle them. The instructions for submitting
your assignments are on the course website.
The first subsection helps you to review your progress on the course so far,
and the second subsection provides some suggestions for how to approach
the iCMAs. The final subsection is based around a sample TMA question.
It provides some guidelines to help you to write the kind of clearly
explained answers that your tutor will be looking for. Learning how to
express your mathematics well, so that a reader can easily understand it, is
an important part of learning mathematics.

Evariste Galois (1811–1832) was a brilliant young mathematician who

died in a duel at the age of 20. He spent some of his final hours
editing his mathematical manuscripts and writing a summary of his
discoveries. It took mathematicians many years to understand his
notes, but they now form the basis of a branch of advanced
mathematics called Galois theory. A moral of his story is that you
should write down your ideas in good time, and explain them clearly,
Figure 32 A French postage so they can be easily understood by others. Another moral is to avoid
stamp celebrating Galois duelling!

When should you start your assignment questions?

Most students find that it is best to start each assignment question fairly
soon after studying the course material on which the question is based. For
example, you might find it helpful to do each assignment question
immediately after studying the relevant section or sections in the unit.
This allows you to focus closely on the topics and may alert you to the
need to re-read some sections. Alternatively, you might prefer to work
through the whole of each unit before tackling the assignment questions on
the unit. This has the advantage that you might find some questions on
the earlier parts of a unit easier when you have studied the whole unit.
Also, if you leave a short gap between studying the material relevant to an
assignment question and attempting the question, then you should find
that you are better able to remember key ideas, since the more times you
use a concept or technique, the better you remember it. This should make
your study of future units and courses easier.
It is usually not a good idea to defer starting an assignment until close to
the cut-off date. This is because you may need time to revise some topics
or contact your tutor with questions, and you are unlikely to be able to
produce your best work if you are under time pressure. Also, something
unexpected may happen near the cut-off date, so you should allow some
contingency time.

If you are an experienced 5.1 Reviewing your progress

student, then you have probably
already paused to take stock of Before you start on the assignment questions for a unit, it is a good idea to
your progress, whether formally
or not. It is a good idea to do
spend a few moments thinking about the progress that you have made
this every so often. while studying the unit. You should check whether there are any topics

52
 5 Preparing your assignments

that you need help with, or any topics on which you need more practice. If
you sort out any problems, then you should find it easier to do the
assignment questions, and you will also find it easier to understand the
material in the later units.
In the next activity you are asked to look back over your work on this unit
and use the practice quiz to help you to assess your progress. The practice
quizzes for each unit can be accessed from the course website, along with
other resources for each unit – you may have tried some of the questions
earlier in the unit. The quizzes are similar in style to the iCMA questions,
so you can also use them to familiarise yourself with the process of
answering iCMA questions before you attempt the first iCMA.

Activity 31 Checking your progress Practice quiz

(a) Are you confident about the mathematical skills covered in this unit?
Look back at your answers to the activities, and any notes you made,
to identify where you might need more practice. You might like to
complete the table below, to help you to organise your thoughts.

Need more Unhappy with

Topic Confident practice this topic
BIDMAS
Using your calculator
Units of measurement
Rounding
Checking answers
Negative numbers
Fractions
Percentages

(b) Try the practice quiz questions on this unit if you have not already
done so, to check your understanding of the topics above.
(c) If you are still not confident in some areas, then plan what you will do
to improve your understanding and skills. You may need to allow some
extra time to work through some topics in Maths Help, or to try some
more practice quiz questions. If you are not sure of the best way
forward, then contact your tutor for advice.

5.2 iCMA questions

When you do the iCMA questions on a unit, you should have the unit and
any notes that you made to hand, as you will probably find it helpful to
consult them. You will also need a pen or pencil, paper and your
calculator.
Make sure that you read each question carefully, so that you understand
what is required before you start to work out your answer. You do not
have to complete all the questions in an iCMA in one session: you can
answer a few questions at a time, in any order, and save your answers. You
can change your answers in later sessions if you wish, before submitting
the iCMA.
53
 Unit 1 Starting points

Once you have completed the questions in an iCMA, it is a good idea to

read through the questions again, to check that you are happy with your
answers and that you have answered as many questions as you can.

iCMA Activity 32 Answering iCMA questions

Find the first iCMA on the course website. Follow the instructions given
There are more details about there and try some of the questions. Complete as many of the questions as
iCMAs in the Course Guide you can before the cut-off date.
(in the ‘Study guide’ and the
‘Technology guide’ sections).
If you find a lot of questions in the first iCMA difficult, then you may need
to seek advice from your tutor.

5.3 TMA questions

TMAs are more substantial pieces of work than iCMAs. They allow your
tutor to assess how you present and explain your mathematical ideas, as
well as the accuracy of your mathematics. An example of part of a TMA
question is shown below.

Last year, a town recycled 8750 tonnes of waste, of which

20% was paper. Five years ealier, the town recycled
1130 tonnes of waste paper.
(a) Find the amount of paper that was recycled last
year, in tonnes to three significant figures. [4]
(b) Show that the amount of paper that was recycled has
risen by approximately 52% over the five year period. [3]

Figure 33 Part of a typical TMA question

TMA questions are usually similar to activities in the units, but they
include marks for the question parts, in square brackets at the right-hand
side. Usually, the more marks a question part is worth, the more
substantial your solution should be.
If you are not sure how to do part of a TMA question, then look back
through the unit and any notes that you made, to remind yourself of the
methods that you could use. For example, for part (a) of the question
above you could look back at Subsection 3.3, which is about percentages,
and in particular at Example 12 on page 40, which illustrates how to
calculate a percentage of a quantity. If looking back through the unit does
not help, and you are stuck, then contact your tutor.
Once you have decided what method seems appropriate for a question
part, you need to write out a full and clear solution for your tutor. You
The TMA solutions shown in may find it helpful to write a rough version first.
this section are in a handwritten
style. You can type or Here is an example of a solution to part (a) of the question above that
handwrite your TMA solutions, would be awarded full marks by a tutor. The solution has been annotated
as you prefer. to show the key steps.

54
 5 Preparing your assignments

Explain the context

of the calculation.
(a) The amount of paper recycled last year was 20%
of 8570 tonnes.

Do the calculation, writing 20 × 8570

20% of 8570 = 100
down all the details.
= 1714

Round the answer

= 1710 (to 3 s.f.).
as specified.
So the amount of paper that was recycled was
1710 tonnes (to 3 s.f.).
Write down a conclusion.
Include the units.

Figure 34 An annotated solution to a typical TMA question

Notice that the solution has been written in sentences, and the final
sentence gives a clear conclusion in the context of the question, and
includes the appropriate units. This means that anyone reading the
solution can easily understand it.
There is always more than one way to write a solution. Here is an
alternative solution to the same question part, which would be equally
acceptable.

(a) The amount of paper recycled last year was

20 percent of 8570 t = 0.2 × 8570 t
= 1714 t
= 1710 t (to 3 s.f.).

Figure 35 An alternative solution to the TMA question

In this second solution, the explanation and details of the calculation, and
the conclusion, are all given in one sentence. You may be able to do this
for a short calculation, but you must make sure that the sentence makes
sense and that the answer at the end of the sentence includes the
appropriate units.
If you are not sure how much explanation or detail you need to include in
your solution to a TMA question, then use the worked examples in the
units as a guide. Remember that the green thinks text is not part of the
solutions, but all the other words are part of them, and your solutions
should include similar amounts of explanation and working.
In the next activity you are asked to write out a solution to part (b) of the
TMA question. This question part actually gives you the answer, 52%, and
asks you to show how it can be worked out. Because of this, none of the
marks for this question part will be for the final answer – all three marks
will be for working and explanation.
When you are doing a question that gives you the answer, you should not
use the given answer in your working. Just work it out as usual, and then
check that your answer matches the one given in the question.
55
 Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 33 Writing a good solution

Try to write out a good solution to part (b) of the TMA question on
page 54. Then look at the comments on this activity in the back of the
unit.

Activity 34 Improving a solution

Here is an incorrect and poorly explained solution to parts (a) and (b) of
the TMA question.

(a) 8570 = 0.2 × 8570 = 1714

584
(b) 1714 − 1130 = 584 = 1714 = .34

Write down some suggestions for how the solution could be improved.
Then look at the comments on this activity in the back of the unit.

Although the solution in Activity 34 could be significantly improved, it

does show some understanding of how the question could be answered and
so it would be awarded some marks.
There are several other things to notice about this solution. First, equals
signs are used incorrectly, which is another reason why the solution is
difficult to follow. Whenever you use an equals sign, whatever is on the left
of the equals sign must be equal to whatever is on the right. So it is wrong
to write
8570 = 0.2 × 8570,
as in the solution, because the number on the left, 8570, is not equal to the
calculation on the right, 0.2 × 8570.

Activity 35 Using equals signs correctly

Can you spot two other places in the solution in Activity 34 where equals
signs have been used incorrectly?

Another thing to notice about the solution in Activity 34 is that its author
should have spotted that the answer to part (b) is wrong, because the
correct answer, 52%, is given in the question. It is always worth thinking
For help with reading and about whether your answer is likely to be correct. You can often do this
writing mathematics, and even when the answer is not given in the question. For example, if you
approaches to problem solving, were doing part (a) of the TMA question and you obtained the answer
see Maths Help Module 6.
17 100 tonnes, say, for the amount of paper recycled last year, then you
might have spotted that this answer is too large. You could spot this by
considering the context: 17 100 tonnes is more than the total amount of
waste recycled. Alternatively you could have estimated that the correct
answer is approximately 20% of 10 000 tonnes, which is 2000 tonnes.
56
 5 Preparing your assignments

Notice that although the author of the solution wrote down the wrong
fraction in part (b), he or she went on to evaluate it correctly as 0.34. If
you make a mistake but your calculations following the mistake are
correct, then you may be awarded marks for these calculations even
though your final answer is incorrect. These marks are known as
‘follow-through marks’. Your tutor may use the abbreviation ‘F.T.’ to
indicate follow-through marks or reasoning.
The incorrect solution in Activity 34 illustrates why it is so important to
explain your solutions clearly. It is important that your tutor can follow
your working, and also that you yourself can follow it if you look over it
some time later. If you use mathematics in your workplace, then it is also
important that you write down clearly explained solutions for your
colleagues.
When you have written out your solution to a TMA question, you should
read through the question again, to make sure that you have answered all
the parts and given all your answers in the required form. Then read over
your solution again, to make sure that your explanations make sense. It
can be helpful to do this after a break – you might be surprised to find
that what you have written down does not quite say what you meant it to.
Some guidelines for writing good mathematics are summarised below.

Things to remember when writing your own mathematics

• Write in sentences, explaining your reasoning step by step.
• Use link words like ‘so’ to make your solution easier to read.
• Start each new idea on a new line.
• Use notation correctly, especially equals signs.
• Include units where appropriate.
• Give a conclusion, in the appropriate context.
• Read through what you have written to check that it makes sense.

You have seen that if a question part starts with the word ‘show’, then the
answer is given in the question, and all the marks are for explanation and
working. Table 3 gives some similar words that you might see in TMA
questions, and explains what sorts of answers are expected.

Table 3 Instructions in mathematics questions

Instruction Explanation
find, You need to give both an answer and the details
determine, of how the answer is worked out. Some of the
calculate, marks are for the answer, and some are for
work out explanation and working.
show, The answer is given to you, and you need to give
verify, the details of how it is worked out. All of the
check marks are for explanation and working.
write down, You need to give only an answer; no explanation
state, or working is required. All of the marks are for
list the answer. This is usually because the answer
can be found without doing any working.

57
Unit 1 Starting points

Explanation and working are nearly always required in your solution to a

TMA question, so if in doubt, include them!

TMA Activity 36 Answering the TMA questions for Unit 1

If you have not already done so, find and read the document on the course
website that gives you information about submitting TMAs – it is in the
same place as the TMAs. Then open the first TMA and prepare your
solutions to the questions on Unit 1. Keep your solutions safe until you
have completed the other questions in the TMA.

The box below summarises the main steps that you should follow when
doing TMA questions.

Preparing solutions to TMA questions

• Start each question well before the cut-off date.
• Read the questions carefully, noting all the instructions – for
example, you may be asked to use a particular method, or round
an answer in a particular way.
• If you are stuck, look back at similar examples and activities in
the unit.
• Contact your tutor if you need help.
• Write your solutions clearly, giving all the details of your working
and explaining it carefully.
• Check that your answers seem reasonable.
• Read the questions and your solutions again, to make sure that
you have answered all the parts and followed all the instructions.

6 Reviewing your study methods

This unit is a little different from the other units in the course, as it aims
to introduce the course and check that you are well prepared to study it.
Now that you have worked through the unit, you should know how the
different course components (such as the tutorial clips, practice quizzes,
videos and assignments) can help your learning, and you should have
improved your fluency in some essential mathematical skills, including
using your calculator.
You have been encouraged to think about your studying, and to make
changes to improve it, if necessary. Before you go on to the next unit, it’s
worth spending a few minutes reviewing how your studying of this unit has
gone, to see whether there are any changes that it would be helpful to
make to your study methods in future.
• Did you manage to find enough time to complete the unit in the period
allocated on the study planner? If not, do you need to rearrange or
give up some other activities to make more time, or do you need to try
to make better use of the time you have allocated for studying? For
example, a greater number of shorter study sessions or studying at a
different time of the day may be more effective.
58
 Learning checklist

• Can you remember the ideas that you have studied? You do not have
to remember everything in the unit, but you will need to use some of
the techniques and ideas in later parts of the course. The most
important ideas are the ones covered in the practice quizzes and
assignment questions. Learning actively, by doing the activities and
perhaps making some form of notes, will help your understanding and
your ability to apply and remember these ideas.
• Can you quickly find any information that you need? For example, if
you want to check what ‘improper fraction’ means, or revise how to
round appropriately, then where would you look first – the unit, the
book’s index, your notes, the glossary in the Handbook, or the
summary pages in the Handbook? Try to get to know what
information is contained in different sources, and try to keep your
notes organised, so that you can easily find information that you need.
At the end of each unit there is a learning checklist, which you can use to
make sure that you have acquired the main skills and knowledge taught in
the unit. If there are some skills that you do not feel confident about, then
you may need to spend more time on them. However, if doing this will use
up some of the time that you have allocated for the next unit, then you
should contact your tutor to discuss how to proceed, as it is also important
to keep up with the schedule in the study planner.
As well as helping you prepare to study the rest of the course, this unit has
also introduced some practical applications of mathematics – for example,
it has shown you how to critically assess some types of numerical
information in the media. It has also offered you a taste of the power and
beauty of abstract mathematics. Mathematics really is everywhere, and in
MU123 you will have plenty of opportunities to discover this for yourself!

Learning checklist
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
• find and use the main components of the course, including tutorial
clips, practice quizzes, videos and assignments
• plan how you will use your study time effectively
• carry out mathematical operations such as +, −, × and ÷ in the
correct order, using the BIDMAS rules
• use your calculator effectively
• understand and use some SI units
• round numbers appropriately to a number of decimal places or
significant figures
• check calculations by estimating answers
• understand and use negative numbers, fractions and percentages
• start to critically analyse numerical information in the media
• understand the difference between relative and absolute comparisons
• start to investigate mathematical patterns, make conjectures and
appreciate the idea of proof
• start to write mathematics well, using appropriate notation
• review your learning progress and make changes to improve your study
methods
• prepare your answers to iCMA and TMA questions.
59
Unit 1 Starting points

Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 2 (c) 42.598 17 = 42.5982 (to 4 d.p.)
(a) 9 + 7 − 2 − 4 = 16 − 2 − 4 = 14 − 4 = 10 (d) 7.98 = 8.0 (to 1 d.p.)
(b) 2 × (7 − 4) = 2 × 3 = 6 (In part (d), the 0 after the decimal point should
(c) (3 + 5) × 3 = 8 × 3 = 24 be included to show that the number has been
rounded to one decimal place.)
(d) (3 + 4) × (2 + 3) = 7 × 5 = 35
Activity 8
(e) 32 + 43 = 3 × 3 + 4 × 4 × 4 = 9 + 64 = 73
(a) 23 650 = 24 000 (to 2 s.f.)
Activity 3 (b) 0.005 47 = 0.005 (to 1 s.f.)
(a) The calculation is incorrect. A correct
(c) 42.598 17 = 42.60 (to 4 s.f.)
calculation is 2 × (5 + 3) = 16.
(In part (c), the 0 after the 6 should be included to
(b) The calculation is incorrect. A correct
show that the number has been rounded to four
calculation is (3 + 4) × 7 = 49.
significant figures.)
(c) The calculation is correct.
Activity 9
(d) The calculation is correct.
(a) Using the given conversion factor gives the
(e) The calculation is incorrect. A correct distance in miles as
calculation is 2 × (3 + 3) × 5 = 60.
465 × 0.62 = 288.3.
Activity 4 Rounding to the nearest mile gives the answer
(a) The numbers are 4 and 8. Their sum is 288 miles. This is inaccurate, since we know from
4 + 8 = 12 and their product is 4 × 8 = 32. the calculation on page 22 that the correct answer
(If you didn’t spot the answer quickly, then you to the nearest mile is 289 miles. The conversion
could have found it by systematically listing the factor used in this activity is not precise enough to
pairs of whole numbers with sum 12 until you give an answer correct to the nearest mile.
found the pair with product 32.) (b) Rounding to two significant figures gives the
(b) The numbers are 2 and 4. Their difference is answer 290 miles.
4 − 2 = 2 and their quotient is 4 ÷ 2 = 2. (The answer is rounded to two significant figures
because two is the number of significant figures in
Activity 6 the least precise number used in the calculation.
(a) There are 1000 m in 1 km, so The answer found here agrees with the answer
found in the calculation before the activity,
6100 m = (6100 ÷ 1000) km = 6.1 km.
289 miles, because 289 = 290 (to 2 s.f.).)
(b) There are 1000 kg in 1 t, so
560 kg = (560 ÷ 1000) t = 0.56 t. Activity 10
(c) There are 60 minutes in 1 hour, so (a) The distance, in miles, to the town is
36 × 0.621 371 192. The answer displayed on the
3.45 hours = (3.45 × 60) minutes calculator is 22.369 362 91, which rounds to 22 (to
= 207 minutes. the nearest mile). Multiplying by 2 gives
(d) There are 1000 mg in 1 g, so 2 × 22 = 44.
0.35 g = (0.35 × 1000) mg = 350 mg. So the total distance is calculated as 44 miles.
(e) There are 1000 ml in 1 l, so (b) As in part (a), the distance, in miles, to the
450 ml = (450 ÷ 1000) l = 0.45 l. town is displayed on the calculator as
22.369 362 91. Multiplying by 2 gives
(f ) There are 100 cm in 1 m, so
2 × 22.369 362 91 = 44.738 725 82
75 cm = (75 ÷ 100) m = 0.75 m.
= 45 (to the nearest mile).
Activity 7 So the total distance is 45 miles.
(a) 2.2364 = 2.24 (to 2 d.p.) (c) The answer in part (b) is more accurate. In
(b) 0.005 47 = 0.005 (to 3 d.p.) part (a), rounding too early led to an inaccurate
final answer.
60
 Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 11 (d) −6 − (−9) = −6 + 9 = 3

(a) Each jewellery box takes about 4 hours to (e) −4 − (−4) = −4 + 4 = 0
make and decorate. A working day is about (f ) 3 − (−2) + (−4) = 3 + 2 − 4 = 5 − 4 = 1
8 hours, so about two jewellery boxes can be
completed in a working day. So it would take (g) 7 + (−6) − 3 = 7 − 6 − 3 = 1 − 3 = −2
about 24 days to complete 48 jewellery boxes.
Activity 15
(b) The student’s first mistake was to forget to
include brackets around ‘2.30 + 1.45’. So the (a) 5 × (−3) = −15
calculator will first multiply 1.45 by 48, then (b) (−2) × (−4) = 8
divide by 7.5, and then add 2.30, which is not (c) 6 × (−10) = −60
what the student intended.
(d) 25 ÷ (−5) = −5
The student’s other mistake was to assume that if
you add 2 hours and 30 minutes to 1 hour and (e) (−49) ÷ (−7) = 7
45 minutes then the total number of hours is (f ) (−36) ÷ 12 = −3
2.30 + 1.45. This is not correct, since 2 hours and
(g) (−2) × (−5) × (−4) = 10 × (−4) = −40
30 minutes is 2.5 hours, not 2.30 hours, and 1 hour
and 45 minutes is 1.75 hours, not 1.45 hours. Activity 17
(c) The time needed to make and decorate a (a) (i) 7 1
21 = 3
jewellery box is
48 2
2 hours and 30 minutes + 1 hour and 45 minutes (ii) 72 = 3
35 1
= 4 hours and 15 minutes (iii) 105 = 3
= 4.25 hours. (b) The fraction of the group is
Thus the number of days needed to make and 720
= 35 .
1200
decorate 48 jewellery boxes is (You might have cancelled the fraction like this:
4.25 × 48 ÷ 7.5 = 27.2. 3
✟ 9
This number has to be rounded up, because all 48 ✦
✘✘72
720 3
boxes must be finished. So 28 days are needed. ✘✘ =
1200 5 .
✏✏
120
(This answer, unlike the student’s, is fairly close to ✦15
5
the estimate found in part (a).)
But there are many different ways to cancel it.)
Activity 12
Activity 18
The numbers −6 and −4 lie to the left of −3 on
5×3+2
the number line, and the numbers −2, 2 and 0 lie (a) 5 23 = = 17
3 3
to the right of −3. So the noon temperature was
18
lower on Monday and Friday. (b) 5 = 3 53

Activity 13 Activity 19
4
(a) −6 + 2 = −4 (a) (i) 5 of 60 ml = 45 × 60 ml
(b) −1 + 3 = 2 = 4 ÷ 5 × 60 ml
(c) 2 − 7 = −5 = 48 ml
5
(d) −3 − 4 = −7 (ii) 8 of 20 kg = 58 × 20 kg
= 5 ÷ 8 × 20 kg
(e) 5 − 7 − 2 = −2 − 2 = −4
= 12.5 kg
Activity 14 (b) The quantity of potatoes needed is
(a) 2 + (−7) = 2 − 7 = −5 20
6 × 900 g = 20 ÷ 6 × 900 g
(b) −8 + (−5) = −8 − 5 = −13 = 3000 g
(c) 1 − (−3) = 1 + 3 = 4 = 3 kg.

61
Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 21 Activity 24
30
(a) The conversions are (a) (i) 30% of 150 g = 100 × 150 g
60
60% = 100 = 0.6, = 0.3 × 150 g
60
60% = 100 = 35 , = 45 g
7
8 = 7
8 × 100% = 7 ÷ 8 × 100% = 87.5%, (ii) 110% of 70 ml = 110
100 × 70 ml
7
8 = 7 ÷ 8 = 0.875, = 1.1 × 70 ml
1.35 = 1.35 × 100% = 135%, = 77 ml
135
1.35 = 135% = 100 = 27 7
20 = 1 20 .
0.5
(iii) 0.5% of £220 = 100 × £220
So the completed table is as follows. = 0.005 × £220
= £1.10
Percentage Decimal Fraction
(b) The fee paid on the first £30 of the selling
60% 0.6 3 price is
5
9
87.5% 0.875 7 9% of £30 = 100 × £30 = £2.70.
8
27 The remainder of the selling price is
135% 1.35 20 £75 − £30 = £45, and the fee paid on this
amount is
3.8 5% of £45 = 1005
× £45 = £2.25.
(b) 3.8% = = 0.038
100 The total fee is the insertion fee plus the two fees
Activity 22 above, which is
The fraction of students is £1.50 + £2.70 + £2.25 = £6.45.
420
. Activity 25
1500
The actual decrease is 145 − 125 = 20.
So the percentage of students is
So the decrease as a percentage of the original
420 number is
× 100% = 28%.
1500 20
× 100% = 14% (to 2 s.f.).
Activity 23 145
The percentage of pupils at School A who achieved Hence there is a 14% decrease in the number of
the standard is complaints.
121 Activity 26
× 100% = 62.4% (to 1 d.p.).
194
(a) The new price is 100% − 20% = 80% of the
The percentage of pupils at School B who achieved original price. So the new price is
the standard is
80% of £15 400 = 0.8 × £15 400 = £12 320.
86
× 100% = 66.2% (to 1 d.p.). (b) The new wage is 100% + 2.5% = 102.5% of
130
the original wage. So the new price is
So School B had the better performance.
102.5% of £360 = 1.025 × £360 = £369.
(c) The new price is 100% + 100% = 200% of the
original price. So the new price is
200% of $90 = 2 × $90 = $180.

62
 Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 27 (e) The first article, on the left-hand side,

(a) Government spending rose from emphasises the absolute increase in the amount
£18.7 billion (or bn) to £23.7 bn, which is an spent, but ignores the fact that prices will have
increase of £5 bn, as stated in the article. So the risen over the four-year period as well. So some of
percentage increase is the extra £5 bn would be spent just maintaining
the level of support that the public received in
5
× 100% = 27% (to 2 s.f.). 2002. The key question here is what new support
18.7 is being provided for the public – and neither that,
This explains the figure of 27% in the headline of nor the amount spent on new support, is stated in
the cutting on the left. the article.
Since the actual increase in spending was £5 bn, By using a relative comparison, the second article
and there were about 50 million people in England ignores the fact that there was a significant
in 2007, the increase in spending per person was absolute increase in spending on public order, and
approximately in total spending. It is not helpful to be told that
£5 bn £5000 million the percentage of total expenditure that is spent
= on public order has dropped. That might have
50 million 50 million
been caused by, for example, large increases in
£5000
= spending on health and education, without any
50 loss to spending on public order. A smaller
= £100. percentage of a larger amount may still be larger
This explains the figure of £100 in the headline of than a larger percentage of a smaller amount! The
the cutting on the left. percentage spent has dropped, but again the key
question is what effect has that had on the services
(b) The percentage of total expenditure that was
provided – has there been an overall increase or
spent on public order in 2002–3 was
decrease in those?
18.7
× 100% = 6.8% (to 2 s.f.).
274.2 Activity 28
The percentage of total expenditure that was (a) The first six natural numbers are 1, 2, 3, 4,
spent on public order in 2006–7 was 5, 6, so the sixth natural number is 6.
23.7 (b) The first six even numbers are 2, 4, 6, 8,
× 100% = 6.6% (to 2 s.f.).
359.2 10, 12, so the sixth even number is 12.
These percentages correspond to the amounts of
(c) The first six odd numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11,
6.8p and 6.6p in the second cutting, because 6.8%
so the sixth odd number is 11.
of £1 is 6.8p and 6.6% of £1 is 6.6p.
(d) The first six square numbers are 1, 4, 9, 16,
(c) The percentage of total expenditure spent on
25, 36, so the sixth square number is 36.
public order in 2002–3 was approximately 6.8%, or
more precisely, 6.819 83. . . %. If this percentage of Activity 29
total expenditure had been spent on public order
in 2006–7, then the spending on public order (a) The completed table is as follows.
would have been
6.819 83 . . . % of £359.2 bn How many
odd numbers Sum
6.819 83 . . .
= × £359.2 bn
100 1 1=1
= 0.068 198 3 . . . × £359.2 bn 2 1+3=4
3 1+3+5=9
= £24.5 bn (to 3 s.f.).
4 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
(d) The difference between the amount in part (c) 5 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25
and the amount that the government actually 6 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36
spent on public order in 2006–7 is
£24.5 bn − £23.7 bn = £0.8 bn = £800 million.
This explains how the figure of £800 million was (b) All the sums are square numbers – in fact,
worked out. each sum is the square of the number of odd
numbers that are added.

63
Unit 1 Starting points

Activity 30 • round the answer to part (a) to three

By the result stated before the activity, the sum of significant figures, as requested in the question
the first 100 odd numbers is 1002 = 10 000. • check the answer to part (b) against the given
answer of 52%, and try to find the mistake
Activity 31
• correct the mistake – the amount of paper
If you have any concerns about your responses to recycled five years ago was 1130 tonnes, not
this activity, then contact your tutor for advice. 1714 tonnes, so the increase as a fraction of the
584 584
amount five years ago is 1130 , not 1714
Activity 33
• write .34 as 0.34 – a decimal point should have
Here is an example of a solution to part (b) that
a digit on each side to make it easy to read –
would be awarded full marks.
it’s easy to mistake .34 for 34
• write 0.34 as the percentage 34%, since the
(b) The percentage rise is question referred to the percentage rise
actual rise • use equals signs correctly – see the text
original amount × 100% following the activity.
1714 − 1130
= 1130 × 100% Activity 35
The equals sign in
= 52% (to 2 s.f.).
584
Hence the amount of paper 584 =
recycled has risen by about 52%, 1714
as required. is used incorrectly. The fraction on the right-hand
side is not equal to 584.
The equals sign in
584
Did you remember to explain your calculation in = .34
words, and to write in sentences? And did you 1714
remember to use the unrounded value 1714 from is also used incorrectly. The fraction on the left is
part (a), not the rounded value 1710? If you used not exactly equal to 0.34, so the author of the
the rounded value, then you will have obtained the solution should have either used the approximately
answer 51%, which is not the answer given in the equals sign or included the rounding precision.
question. That is, he or she should have written either
584
Activity 34 ≈ 0.34
1714
See how many of the following possible or
improvements you spotted – but don’t worry if you
584
didn’t spot them all! The author of the solution = 0.34 (to 2 s.f.).
could: 1714
(The equals sign in
• explain the calculations in words and write in
sentences 1714 − 1130 = 584
• include a conclusion for each question part, is correctly used, but it would be better to explain
stating the answer clearly in the context of the this calculation in a sentence, such as: ‘The
question increase in the amount of paper recycled is
1714 t − 1130 t = 584 t.’ Then a linking word such
• include the units in part (a) as ‘So’ could be used to introduce the next line of
the calculation.)

64
UNIT 2

Mathematical models
 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Introduction
This unit is primarily concerned with a central theme of the course – how
you can use mathematics to help investigate and solve practical problems.
The unit starts with an everyday problem – how do you decide when to set
off on a certain journey, in order to reach your destination by a particular
time? In Section 1, we consider how to make a rough estimate of the
journey time. This section uses some simple mathematical ideas and, at
the same time, introduces a general strategy for tackling problems by
creating a mathematical model.
The aims of a mathematical model are to:
• describe the important features of a real situation mathematically – for
example, by using numbers, formulas or graphs
• allow you to make predictions about the situation.
For example, such models can be used to predict traffic flows on roads or
to investigate the likely impact of changes to speed limits on sections of
motorway. However, a model does simplify the real situation, and
emphasises certain aspects of it (such as the speed of a vehicle) and ignores
others (such as the weather conditions). Even so, the results from models
are often useful in practice, since in many cases an approximate answer is
perfectly adequate.
In Section 2, we look at two models that are used to advise motorists on
the gap they should leave on the road between their car and the vehicle
ahead, and in particular we look at how these models take account of
different features of the situation. This section illustrates the fact that
problems can be approached in different ways, such as numerically,
graphically or through general relationships such as formulas. It also
highlights the importance of communicating mathematical ideas in an
appropriate way for a wide audience.
Section 3 concentrates on the use of formulas and shows how these can be
written concisely. This is an important section because formulas are
frequently used in models and also because the skills and terminology
covered here form a foundation for the rest of the course. So you are
advised to work through the examples, activities and practice quizzes for
this section carefully.
Section 4 introduces the use of inequalities, which can be used to specify
some of the restrictions and limits on models concisely. Finally, Section 5
provides some advice on how you can improve your mathematics and on
how to use the feedback you will receive on your assignments.
Activity 19 on page 96 is in the Some of the activities in this unit involve the use of your calculator.
Course Guide. Instructions for using your calculator are provided in the Course Guide.

66
 1 Planning a journey

1 Planning a journey

1.1 Clarifying the question

Often, the first step in tackling a practical problem is to decide what
questions you need to ask. For example, consider the problem of getting to
the right place at the right time, which arises in many everyday activities
such as going to work or to an appointment, on holiday or just meeting
friends. Here a key question is: when should you set off?
The answer to this question may depend on several factors, such as what
kind of transport is available in the area, which route you decide to take
and how fast you can travel. You may also want to consider
other factors when planning a
This section is based on the following scenario. Suppose that two students journey, such as the amount of
want to travel from Great Malvern in Worcestershire to Milton Keynes in pollution produced or which is
Buckinghamshire to attend an Open Day at The Open University the most scenic route!
(Figure 1). If they decide to travel by car and want to arrive by 10:30 am,
at what time should they set off?

Manchester 100 km

Leicester
Birmingham

Great Malvern
Milton Keynes

Cardiff London
Bristol

Figure 1 The start and finish of the journey

One way of tackling this problem is to use a route-planning system, known

as a route planner, on a website or a satellite navigation device (satnav) to
suggest a route and estimate the journey time. Here are some estimates for
the time for the car journey between Great Malvern and Milton Keynes,
provided by different route planners using various routes:
1 h 36 min, 1 h 58 min, 2 h 3 min, 2 h 5 min, 2 h 8 min, 2 h 19 min,
2 h 21 min, 2 h 33 min, 2 h 48 min, 3 h 19 min.
You can see that the estimated times vary substantially, with the longest There are links to some route
time being more than twice the shortest time! However, most of the times planners on the course website,
are bunched ‘in the middle’, so it seems likely that these estimates are the so that you can see if there is a
similar variation in times for a
most reliable. You’ll see in this section how to make your own estimate for journey of your own choice.
the journey time along a particular route, and you’ll consider some of the
factors that may affect this estimate.
First, consider the questions in the following activity.

67
 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Activity 1 Preliminary questions

(a) Why might the route planners estimate different times for the journey?
(b) From Figure 1, the distance in a straight line between Great Malvern
and Milton Keynes appears to be just over 100 kilometres. Assuming
that the car travels about 50 kilometres in an hour, what is an
estimate for the journey time? Do you think this estimate is good
enough for planning the time to set off?

How can you obtain an estimate that is more realistic than the one in
part (b) of Activity 1?
As with many problems, it helps to consider a simpler version first. There
are many possible routes that the students could take, but to see what’s
You can see some information involved in calculating the time, let’s concentrate here on one particular
about how to choose the route.
quickest route by watching the
video, at the end of this section. Suppose that the students decide to take the route from Great Malvern to
Milton Keynes indicated by a thick pink line on the map in Figure 2. This
route uses the M40 motorway and various principal roads, also known as
A-roads. The question is now:
If the students take the route indicated in Figure 2, at what time must
they set off in order to arrive in Milton Keynes by 10:30 am?
To answer this question, you need to estimate the time for the journey
along this route.

20 km
Birmingham
Coventry
M42

M5

M1

Great Malvern Banbury Milton Keynes

M40

Figure 2 The route for the journey

68
 1 Planning a journey

The time for the journey depends on at least two factors: the road distance
between Great Malvern and Milton Keynes, and the speeds at which the
car can travel on different types of roads.
These two factors are discussed in the next two subsections.

1.2 Estimating distances

This subsection is about using maps to find distances. A map scale
indicates how to determine distances on the ground from distances on a
map. On the map in Figure 2 there is a line drawn at the top right to
show the map scale graphically. This line indicates that a distance of
2 centimetres on the map represents 20 kilometres on the ground. Thus, For practice with scale
by measuring a distance on the map in centimetres and using the map diagrams, see Maths Help
scale, you can obtain the corresponding distance on the ground. Module 5, Subsection 1.1.

Distances on the map can be measured by hand by laying a piece of string

approximately along a route and then measuring the string, or by using an
opisometer, an instrument with a small wheel for measuring distances on
maps.
The map scale in Figure 2 can be stated in words as ‘2 cm represents Map scales are often written in
20 km’, which is equivalent to writing ‘1 cm represents 10 km’. This means the form ‘1 cm = 10 km’, but
that to find the ground distance in kilometres, you multiply the map such a statement is incorrect
mathematically because a length
distance in centimetres by 10. of 1 centimetre is not equal to a
length of 10 kilometres!

Activity 2 Estimating the distance from a map

(a) On the map, the distance along the route from Great Malvern to
Milton Keynes is 13.8 cm, and the distance along the motorway section
of the route is 3 cm (to the nearest mm). What are the corresponding
ground distances, in kilometres?
(b) Apart from the section on the motorway, the rest of the route is on
principal roads. Use your answers to part (a) to find the distance on
the principal roads, in kilometres.
(c) What distance on the map represents 25 km on the ground?

On the map in Figure 2, we interpreted the scale as ‘1 cm represents

10 km’. Map scales can be written in other forms, so you need to be
familiar with these alternatives too. Often, the scale of a map is given as,
say, 1 : 500 000 or 1/500 000, which is read as ‘one to five hundred This type of expression for a
thousand’. This means that any distance measured on the map represents map scale is called a
500 000 times that distance on the ground. For example, 1 cm on the map representative fraction.
represents 500 000 cm on the ground, 1 mm on the map represents
500 000 mm on the ground, and so on. The number 500 000 is called the
scale factor of the map.
The next example shows how to convert between the two methods of
giving a map scale.

69
 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Example 1 Converting map scales

(a) A map scale is given in words as ‘1 cm represents 20 km’. What is the

scale factor?
(b) A map scale is given as 1 : 250 000. Express this map scale in the form
‘1 cm represents ?? km’.
Solution
(a) Here, 1 cm on the map represents 20 km on the ground.
Convert 20 km to centimetres, by using 1 km = 1000 m and
1 m = 100 cm.
Now,
For details of SI units, see 20 km = (20 × 1000) m
Unit 1, Subsection 2.3 or Maths
= 20 000 m
Help Module 1, Section 2.
= (20 000 × 100) cm
= 2 000 000 cm.
So, 1 cm on the map represents 2 000 000 cm on the ground. That is,
the map scale is 1 : 2 000 000, so the scale factor is 2 000 000.
(b) Here, 1 cm on the map represents 250 000 cm on the ground.
Convert 250 000 cm to kilometres.
Now,
250 000 cm = (250 000 ÷ 100) m
= 2500 m
= (2500 ÷ 1000) km
= 2.5 km.
So the map scale is ‘1 cm represents 2.5 km’.

Here are some similar conversions for you to try.

Activity 3 Converting map scales

(a) A map scale is given as ‘1 cm represents 10 km’. What is the scale

factor?
(b) A map scale is given as 1 : 500 000. Express this map scale in the form
‘1 cm represents ?? km’.

The next example shows you how to use a scale factor to work out the
length of a journey from its distance on a map, and also to work out the
map distance if you know the ground distance.

Example 2 Using a map scale

The scale of a map is 1 : 250 000.

(a) The distance on the map between two places is 7.5 cm. What is the
corresponding distance on the ground? Give your answer to two
significant figures.

70
 1 Planning a journey

(b) The distance on the ground between two places is 58.4 km. What is
the corresponding distance on the map? Give your answer to three
significant figures.
Solution
(a) A measurement of 1 cm on the map represents 250 000 cm on the
ground. So a map distance of 7.5 cm represents a ground distance of
(7.5 × 250 000) cm. Now,
(7.5 × 250 000) cm = 1 875 000 cm
= (1 875 000 ÷ 100 ÷ 1000) km
= 18.75 km
= 19 km (to 2 s.f.).
Alternatively, the map scale 1 : 250 000 can be expressed as ‘1 cm See Example 1(b).
represents 2.5 km’, so a map distance of 7.5 cm represents a ground
distance of
(7.5 × 2.5) km = 18.75 km = 19 km (to 2 s.f.).
(b) The scale factor is 250 000, so the ground distance of 58.4 km is
represented by a map distance of 58.4 ÷ 250 000 km. Now,
(58.4 ÷ 250 000) km = 0.000 233 6 km
= (0.000 233 6 × 1000 × 100) cm
= 23.36 cm
= 23.4 cm (to 3 s.f.).
Alternatively, the map scale 1 : 250 000 can be expressed as ‘1 cm
represents 2.5 km’, so a ground distance of 58.4 km is represented by a ×
by scale factor
map distance of
(58.4 ÷ 2.5) km = 23.36 cm = 23.4 cm (to 3 s.f.).
Map Ground

Figure 3 summarises the process of converting map distances to ground

÷
distances, and vice versa. Here are some similar questions for you to try. by scale factor

Activity 4 Using map scales Figure 3 Using a scale

factor to convert between
Consider a map with scale 1 : 50 000. ground and map distances
(a) The distance between two towns on the map is 3.4 cm. What is the
distance between them on the ground?
(b) The distance along a road is 7.85 km. What is the corresponding
distance on the map?

In Activity 2, you made some progress on answering the question about

what time the students should set off. You now have an estimate of the
distance for both the motorway section (30 km) and the principal road
section (108 km) of the route. You have also seen how to calculate ground
distances if you are given the scale factor of the map.
To find the time that the journey is likely to take, the next step is to
consider the speeds at which you can expect to travel on the different
types of roads.

71
 Unit 2 Mathematical models

1.3 Understanding speed

This subsection is about the concept of speed. The speed of an object
indicates how far it travels in a particular period of time. For example, if
you are travelling at a constant speed and you cover 40 kilometres
in 1 hour, then your speed is 40 kilometres per hour. This speed can also
‘km/h’ is read as ‘kilometres per be written as 40 km/h.
hour’.
Therefore
in 1 hour you cover (40 × 1) km = 40 km;
in 2 hours you cover (40 × 2) km = 80 km;
in 3 hours you cover (40 × 3) km = 120 km;
and so on.
Speed can be measured in other units as well: for example, metres per
second or miles per hour. These are all examples of compound units,
since they involve more than one basic unit of measurement.
In practice, you will not be able to travel at a constant speed for a whole
journey, as you sometimes have to slow down, speed up or even stop to
deal with the traffic and road conditions. Instead, the average speed for a
journey is used in calculations.
The average speed for a journey is calculated using the formula below.

distance travelled
average speed =
time taken

This formula is often written more concisely as

distance distance
average speed = or speed = .
time time
With formulas such as this one, where the units are not specified, you can
work out the unit used to measure the speed from the units for the
distance and the time.
For example, suppose that the distance is measured in metres (m) and the
time is measured in seconds (s). To work out the unit for the average
speed, substitute these units into the formula above.
distance m
Since average speed = , the unit for the speed is .
time s
This unit is usually written as m/s and read as ‘metres per second’.

Example 3 Finding an average speed

Suppose that a car travels a distance of 75 km in 45 minutes on a

motorway. What is its average speed? Give your answer in km/h.
Solution
First method
Use the formula to find the average speed in km/min and then convert
to km/h.
The distance is 75 km and the time is 45 min. So, by the formula,
75
average speed = km/min = 1.666 . . . km/min.
45

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Now convert this answer to km/h by multiplying the full calculator

value for the distance travelled in 1 minute by the number of minutes in an
hour.
There are 60 minutes in an hour, so
average speed = (1.666 . . . × 60) km/h = 100 km/h.
Second method
Convert the time to hours and then find the average speed in km/h.
3
First, 45 minutes is 4 of an hour, that is, 0.75 h. So, by the formula,
75
average speed = km/h = 100 km/h.
0.75

Here are some similar examples for you to try.

Activity 5 Finding average speeds

Find the average speeds for the following journeys, rounding your answers
to two significant figures. Give your answers to parts (a) and (b) in km/h,
and your answer to part (c) in m/s.
(a) A journey of 425 km on the motorway that takes 4 hours
(b) A 30 km journey through a city that takes 1 hour 25 minutes
(c) A 100 m sprint that takes 14 seconds

1.4 Finding the time

In Activity 2, you calculated that the route from Great Malvern to Milton
Keynes includes 30 km on the M40 motorway and 108 km on principal
roads. To find the time required for each part of the journey, you need to
use values for the average speeds on each type of road. The average speed
of a car on a road depends on many factors, such as how busy the road is,
the speed limits, and if there are any delays such as road works.
For the current purpose, you should use the following cautious
assumptions about average speeds on these types of roads:
• average speed on principal roads: 50 km/h
• average speed on motorways: 100 km/h.
There are two methods of calculating the time for a journey if you know
the distance and the average speed.

Strategy To find the time, given the distance and the speed
First method
Find the time to travel 1 km and then find the time to travel the
whole distance.
Second method
Use the formula This is a version of the formula
distance distance
time = . average speed =
average speed time
given in Subsection 1.3.

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Unit 2 Mathematical models

The unit of speed used in this formula is the one that involves the distance
unit and the time unit; for example, if the distance is in kilometres and the
time is in hours, then the speed should be measured in km/h.
The next example applies both methods to find the time for the motorway
section of the students’ journey from Great Malvern to Milton Keynes.

Example 4 Calculating the time on the motorway

Find the time for a journey of 30 km at an average speed of 100 km/h.

Give your answer in minutes.
Solution
First method
1
The average speed is 100 km/h, so 1 km is travelled in 100 h.
1
Hence, to travel 30 km, it takes 30 × 100 h = 0.3 h. Since there are
60 minutes in 1 hour,
0.3 h = (0.3 × 60) min = 18 min.
Second method
By the formula, the time is
30
h = 0.3 h.
100
Multiplying by 60 to convert the time into minutes gives 18 min, as before.

Another way to solve Example 4 is to use the informal method shown in

the cartoon in the margin. This is possible here because the numbers in
the calculation are easy to work with. Even if the numbers are more
complicated, you can obtain a rough estimate of the answer by rounding
the numbers in the calculation and then using an informal method of this
type.
The next activity involves finding the time for the principal roads section
of the journey from Great Malvern to Milton Keynes.

Activity 6 Calculating the time on the principal roads

(a) Use both of the methods above to find the time for a journey of
108 km at an average speed of 50 km/h. Which method do you prefer?
(b) Use your answer to part (a) and the time found in Example 4 to
calculate the total journey time from Great Malvern to Milton Keynes.
Round your answer to the nearest 10 minutes.

1.5 Checking and interpreting your results

The solution to Activity 6 suggests that the students’ total journey time
from Great Malvern to Milton Keynes can be estimated to be about
2 12 hours. However, it is a good idea to carry out a couple of further checks
to ensure that the answer is reasonable and that it answers the question
asked.

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Is your answer reasonable?

An important step in solving any problem is to check whether your answer
makes sense in the context of the problem and in particular whether it is
realistic and roughly what you expected. In this case, you might have
compared the answer with other journeys that you had made along similar
roads under similar conditions. For example, it usually takes about an
hour to travel from Great Malvern to Birmingham – a distance of 70 km,
with quite a large section on the M5 motorway. So you might expect a
journey of about 140 km to take about 2 hours, and to take longer if it is
mostly on principal roads rather than on motorways. This estimate agrees
quite well with the journey time obtained earlier.
If you had obtained an answer of say 25 minutes (or 25 hours!) for the
whole journey, then the answer would have been unreasonable. It might
indicate a mistake in the calculations or an unrealistic assumption
somewhere – in either case, it would be wise to go back and check both the
mathematics and the assumptions made.
In this problem, assumptions were made for average speeds on different
types of road. However, traffic conditions vary, and you might expect
speeds to be lower during the morning and evening rush hours than during
other parts of the day. So, if you need a more accurate estimate of the
time, then you may wish to change some of the assumptions for the speed.
To see the effect of modifying the assumed speeds, work through the
following activity.

Activity 7 Changing the assumptions

The speed limits for cars are 112 km/h on the motorway and 96 km/h on These are approximate values;
principal roads. The table below shows the times, to the nearest minute, the exact speed limits are
for the 30 km motorway section and the 108 km principal roads part, for 70 mph and 60 mph.
different speeds.

Motorway (30 km)

Speed in km/h 80 100 112
Time taken in minutes 23 18 16
Principal roads (108 km)
Speed in km/h 40 50 96
Time taken in minutes 162 130 68

(a) Based on the values in the table, what is the shortest time for the
whole journey if the speed limits are observed? Do you think that this
time can be achieved?
(b) If the average speed on the motorway drops from 100 km/h to
80 km/h, how much longer does the journey take? If the average speed
on the principal roads drops from 50 km/h to 40 km/h, how much
longer does the journey take?
(c) Based on these calculations, would you make any changes to the time
allowed for the journey?

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Unit 2 Mathematical models

The table in Activity 7 shows that, for the range of average speeds
considered, the journey time for this route can vary from 1 hour
24 minutes to 3 hours 5 minutes. This range is similar to the times
predicted by the route planners in Subsection 1.1! Making realistic
assumptions about the speeds at which you can travel on different roads is
important in order to predict reasonable journey times.

Answering the question asked

The question that we are trying to answer is: ‘What time should the
students set off in order to arrive in Milton Keynes by 10:30 am if they
travel by the route in Figure 2?’
If we assume that the average speeds are 100 km/h on the motorway and
50 km/h on the other roads, then the journey time is predicted to be
approximately 2 hours 30 minutes. So, to arrive at the destination by
10:30 am, the starting time should be 8:00 am.
However, in practice it would probably be better to allow some extra time
in case there are any unexpected delays or the assumptions for the average
speed were too high. As you saw in Activity 7, a change in the average
speed for the longer, slower part of the journey could affect the time
considerably. There may also be other considerations, such as allowing
time for parking.
So the final conclusion may be to allow an extra 30 minutes and leave at
7:30 am, perhaps with a further suggestion to take some work to do, in
case the journey goes very smoothly!

1.6 Route planners and models

The assumptions made in this section about distances on roads and
possible average speeds, together with the methods and formulas for
calculating the predicted times taken, form the elements of a mathematical
model, usually called simply a model. Changing the assumptions made or
the formulas used would result in a different model.
You have seen that the assumptions that you make about the average
speeds on different types of road can have a large effect on the time
predicted for the journey. This may account for some of the discrepancies
in the times predicted by the route planners – they have used different
models with different assumptions. Some route planners may have taken
account of factors such as the time of day, how congested the roads are,
whether there are any current roadworks, and so on, and others may have
used a simple model like ours, ignoring some or all of these factors.
However, remember that we considered only one particular route that
seemed to be reasonably direct and made use of principal roads and the
M40 motorway. Many other routes could have been taken, and different
routes are likely to take different times. Even if you decide that your main
priority is to go on the quickest route, different planners may still suggest
different routes, depending on which roads they have included in their
model.
To decide on suitable routes, a route planner computer program stores a
network of roads, and a time for travelling along each section of a road is
determined from a suitable model. An algorithm – a set of instructions to
solve a problem step by step – is then used to check the distances and
times of all the possible routes systematically and select the shortest or
quickest, as appropriate.

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In the next activity you are asked to view a video clip in which experts
from the Department of Transport talk about how a certain route planner,
called Transport Direct (Figure 4), was developed. The experts discuss the
assumptions they made, some aspects of the algorithms used, and how
they update the models to take account of user feedback and improved
data. The word data means facts or statistics, so in this case the new data Note that ‘data’ refers to more
might include the addition of new roads to the maps or more up-to-date than one item, so it is a plural
estimates of the travel speeds. noun.

Transport Direct is a
government-funded route
planner that aims to cover all
forms of transport within the
UK.

Figure 4 The Transport Direct route planner

Activity 8 Looking at models and algorithms Video

Watch the video for Unit 2. As you do so, jot down some notes to answer The video is on the DVD.
the following questions.
(a) What information can you obtain from the website?
(b) Where are the data for the model obtained? How frequently are they
updated? What data can the users provide themselves?
(c) Which time intervals and which roads are included in the model for a
particular journey?
(d) How are the routes determined?
(e) How is the planner improved?

The video illustrates various points about using mathematics to solve

problems.
• The mathematicians had identified several key problems to solve after
discussions with users.
• They use a wide range of different sources of reliable data, obtained
from government departments and reputable organisations, which they
update frequently. They also include data provided by users.
• Some simplifications and assumptions had to be made so that key
problems can be solved quickly enough while users of the website wait.
• The mathematical model is continually being refined and updated to
provide more reliable predictions.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Dijkstra’s algorithm
The algorithm used in the Transport Direct route planner was
developed in 1959 by a Dutch computer scientist, Edsger Dijkstra. In
the algorithm, places are represented by dots, and the lines
connecting the dots show the time (or distance) between the two
places. The algorithm then systematically searches for the shortest
time or shortest distance between two points on the diagram.

So what is the best way to estimate the time for a journey – should you
make your own estimate as we have done here, making assumptions about
average speeds based on your own experience, or should you rely on a more
sophisticated route planner, on a website or on a satnav device?
The answer to that question may depend on how accurate you need the
estimate to be and whether a rough estimate obtained from a quick
calculation will suffice. Whichever method you choose, you may now be
Note that the estimate from a more aware of how different factors can affect the journey time, such as
satnav device is updated average speeds along different sections of roads, which can change
regularly as you travel. dramatically at different times of the day or on different days. If you
However, you can’t rely on
decide to use a route planner, perhaps the best advice is to monitor how
satnav predictions everywhere!
well the predictions for the journey times match reality in your case, and to
choose a route planner that gives the most reliable results. Although route
planners give predicted times to the nearest minute, they are unlikely to be
this accurate in practice because road conditions are so changeable.

1.7 The modelling cycle

If you look back at the way we tackled the question of estimating the
journey time, then you can see that the problem was broken down into a
series of steps.
First, we posed the question: ‘What time should the students set off in
order to arrive in Milton Keynes by 10:30 am?’ We then clarified the
problem and saw that it depended on a different question: ‘How long will
the journey take?’
Next, the problem was simplified by considering just one route.
Then we collected some data (the distances along different parts of the
route) and made some assumptions (the average speeds on the motorway
and on principal roads). These assumptions made the problem simpler and
easier to solve.
We were then able to describe the method of solution mathematically (for
example, with a formula) and carry out calculations to find an answer.
Before making final predictions, we considered whether this answer was
realistic, and rounded the answer appropriately so that it made sense
within the context of the problem. We also investigated changing the
assumptions to see how sensitive the journey times were to variations in
average speeds.

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 1 Planning a journey

For some problems, if the conclusions do not seem reasonable, then more
extensive changes to the model may be needed. For example, we could
have taken the time of day into account and assumed slower average
speeds if the journey was during the rush hour.
The types of steps used appear in many problems, and the list of these
steps is called the modelling cycle. This may seem a rather grand name,
but these steps can be applied to more complicated problems, as you saw
in the development of the route planner on the video.
This strategy for solving real-world problems is summarised in Figure 5,
which indicates why it is called a modelling ‘cycle’.

2. Make assumptions. Collect data.

Real world Mathematical world

1. Clarify question or 3. Use mathematics to
problem. describe the problem
and obtain results.

4. Interpret and check results.

Figure 5 The modelling cycle

There are four main steps in the modelling cycle.

The modelling cycle

1. Describe the problem concisely so that you are clear about what
you are trying to do. In real life, and particularly if you are
working within a team, this may involve discussing the problem
with others.
2. Make assumptions to simplify the problem, so that you retain the Sometimes variants of this cycle
essential features but will be able to describe it mathematically. are used. For example, in the
At this stage, it is also useful to sort out what you already know video, the second stage is split
into two parts: making
about the problem, by collecting data and other information. assumptions and then collecting
3. Describe the problem mathematically using numbers, formulas or data.
graphs, and use these to obtain new results.
4. Consider what these new results mean practically, and check that
the predictions seem reasonable. If the predictions do not match
reality, then you may need to refine the assumptions, collect
further information and go round the cycle again. Your
conclusions are only as good as the data you have used and the
assumptions you have made!

This modelling cycle can be used as a framework for solving many

practical problems involving both basic and advanced mathematical skills.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

2 Investigating vehicle stopping

distances
A common cause of road accidents is drivers failing to leave an adequate
gap between their vehicle and the vehicle in front, so the Highway Code
includes recommendations for these gaps, at different speeds and in a
variety of weather conditions. These recommendations are derived from
two different mathematical models. This section compares these two
models. It also discusses what each model takes into account, and how the
information from the models has been presented so that it can be
understood and used by the intended audience.

2.1 Two different models

Section 126 of the Highway Code (2007) contains the following information
on stopping distances for cars.
Stopping distances
Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance
you can see to be clear. You should:
• leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that
you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down or stops – the safe
rule is never to get closer than the overall stopping distance (see
Figure 6)
To apply this two-second rule: • allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in
when the vehicle in front passes front on roads carrying faster-moving traffic and in tunnels where
a landmark, count for two visibility is reduced – the gap should be at least doubled on wet
seconds; if you pass the
landmark before the end of this
roads and increased still further on icy roads.
time, then the gap is too small. Elsewhere in the Highway Code it states: ‘In wet weather stopping
distances will be at least double those required for stopping on dry roads.’

Figure 6 Typical stopping distances, as stated in Section 126 of the Highway Code (2007)

Notice that the Highway Code stresses that the driver should ensure that
they can stop the car safely, whatever the road conditions. Then it
provides some guidance on the distances and times that the driver should
allow between their vehicle and the one in front, when travelling at
different speeds. Two different recommendations are made, based on
different models.
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 2 Investigating vehicle stopping distances

• The distance model suggests that a safe distance between your vehicle
and the one in front is the distance given by the typical stopping
distances chart (Figure 6). The stopping distances are presented both
as a chart and as numerical measurements.
• The time model suggests that a safe distance between your vehicle and
the one in front is the distance given by the two-second rule.

Activity 9 Looking at the Highway Code

(a) The Highway Code includes both the ‘typical stopping distances’ chart
and the ‘two-second rule’. Why do you think both methods have been
included?
(b) Which features of the ‘typical stopping distances’ chart do you think
make it easy for people to use? Are there any features that make it
difficult to use?
(c) Can you think of any other methods of informing drivers of suitable
gaps between cars?
(d) The speeds in the chart are given in both mph and km/h. Use the fact mph means ‘miles per hour’.
that 1 mile is approximately 1.609 kilometres to check that 40 mph is
64 km/h to the nearest integer.

Activity 9 was about different ways of presenting ideas that involve

mathematics, and it showed the importance of considering whether the
intended audience will find the information easy to understand. In
particular, you saw how useful a chart can be.

2.2 The distance model and the modelling cycle

This subsection considers how the distance model used in the Highway
Code might have been developed, by following the four stages of the
modelling cycle.

Stage 1: Clarify the question

Both models have been constructed in order to answer the question:
‘What gap between vehicles should be recommended for drivers
travelling at different speeds?’

Stage 2: Make assumptions and collect data

The distance model is based on typical stopping distances at various
speeds. It has been assumed that the stopping distance is determined by
two factors:
• the thinking distance (the distance travelled from when the driver first
sees a hazard until he or she applies the brakes)
• the braking distance (the distance travelled from when the brakes are
first applied to the point when the vehicle stops).
Each of these distances is determined by the speed.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Experiments can be carried out to test the reaction times of drivers, and
these experiments would probably produce a range of possible times,
depending on the individual and their state of alertness. From the data
In this model, a reaction time of collected, it is possible to determine a typical reaction time.
2
3 of a second has been assumed. Braking distances can be based on experiments with cars or by relying on
data obtained from car manufacturers.
This model ignores other features of the situation such as the road surface,
the make and weight of the car, the weather conditions and the tiredness
of the driver.

Stage 3: Use mathematics to obtain results

Having collected the data and made some assumptions, the next stage is to
use some mathematics, in this case working out the distances by using
formulas.
While the driver is ‘thinking’, the car is likely to be travelling at a constant
speed. If you know the speed of a vehicle and the time during which it
travels at that speed, then you can calculate the distance it travels. For
example, if a vehicle travels at 30 m/s for 2 seconds, then it travels a
distance of 60 m. In general, if an object moves for a certain period of time,
then the distance it covers in this time is given by the following formula.

This is another version of the distance = average speed × time

formula
distance
average speed =
time The braking distances can be related to the speed by using the data
given in Subsection 1.3. collected to derive a more complicated formula; you will meet formulas of
this type later in the course. Roughly speaking, the effect of the formula is
that if the speed doubles, then the braking distance quadruples.
Once a formula has been obtained for both the thinking distance and the
braking distance, the total stopping distance can be found by adding these
two distances together. Using this formula for different speeds gives the
results shown in the chart in Figure 6.

Stage 4: Interpret and check the results

The distance model could be checked with reality by, for example,
observing whether drivers manage to stop their vehicles within the ‘typical
stopping distance’ and also whether collisions occur less frequently when
drivers keep this gap between their vehicle and the next.
Now that you have seen how the distance model might have been
developed, the next subsection considers how the recommendations of the
distance model compare with those of the time model.

2.3 Comparing the models

In Subsection 2.1 you saw two methods, given by different mathematical
models, for choosing an appropriate gap between your car and the car in
front. How do these models compare with each other?

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 2 Investigating vehicle stopping distances

The distance model recommends gaps between vehicles at various speeds,

so you can compare this model to the time model by calculating the gaps
between vehicles at the same speeds when the two-second rule is observed.
So we need to calculate these gaps.

Gaps for the time model

You can calculate the gap between cars given by the two-second rule by
substituting the time of two seconds and the relevant speed into the
formula ‘distance = speed × time’. Since the units have to match when you
substitute into a formula, the speed must be measured in a unit whose
‘time part’ is seconds – for example, m/s or km/s. To make a comparison
with the distance model possible, we want the answer to be in metres.
Therefore the speed used in the formula must be expressed in m/s.
However, the speeds that we need to consider – those in Figure 6 – are
expressed in mph and km/h.
The example below shows how to convert km/h to m/s by breaking the A similar approach was used in
problem down into smaller steps. Example 3, and you can use this
approach whenever you need to
convert between compound
units.
Example 5 Converting km/h into m/s

Convert 32 km/h to m/s. Give your answer to three significant figures.

Solution
A speed of 32 km/h means that in 1 hour the car travels 32 km, that is,
32 × 1000 m = 32 000 m.
Since there are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in each minute, there
are 60 × 60 = 3600 seconds in an hour.
So the car travels 32 000 m in 3600 seconds.
Therefore in 1 second, the car travels
32 000
m = 8.888 . . . m.
3600
So 32 km/h is 8.89 m/s (to 3 s.f.).

Once the speed is measured in m/s, you can substitute it, and the time
2 seconds, into the formula
distance = speed × time
to calculate the gap in metres between vehicles given by the time model.
For example, if the speed is 32 km/h, that is, 8.888 . . . m/s, then
distance = 8.888 . . . × 2 m
= 17.777 . . . m.
The two-second gap for the speed 32 km/h is therefore 18 m to the nearest
whole number.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Activity 10 Converting the time model

(a) Convert 80 km/h to m/s and write the value in the table below,
rounding your answer to two decimal places.

The speeds listed in this table

Vehicle gaps at different speeds
are the ones in Figure 6, the
‘typical stopping distances’ Speed Speed Time model Distance model
chart. in km/h in m/s gap in m gap in m
32 8.89 18 12
48 13.33 23
64 17.78 36
80 53
96 26.67 73
112 31.11 96

(b) Fill in the column for the gaps for the time model, rounding your
answers to the nearest whole number.

Drawing a graph
Since the suggested gaps between cars are now measured in metres for
both models, we can compare the results for the two models directly.
Although it is possible to compare the results by looking at the data in the
table in the solution to Activity 10, a graph can be helpful. This has the
advantage of illustrating overall features, which may not be so clear from
the numerical data.
In the next activity you are asked to plot the gaps for the two models on a
For help with graphs, see Maths graph. To help you do that, here are some guidelines for drawing graphs
Help Module 5, Subsection 3.4. and also an example to remind you how to read values from a graph.

Tips for drawing a graph or chart based on data

• Include a clear title and the source of the data.
• Label the axes with the names of the quantities and the units.
• Mark the scales clearly, choosing scales that are easy to interpret
and that make good use of the space available.

Figure 7 illustrates these points. This is a graph of speed measured in m/s

A graph of ‘y against x’ means plotted against speed measured in km/h, based on the data given for this
that y is on the vertical axis and conversion in the table in Activity 10. This kind of graph is known as a
x is on the horizontal axis. conversion graph because you can use it to convert from one unit to
another.
The main features of the graph in Figure 7 have been annotated. The
graph has been drawn by choosing the horizontal axis to represent the
speed in km/h and the vertical axis to represent the speed in m/s. The
horizontal scale has been marked at intervals of 10 km/h and the vertical
scale at intervals of 5 m/s. These scales have been chosen so that it is easy
to plot points and read off values.

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 2 Investigating vehicle stopping distances

Title and
source
Speed (m/s)
Graph to convert km/h to m/s.
Source: MU123 Unit 2, Activity 10
30
Plotted
25 points

Vertical
axis 20

15

10

5 Horizontal
axis

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Origin Speed (km/h)

Scale marked at Axis labelled with

equal intervals name and units

Figure 7 A conversion graph

Note that it is not always necessary to draw an axis all the way to zero.
For example, if all the values on the vertical axis are between 52 and 70, 70
then the points are more spaced out and clearer if part of the vertical axis
is omitted. If the axis scale does not start at zero, then this should be 60
indicated either by drawing two angled parallel lines, as shown in Figure 8, break in axis
50
or by starting the vertical scale at 50.
Each pair of values from the table has been plotted on the graph in
0
Figure 7. For example, the point representing the pair of values (32, 8.89) 0 10 20 30 40
has been plotted opposite 32 on the horizontal axis and opposite 8.89 on
the vertical axis. The first value of the pair, in this case 32, is known as
the horizontal coordinate and represents the distance the point is to the Figure 8 Showing a break in
right of 0 on the horizontal axis. The second value in the pair, 8.89, is the vertical axis
known as the vertical coordinate and represents the distance the point
is above 0 on the vertical axis. We say that the coordinates of the point
are (32, 8.89). The point with coordinates (0, 0) is called the origin.
You can use either dots, as shown in Figure 7, or small crosses to mark
points on a graph. Crosses are often easier to use, particularly for
hand-drawn graphs, as they mark points precisely and are clearly visible.
The points in Figure 7 are joined by a straight line that passes through the
origin.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Interpreting the graph

You can use the graph on the previous page to convert speeds measured in
km/h to m/s and vice versa, as illustrated in the next example.

Example 6 Converting speeds

Use the graph in Figure 7 to make the following conversions.

(a) Convert 75 km/h to m/s.
(b) Convert 5 m/s to km/h.
Solution
(a) Find 75 on the ‘Speed (km/h)’ axis, draw a line vertically up to the
graph and then draw another line horizontally across to the ‘Speed
(m/s)’ axis, as shown by the short red dashes on the graph in
Figure 9. Read off the number on the vertical axis.
A speed of 75 km/h is approximately 21 m/s.
(b) Find 5 on the ‘Speed (m/s)’ axis, draw a line horizontally across to
the graph and then draw another line vertically down to the ‘Speed
(km/h)’ axis, as shown by the long blue dashes on the graph in
Figure 9. Read off the number on the horizontal axis.
A speed of 5 m/s is approximately 18 km/h.
Speed (m/s)

30
Graph to convert km/h to m/s.
Source: MU123 Unit 2, Activity 10
25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Speed (km/h)

Figure 9 Converting speeds

Here is a similar activity.

Activity 11 Converting speeds

Use the graph in Figure 9 to make the following conversions.

(a) Convert 90 km/h to m/s.
(b) Convert 7.5 m/s to km/h.

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 2 Investigating vehicle stopping distances

Now try the next activity, which involves drawing a graph to represent the
two models for the gap between vehicles, and then comparing the results.

Activity 12 Using a graph to compare models

You will need graph paper for this activity.

(a) Draw a graph to show the recommended gaps for the distance model.
The vertical axis should show the distance (in metres) and the
horizontal axis the speed (in m/s). Start by plotting 6 points, each
representing the length of the gap in the distance model for a
particular speed, as given in the table in the solution to Activity 10.
Then join these points with a smooth curve.
(b) On the same axes, plot the points for the time model and join the
points with a straight line.
(c) What gaps do the two graphs give for a speed of 25 m/s?
(d) Use the two graphs to explain how the gaps given by the two models
are different.

In Activity 12 the vertical axis represented the gap in metres and the
horizontal axis represented the speed in m/s. So this is a graph of ‘gap
against speed’.

2.4 Developing the models further

The actual stopping distances for a particular vehicle and driver are likely
to depend on many factors, such as the braking efficiency of the car, the
road surface, the slope of the road, the weather conditions and the depth
of tread on the tyres. One of the most significant factors could be the time
that it takes the driver to react to a hazard. If the driver is not alert or is The Royal Society for the
distracted in some way, then the thinking distance could increase Prevention of Accidents has
substantially, making the overall stopping distance much greater than that developed a computer simulation
that allows people to see the
suggested by the models in the Highway Code. effect on their stopping distance
Taking account of these additional factors would involve going around the of drink driving, using a mobile
phone, driving in wet conditions,
modelling cycle again, making new assumptions such as increasing the
and so on.
thinking time, developing the mathematical description to include these
new assumptions and checking how the new model matches reality.
As noted earlier in the section, it may not be easy to remember or visualise
the recommended stopping distances, so a rule that is easier to apply is
desirable. A rule based on counting the number of seconds between your
car and the one in front is certainly easier to apply, but the question then
is: what should the time period be? Recall from Activity 12 that for
speeds up to about 18 m/s (or 40 mph), the time model (based on the
two-second rule) gives the longer gap, whereas at speeds greater than this,
the distance model gives the longer gap. The Highway Code recommends a
gap of at least two seconds in faster moving traffic.
To make a rule based on time that produced similar gaps to those of the
distance model at typical motorway speeds, the time interval would have
to be about three seconds. However, a three-second rule would produce
much larger gaps than the distance model at lower speeds. So a more
realistic time model may be to allow a two-second gap for speeds of up to
18 m/s (or 40 mph) and a three-second gap for speeds greater than 18 m/s
(or 40 mph).
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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

This time model is an approximation to the distance model, which is not

perfect but can be considered to be sufficiently accurate and more
practical.
To summarise this section, you have seen two mathematical models that
are used in a practical context, and how the modelling cycle could have
been used to develop one of these models. You have also seen the
importance of thinking carefully about presenting mathematical
information to other people in a form that they can understand easily,
whether in a numerical or graphical form or by using formulas. Sometimes
a graph or chart can convey information more effectively than text and
enable you to extract information that would be difficult to obtain in other
ways. Being aware that you can tackle problems in different ways, whether
by drawing a graph or diagram, or by looking at some particular numerical
cases, as you did in Section 4 of Unit 1, is an important aspect of learning
how to solve problems.

3 Using formulas

3.1 From words to letters

Solving a problem in mathematics often involves using a formula. For
example, a formula was used in Section 1 to calculate the time for a
journey, given the distance and the average speed. Formulas are used
extensively in everyday life; for example, to do temperature conversions,
and to calculate utility bills and car-parking charges.
Although some formulas are easy to remember when expressed in words,
most formulas are written in a more concise form. This is particularly true
when they are used in computer programs or spreadsheets, or when they
are more complicated. This section explains how to write formulas
concisely. It also introduces some conventions used in formulas.
In everyday life, many things are represented by symbols; for example, a
symbol like a T on a road sign, as shown in Figure 10, warns of ‘no
through road’, and the symbol P on a map often indicates a car park.
Symbols are concise – they save writing out a whole word or sentence and
Figure 10 Road sign consequently they make it possible to see key information more clearly.
√ In
indicating a ‘no through road’ mathematics, you are already familiar with some symbols, such as
Abbreviations such as h for and ÷. In this subsection, you’ll see how letters can be used to represent
hours and km for kilometres also the different quantities in a formula.
make your writing more concise.
In Section 2, the ‘word formula’
distance = average speed × time
was used to estimate the distance travelled by a car. If we use the letters
s to represent the average speed,
t to represent the time taken,
d to represent the distance travelled,
then this word formula can be written more concisely as the ‘letter formula’
d = s × t.
If letters are used instead of words in a formula, then it is essential to say
what quantities the letters represent.

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 3 Using formulas

Using a formula
The letters in a formula stand for numbers that are related in the way
given by the formula. Thus you can think of a formula as a way of
summarising a calculation process. For example, the formula d = s × t
represents the process:
To find the value of d, take the value of s and multiply it by the value
of t.
When you use a formula, you replace the letters to the right of the equals
sign (in the above case, s and t) by numbers, and then carry out the
calculation to find the value of the letter to the left (in this case, d).
This process is known as substituting values into the formula.
For example, suppose that a bus travels at an average speed of 50 km/h for
1.2 hours, and we want to find the distance that it has travelled.
Rather than using the word formula to find the distance, we can use the
more concise formula d = s × t, where d, s and t are defined as before.
Replacing s by 50 and t by 1.2 gives
d = 50 × 1.2 = 60.
Hence the distance travelled is 60 km.
We have used particular values of s and t here, but we could easily use the
formula again with different values of s and t. Since the values of s, t and
d can vary and represent different numbers in different scenarios, they are
known as variables. In general, any letter that can represent different
numbers is called a variable.
So a formula is an equation in which one variable, called the subject of
the formula, appears by itself on the left-hand side of the equation and
only the other variables appear on the right-hand side. Thus a formula
enables you to calculate the value of the subject when you know the values
of the other variables. For example, d = s × t is a formula whose subject
is d, because d is the only variable on the left-hand side and you can use
this equation to find d if you know the values of s and t.
However, note that the word ‘formula’ is used rather loosely in
mathematics; for example, we sometimes say that
s×t
is ‘a formula for d’.
In many formulas the variables represent measurements, and it is
important to check that the values you substitute are measured in
appropriate units.

Formulas with set units

With some formulas the units are already set and cannot be changed. For Some formulas do not involve
example, an approximate formula to convert distances in miles to units. For example, you saw in
kilometres is K = 1.6 × M , where M is the distance in miles and K is the Section 4 of Unit 1 that the
formula for the nth square
distance in kilometres, and no other units can be used in this formula. number is n2 .
Before you substitute in a formula like this, you must check that the
information that you use is expressed in the correct units, and make any
conversions. This process is shown in the next example.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Example 7 Substituting a value into a formula

=
C is the symbol for euros. A European car hire company charges = C 50 per day for the hire of a small
=
car, plus a booking fee of C 20. So, the total cost of hiring the car is given
by the formula
T = 50 × n + 20,
where T is the total cost in =
C and n is the number of days for which the
car is hired.
How much does it cost to hire the car for 2 weeks?
Solution
Check that the given information is in the correct units.
In the formula, the hire time n is measured in days, so first convert
2 weeks into days.
There are 7 days in 1 week, so in 2 weeks there are 2 × 7 days = 14 days.
Hence n = 14.
Substitute and do the calculation.
Substituting n = 14 into the formula gives
T = 50 × 14 + 20
= 700 + 20
= 720.
State the conclusion, including the correct units.
Hence the cost of hiring the car for 2 weeks is =
C 720.

Here is a similar type of substitution for you to try.

Activity 13 Substituting a value into a formula

The length of material needed to make a cushion cover is given by

L = 3 × w + 5,
where L is the length of material in cm and w is the width of the cushion
in cm. What length of material is needed to make a cover for a cushion of
width 0.4 m?

Once you have substituted numbers into a formula, you perform the
calculation by using the usual rules of arithmetic. The mnemonic BIDMAS
helps you to remember the order of operations:
See Unit 1, Subsection 2.1. Brackets, then Indices (powers and roots), then Divisions and
Multiplications, then Additions and Subtractions.
Here is another example of using a formula.

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Example 8 Calculating the time to walk uphill

Naismith’s Rule estimates that the time taken for a walk up a hill is given William Naismith was a
by the formula Scottish climber who, in 1892,
developed a rule for
D H estimating walking times. His
T = + ,
5 600 original rule has since been
where updated for the metric
system.
T is the time for the walk in hours,
D is the horizontal distance walked in kilometres, The rule is based on the
H is the height climbed in metres. assumptions that someone can
walk at a speed of 5 km/h on flat
ground and also needs to allow
(a) Estimate how long a walk will take if the horizontal distance is 20 km an extra minute to climb a
and the height is 1200 m. height of 10 metres.
(b) Why might you need to allow longer than this estimate?
Solution
(a) Check that the given information is in the correct units.
In this case, the horizontal distance is 20 km and the height climbed is
1200 m. The units here are those specified for the formula, so no
conversion is needed.
Substitute and do the calculation.
Substituting D = 20 and H = 1200 into the formula gives
20 1200
T = + = 4 + 2 = 6.
5 600
State the conclusion, including the correct units.
Hence Naismith’s Rule predicts a 6-hour walk.
(b) You may need to allow longer than 6 hours to accommodate rest
breaks, or because the terrain is difficult, the walkers are unfit or the
weather is bad.

Here is a similar substitution for you to try.

Activity 14 Using Naismith’s Rule

Use Naismith’s Rule to estimate the time for a walk in which the
horizontal distance is 5000 m and the height is 500 m.

In the next activity, the variable m has no units, so the problem of

converting units does not arise.

Activity 15 Using formulas

(a) The mean m of five numbers a, b, c, d and e is given by the formula The mean is a type of average.
You will meet the mean again in
a+b+c+d+e Unit 4.
m= .
5
In a hedgerow survey, the numbers of tree and shrub species in five
30-yard sections of a hedge were found to be 4, 5, 6, 4 and 4. What is
the mean number of species in a 30-yard section?

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

In 1974, Dr Max Hooper (b) The age of an English hedge can be estimated by using Hooper’s Rule:
obtained data on trees and A = 110 × m + 30,
shrubs from 227 English
hedges, whose ages he knew where A is the age in years and m is the mean number of tree and
from written records. From shrub species in a 30-yard section.
these data, he derived a
formula to estimate the age of Use Hooper’s Rule to estimate the age of the hedge in part (a) to the
a hedge. nearest hundred years.

1 cm Formulas for which you can choose the units

The formula for the area of a rectangle is A = l × w, where A is the area,
1 cm2 1 cm
l is the length and w is the width. Here the units for measuring the
rectangle have not been specified, so you can choose which units to use, as
long as these units are consistent. So if you measure the length of the
Figure 11 A square whose rectangle in centimetres, then the width should also be measured in
sides are 1 cm long has an centimetres, and the area in square centimetres; if you measure the length
area of 1 square centimetre, in kilometres, then the width should also be measured in kilometres, and
or 1 cm2 the area in square kilometres.
For example, if the length of a rectangle is 3 m and the width is 0.5 m, then
the area is
3 × 0.5 m2 = 1.5 m2 .
If the units given are not consistent with each other, then you should
convert the measurements into appropriate units before substituting them
into the formula. For example, if the measurement for the width is given
as 50 cm instead of 0.5 m, then you should convert this measurement into
0.5 m and proceed as before, or convert the length of 3 m into 300 cm and
obtain the area in square centimetres.
Similarly, in the formula d = s × t, mentioned earlier, the units should be
consistent; if the units for the speed are km/h, then the units for the time
are h and the units for the distance are km.

Example 9 Substituting values into a formula

A car travels at an average speed of 95 km/h. Use the formula

d=s×t
to find the distance the car travels in each of the following times.
(a) 2.5 hours (b) 40 minutes
Give your answers to two significant figures.
Solution
(a) If the unit for speed is km/h and the unit for time is hours, then the
distance is in km, so no conversions are required.
When s = 95 and t = 2.5,
d = 95 × 2.5 = 237.5.
So the distance travelled is 240 km (to 2 s.f.).
(b) First, convert the given time into hours. Since
40
40 min = h = 0.666 . . . h,
60
the time is 0.666. . . h.
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 3 Using formulas

When s = 95 and t = 0.666 . . .,

d = 95 × 0.666 . . . = 63.33 . . . .
So the distance travelled is 63 km (to 2 s.f.).

Here are some problems of this type for you to try.

Activity 16 Substituting values into a formula

(a) The volume V of a rectangular box is given by

V = l × w × h,
where l is the length, w is the width and h is the height of the box.
What is the volume of a box that measures 1.5 m by 2 m by 75 cm?
(b) The average speed s of a vehicle is given by the formula s = d/t, where
d is the distance travelled and t is the time taken. What is the average
speed of a coach that travels 80 km in 1 hour 15 minutes?

One way to help check the consistency of units is to substitute the values
for the variables together with their units into the formula. For example,
in the area formula A = l × w, the calculation given earlier to find the area
of a rectangle with length 3 m and width 50 cm could have been written as
A = 3 m × 0.5 m
= (3 × 0.5) m2
= 1.5 m2 ,
which shows that the answer is in square metres. If the width had been
substituted as 50 cm instead of 0.5 m, then including the units would have
alerted you to the problem, as shown in Figure 12 below.

A = 3m x 50cm
= 150 m x cm X
m x cm is NOT
an SI unit of measurement.
To measure this area
m2 or cm2 should be used.

Figure 12 Incorrect use of units in a solution to the area problem

Similarly, the calculation in Example 9(a) could be written as

d = 95 km/h × 2.5 h
= (95 × 2.5) km
= 237.5 km.
Here, dividing the unit km by the unit h and then multiplying it by h
leaves the unit km unchanged.

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3.2 Writing formulas concisely

Formulas containing a lot of mathematical symbols can look quite
complicated. To make them more concise, multiplication signs are usually
omitted.
For example,
the formula d = s × t is usually written as d = st;
the formula A = 110 × m + 30 is usually written as A = 110m + 30.
However, when you substitute numerical values into a formula, you usually
have to put the multiplication signs back in, to make the meaning clear.
So 3 × y can be written as 3y, but 3 × 2 cannot be written as 32.
Another way to write some formulas is to use power notation. For example:
w2 means w × w and is read as ‘w squared’;
You should try to write the x3 means x × x × x and is read as ‘x cubed’;
multiplication sign × and the y 4 means y × y × y × y and is read as ‘y to the power 4’ or ‘y to the 4’;
letter x in different ways, so
they don’t get mixed up! and so on.
One way to check that you understand what a given formula means is to
try describing in words how to use the formula.
For example, this is how to use Hooper’s Rule, A = 110m + 30:
To find the value of A, multiply the value of m by 110 and then add 30.

Activity 17 Describing formulas

Describe in words how to use the following formulas, starting each

description with: ‘To find the value of . . .’.
In these formulas, the variables Then in each case work out the value of the subject when a = 2 and b = 5.
do not represent any particular a
quantities and there are no units (a) Q = 4a − 5 (b) R = (c) P = a2 + b2
specified.
3b

Conventions for writing formulas

There are several conventions that are usually followed when writing
formulas concisely.
• In products, numbers are usually written first; for example, the formula
K = 1.6 × M , or equivalently K = M × 1.6, is written concisely as
K = 1.6M.
Similarly, (2a + b) × 3 is written concisely as 3(2a + b). However,
(2a + b)c and c(2a + b) are both acceptable ways of writing (2a + b) × c.
In some formulas, however, there • In products, letters are often written in alphabetical order; for
are reasons why the variables example, d = s × t, or equivalently d = t × s, is usually written as
are not written in alphabetical
order. d = st.
• Finally, divisions are usually written in the form of a fraction; for
d
Another acceptable form is example, s = d ÷ t is written as s = and read as ‘s equals d over t’.
t
s = d/t.
Here are some examples for you to try.

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Activity 18 Writing formulas concisely

(a) Write each of the following formulas concisely.

1
(i) M = v × w (ii) A = 2 ×b×h (iii) V = p × r × r × h
(b) Write the following formulas with the multiplication signs put back in.
(i) C = 2pr (ii) V = l3
(iii) s = ut + 12 at2 (iv) A = 12 h(a + b)
(c) Rewrite the following formulas so that they follow the usual
conventions.
(i) P = (a + b)2 (ii) I = T RP ÷ 100

Note that in MU123 texts, and other printed materials, units are printed
in normal type, whereas variables are printed in italics. This helps to
distinguish between, say, the distance 5 metres, which is printed as 5 m,
and the expression 5 × m (that is, 5 times the variable m), which is printed
concisely as 5m. When handwritten, these look identical and the meaning
is obtained from the context. This is one reason why units are usually not
included in mathematical calculations that involve variables.
The example below uses a formula written in concise form. There is a
tutorial clip of this example on the website that you may like to watch.

Example 10 Estimating the volume of a log Tutorial clip

Foresters can estimate the volume of a log of wood by using the formula
LD2
V = ,
4π
where V is the volume of the log in cubic metres, L is the length of the log
in metres, D is the distance around the middle of the log in metres, and
π is approximately 3.141 59. Your calculator should have a
key for the number π. The
symbol π is the Greek letter pi,
read as ‘pie’.

Estimate the volume of a log that is 1.5 m long and 92 cm around the
middle, giving your answer to two significant figures.
Solution
Check that the given information is in the correct units.
The length is 1.5 m, so L = 1.5. The distance around the middle is 92 cm,
but the formula requires the measurement in metres. Since
92 cm = (92 ÷ 100) m = 0.92 m, we have D = 0.92.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Substitute and do the calculation.

LD2
Substituting L = 1.5 and D = 0.92 into the formula V = gives
4π
1.5 × 0.922 1.2696
V = = = 0.101 . . . .
4 × 3.141 59 . . . 12.566 . . .
State the conclusion, including the correct units.
Hence the volume of the log is 0.10 m3 (to 2 s.f.).

In the example above, the steps in the calculation were included so that
you can see the order in which these steps are carried out. However, as the
calculation for V is done using your calculator, it is acceptable to write
down the calculation step more briefly like this:
1.5 × 0.922
V = = 0.10 (to 2 s.f.).
4π
Several different calculator sequences can be used to calculate the final
answer, and some of these sequences involve using the memory and other
function keys on your calculator. The next activity explains these key
sequences in more detail.

Activity 19 Doing longer calculations using your calculator

Work through Subsection 4.4 of the Course Guide.

Now try substituting values in some more formulas.

Activity 20 Using letter formulas

(a) The monthly cost of using a phone consists of a fixed monthly charge
plus charges for daytime calls. The cost can be calculated using the
formula
C = 20 + 0.25n,
where C is the cost in £, and n is the number of minutes of daytime
calls during the month.
What is the phone bill if 94 minutes of daytime calls have been made
during the month?
Strictly, the units for BMI (b) A person’s body mass index (BMI) is given by the formula
are kg/m2 . However, BMIs are
M
usually quoted without units. I= ,
H2
where I is their BMI, M is their mass in kilograms, and H is their
height in metres.
If I is 25 or greater, then the person is classed as overweight.
A woman has a mass of 72 kg and a height of 164 cm. Is she
overweight?

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 3 Using formulas

(c) If you’ve been on a long car journey with children, then you’ve
probably heard the question: ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ The following
formula has been suggested to estimate the time it will take before this A formula like this was
question is asked: suggested in 2006 by Dwight
Barkley, a mathematics
1 + 15A professor at the University of
T = ,
0.25C 2 Warwick, as a fun exercise for
where T is the time in minutes, A is the number of activities the families to think about when
going on holiday.
children have, and C is the number of children in the car.
If there are 3 children in a car and they have 6 activities, then how
long does the formula predict it will be before the question is asked?

Substituting negative numbers

So far you have substituted only positive numbers into formulas.
When you replace a letter by a negative number, it is usually helpful to
include the number in brackets to avoid confusion. Here is an example.

Example 11 Substituting a negative number

Consider the formula A = c2 − 5c + 3.

Find the value of A when c = −2.
Solution
Putting brackets around −2 and substituting it for c gives
A = (−2)2 − 5(−2) + 3
= (−2) × (−2) − (−10) + 3 An explanation of these steps is
= 4 + 10 + 3 given after the example.

= 17.

In the solution to Example 11, the number −2 has been enclosed in

brackets when it is substituted to ensure that the minus sign is not
separated from the 2 by mistake. This makes it clear that (−2)2 has to be
evaluated as follows:
(−2)2 = (−2) × (−2) = 4.
If the brackets had been omitted here, then this part of the calculation
might have been done incorrectly as −22 = −2 × 2 = −(2 × 2) = −4.
In the second occurrence of −2 in this solution,
− 5(−2) was replaced by − (−10) and then by + 10.
To understand these steps, first remember that
5(−2) = 5 × (−2) = −10. See Unit 1, Subsection 3.1, for
the rules for multiplying
Then remember that in the calculation above − (−10) means ‘subtract negative numbers.
minus 10’, and subtracting the negative number −10 is the same as adding
the corresponding positive number 10. So in this calculation, − (−10) is
the same as + 10.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

However, if the variable being substituted appears first in the calculation

on its own, then no brackets are required. For example, if A = C + 3 and
C = −2, then A = −2 + 3 = 1.
Sometimes when you are substituting into a formula you have to find the
negative of a number. This is the number that is produced by putting a
minus sign in front of the number. For example, consider the formula
y = −x, which means ‘to find y, take the negative of x’. If x = 3, for
example, then y = −3. But what happens when x is a negative number?
For example, substituting x = −2 into the formula gives y = −(−2).
So what does −(−2) mean?
A negative number can be thought of as the result of a subtraction from
zero. For example, −3 = 0 − 3. In the same way, −(−2) can be thought of
as the subtraction 0 − (−2), which is 2. So replacing −(−2) by 2 gives
y = 2.
In the same way,
−(−3) = 3, −(−20) = 20, −(−10.5) = 10.5, −(− 53 ) = 53 .
In general, a negative sign in front of a number changes its sign.

Activity 21 Substituting a negative number

(a) Consider the formula G = 6 + a − a2 . Find the value of G when

a = −4.
(b) Consider the formula y = −x + 4. Find the value of y when x = −9.
u−2
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (c) Consider the formula v = . Find the value of v when u = −1.
(1686–1736) was the inventor 1.2
of the mercury thermometer. (d) To convert a temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit, you can use the
For the zero point of his formula
temperature scale, he used
the lowest measurable f = 1.8c + 32,
temperature that he could
reach in his laboratory. He where f is the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, and c is the
did this so that no everyday temperature in degrees Celsius.
temperature would have a Use this formula to work out the Fahrenheit equivalent of −10◦ C.
negative value.

3.3 Constructing your own formulas

There are many well-known formulas that you can use to solve problems,
but sometimes you need to find your own formula. In this subsection you
will see how to construct some formulas, and there are further examples
throughout the course. You can construct a formula by following the three
steps below.
• First, identify the subject of the formula and the other variables, and
their units of measurement.
This means that you have to decide the purpose of the formula and
what the formula depends on.

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 3 Using formulas

For example, suppose that you want to find a formula for the length of
a return journey from one place to another (A to B), in terms of the B
distance between the two places.
Let’s call the length of the return journey R, and the distance between d
the two points d, as illustrated in Figure 13. Both R and d are R
measured in kilometres. You can choose any letters, but formulas are
often easier to remember if the letters remind you of the quantities. A
Also, it is a good idea not to pick letters such as o and l that could be
confused with other symbols such as 0 and 1.
• Next, find the relationship between the variables. Figure 13 Identifying the
subject and variables of a
Here, you need to think about how to work out R from d. formula
The length of the return journey R is twice the distance between the
two places, that is, two lots of d, which can be written as 2d.
So the formula is R = 2d.
• Finally, write down all the details of the formula.
The formula is R = 2d, where R is the length of the return journey
in km, and d is the distance between the two points in km.
Alternatively, and more concisely:
The length of the return journey R km is given in terms of the
distance d km by the formula R = 2d.
Note that you should never include units in a formula. For example, it
would be incorrect to write the formula as R = 2d km. However, when you
use a formula, you need to include the units in your conclusion.
Here is a slightly more complicated example.

Example 12 Finding a formula – driving to work

(a) During a working week, Anya drives from home to her office and back
five times, and she also makes a number of trips from her office to
head office and back. Her office is 12 miles from her home and 7 miles
from the head office.
Find a formula for d, where d is the total number of miles that Anya
drives in a week when she makes n trips to head office.
(b) Use your formula to find the distance driven by Anya in a week when
she makes 3 trips to head office.
Solution Office
(a) Draw a diagram if it helps you to understand the situation. Then
12 7
tackle the problem step by step, by considering separately the return
journeys from her home to the office and from the office to the head
office. Home Head
office
The distance in miles that Anya drives from her home to her office and
back is 12 × 2 = 24. So in 5 days, the distance in miles that she drives
from her home to her office and back is 5 × 24 = 120.
The length of the return journey from the office to the head office is
2 × 7 miles = 14 miles. So the distance she drives to the head office
and back in n trips is n lots of 14, that is, 14n miles.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

The total distance in miles that she drives is the sum of the total
distance she travels between home and the office, and the total
distance between head office and the office.
Remember that the unit ‘miles’ Hence a formula for d is
is not included in the formula.
d = 120 + 14n,
where d is the distance in miles, and n is the number of trips from the
office to the head office.
(b) Substituting n = 3 into the formula in part (a) gives
d = 120 + 14 × 3 = 120 + 42 = 162.
Include the unit ‘miles’ in the So the distance is 162 miles.
conclusion.

You can try finding some formulas yourself in the next activity. If you find
the relationship between the variables hard to spot, then try some
Looking at some particular particular numbers first as that might help you to identify the operations
numbers often helps you to get a involved. For example, in Example 12 you could have asked yourself how
feel for a problem, as you saw in to calculate the total distance if the number of trips to head office is 1, 2,
Section 4 of Unit 1.
5, and so on.
Then think about which parts of these calculations stay the same and
which change. That might help you to discover that the length of the
return journey from home to the office is always 120 miles and that this
distance always needs to be added to the distance for the trips to the head
office and back. Drawing a diagram might help too.

Activity 22 Finding formulas

(a) Write down a formula for the total distance, d km, travelled on a
journey if m km are travelled on the motorway and p km are travelled
on principal roads.
(b) A car can travel 15 km on 1 litre of fuel. Write down a formula for the
distance D km the car can travel on f litres of fuel.
(c) A car-hire business has 60 cars, and r cars have been rented out.
Write down a formula for the number of cars, N , that are still
available to hire.
(d) To estimate the time of a journey through a town, a mathematical
model is modified by adding an allowance for the time spent at
junctions. From a survey, it is found that allowing 2 minutes extra for
each junction is a realistic adjustment. Write down a formula for T ,
the extra time in minutes needed for a journey that goes through
J junctions in the town.

The next example shows how checking some particular numbers can help
you to spot a pattern that leads to a formula.

Tutorial clip Example 13 Finding a formula – the car ferry

A car ferry can transport both cars and vans. A van requires a space of
9 m, and a car requires a space of 5 m. Find a formula for the length L
required for c cars and v vans.

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 3 Using formulas

Solution
Consider the space needed for the cars first, and try some particular
numbers to start with.
1 car needs a space of 5 m, so 2 cars need 2 × 5 m = 10 m, 3 cars need
3 × 5 m = 15 m, and so on.
So to find the space needed for c cars, c lots of 5 metres are needed, that
is, a distance of 5c metres.

5m 5m 5m 5m Drawing a diagram may help!

c lots of 5 metres

Similarly for the vans.

1 van needs a space of 9 m, so 2 vans need 2 × 9 m, 3 vans need 3 × 9 m,
and so on.
So the space needed for v vans is v × 9 metres, that is, 9v metres.
To find the total length, add the distance for the cars and the distance
for the vans together.
So a formula for L is L = 5c + 9v, where L is the total length in metres,
c is the number of cars, and v is the number of vans.
(As a check, work out the length for, say, 2 cars and 3 vans without using
the formula:
the length is 2 × 5 m + 3 × 9 m = 10 m + 27 m = 37 m.
If you substitute c = 2 and v = 3 into the formula, then you obtain the If you get a different answer at
same answer.) this stage, then you should go
back and check the steps that
you used to develop the formula.

The strategy box below summarises the key points for writing down
formulas.

Strategy Finding formulas

1. Identify the subject of the formula and the other variables, and
their units of measurement. If possible, choose letters for the
variables that remind you of the context.
2. Find the relationship between the variables.
3. Write down all the details of the formula, defining the variables
and stating their units (if appropriate).
(It is a good idea to try particular numbers first to suggest what the
formula is like, and then to check that your formula works.)

Here are some formulas for you to find.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Activity 23 Finding more formulas

(a) A theatre charges £25 for each adult ticket and £15 for each child
ticket, plus an additional booking fee of £5 for each order.
(i) Write down a formula for the total cost C in £, if a adult tickets
are bought in one order.
(ii) Write down a formula for the total cost T in £, if a adult tickets
and c child tickets are bought in one order.
(b) A children’s after-school club charges a registration fee of £20 and £8
per session. Find a formula for P , where £P is the cost of a child
attending n sessions at the club.
(c) A furniture manufacturer requires 3 metres of fabric to cover each chair
and uses a roll of fabric containing r metres to cover n chairs. Find a
formula for s, where s metres is the length of fabric left on the roll.

The next activity asks you to spend a few moments thinking about what
you have learned in this section and planning what you should do next.

Activity 24 Ready to move on?

This section has introduced you to the ideas in the table on the next page.
For each idea, spend a few moments reviewing how you got on by asking
yourself the following four questions.
• Did you understand the explanation in the text and any worked
examples?
• Did you manage to complete the activities successfully?
• Do you feel confident with this idea?
• Have you been able to complete the associated assignment questions?
If your answer to any of these questions is ‘No’, then plan what you are
going to do in order to sort out your difficulties, bearing in mind your time
commitments. For example, the quickest way of sorting out a negative
answer to the first question is probably to contact your tutor, if you have
not already done so. Make a note of the examples, sections of the text or
activities that you don’t understand so that you can mention these to your
tutor. If you have understood the text and managed to do the activities,
but still don’t feel confident, then you may like to plan some time to work
through the practice quizzes on the website, or use some other resources.
Or you may decide to discuss the ideas with other people (perhaps in a
tutorial or forum) or watch the tutorial clips again.

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 4 Inequalities

Topic Understood Completed Confident Completed What to do next

topic activities with idea assignment
Substituting in
formulas
Writing formulas
concisely
Using a letter
formula
Units in
formulas
Constructing
formulas

There are no comments on this activity.

4 Inequalities
In Section 3, you considered variables and formulas. This section considers
some notation that can be used for describing the range of possible values
that a variable can take. This notation is useful both when setting up a
model, in order to describe known restrictions on the variables, and when
stating your conclusions. For example, the restrictions on a variable that
represents the speed of a car might be that it is greater than or equal to
zero and less than or equal to the speed limit that applies.
In this situation, when there is a particular number that provides a
restriction, or limitation, on the value of a variable, we call the number a
limit. This section introduces a shorthand way of describing such
restrictions.
Stating your conclusions to a problem may also involve comparing your
answer with a particular number and seeing whether it is greater than or
less than that number. For example, in Activity 12 the time model gave a
larger gap than the distance model for speeds less than 18 m/s, and in
Activity 20 you calculated the body mass index and then checked to see if
it was 25 or greater in order to determine if the person was overweight.

4.1 Notation for working with inequalities

If two numbers are not equal, then there is an inequality between them.
The nature of this inequality can be expressed by using the phrases
‘less than’ and ‘greater than’ or the inequality signs < and >.
−5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0
If a number lies to the left of another number on the number line, then it
is said to be less than than the other number. For example, −5 lies to the
left of −2, as shown in Figure 14, so −5 is less than −2. This statement Figure 14 Part of the
can be written more concisely by using the inequality sign < for ‘less than’: number line
−5 < −2.
It is read as ‘minus five is less than minus two’.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

If a number lies to the right of another number on the number line, then it
is said to be greater than the other number. For example, −1 lies to the
right of −3, so −1 is greater than −3. This statement can be written using
The inequality sign always the inequality sign > for ‘greater than’:
points towards the smaller of the
two numbers; for example, 2 < 3 −1 > −3.
and 4 > 3.
It is read as ‘minus one is greater than minus three’.
Any statement involving inequality signs is called an inequality. Each
inequality can be written in two different ways. For example, 4 is greater
than 2, so you can write
4 > 2,
but also 2 is less than 4, so you can write
2 < 4.
Each way of writing an inequality is obtained from the other by swapping
the numbers and reversing the inequality sign. This is called reversing the
inequality.
As well as the two inequality signs introduced above, there are two other
inequality signs, ≤ and ≥. The four inequality signs and their meanings
are given in the following box.

Inequality signs
< is less than
The alternative notations
" for ≤ ≤ is less than or equal to
and > is greater than
# for ≥ ≥ is greater than or equal to
are also used.

Inequalities using the signs < and > are often called strict inequalities
since they do not allow equality.
Here are some examples of correct inequalities:
• 1 < 1.5, because 1 is less than 1.5.
• 1 ≤ 1.5, because 1 is less than or equal to 1.5 (it is ‘less than’ 1.5).
• 1 ≤ 1, because 1 is less than or equal to 1 (it is ‘equal to’ 1).
It may seem strange to write 1 ≤ 1.5 and 1 ≤ 1, when the more precise
statements 1 < 1.5 and 1 = 1 can be made, and you would not usually
write the former statements. The inequality signs ≤ and ≥ are useful,
however, for specifying the range of values that a variable can take, as in
the following example.

Example 14 Specifying the range of a variable

Suppose that the speed of a car on a UK motorway is s km/h. Write down

two inequalities that specify the range of possible legal values of s.

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 4 Inequalities

Solution
First, decide what you want to say in words.
The speed must be greater than or equal to zero and should be less than or
equal to the speed limit on a UK motorway, that is, 112 km/h (70 mph).
Replace the words by the appropriate inequalities.
So the two inequalities are
s≥0 and s ≤ 112.

Most inequalities that you will meet involve variables. A value of the
variable for which the inequality is true is said to satisfy the inequality.
For example, the number 100 satisfies both the inequalities in Example 14.

4.2 Illustrating inequalities on a number line

An inequality can be represented on a number line by marking the section
of the number line where the inequality is true. A section of the number
line without any gaps is known as an interval. For example, the straight
line above the number line in Figure 15 shows the interval consisting of all
the numbers less than or equal to 112, so it illustrates the
inequality s ≤ 112. The small solid circle at the limit 112 indicates that
112 is contained in the interval and is a possible value for s. The diagram
shows that the possible values for s lie to the left of or exactly on 112.

s
104 106 108 110 112

Figure 15 The interval where s ≤ 112

A strict inequality can be represented on a number line by using a small

empty circle at the limit. For example, Figure 16 illustrates the strict
inequality u > 4. The possible values for u lie to the right of 4.

4 5 6 7 8 9 u

Figure 16 The inequality u > 4

Activity 25 Using inequality signs

(a) Put the correct sign (< or >) in each of the boxes below.
(i) 12 ! 3 (ii) −5 ! 3 (iii) −2.5 ! −4.5
(b) Use number lines to represent each of the following inequalities.
(i) a ≥ −3 (ii) b < 6 (iii) c ≤ −2.5
(c) Reverse each of the inequalities in parts (a) and (b).

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

Sometimes, two inequalities can be combined to make a double

inequality, as the next example shows.

Tutorial clip Example 15 Using a double inequality

A child who is 5 years or older but not yet 16 is eligible for a child fare on
the train. Children under 5 travel free. Suppose that a represents the age
of a child in years.
(a) Draw a number line to illustrate the ages eligible for a child fare.
(b) Give a double inequality to describe the age restriction for child fares.
Which whole numbers satisfy this inequality?
Solution
(a) Mark the limits at 5 and 16 on the number line first, and then join
the limits with a line.
The ages of children who are eligible for a child fare are shown on the
number line in Figure 17.

a
4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Figure 17 Child fares

(b) The restrictions on the age for a child fare are

a is greater than or equal to 5, and a is less than 16.
Using inequality signs,
a≥5 and a < 16.
Now, a ≥ 5 can be written as 5 ≤ a.
Therefore the inequalities are
5 ≤ a and a < 16.
These two inequalities can be combined as the double inequality
5 ≤ a < 16.
The whole numbers that satisfy this inequality are
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

The double inequality 5 ≤ a < 16 is read as

‘5 is less than or equal to a, which is less than 16’,
or as
‘a is greater than or equal to 5, and less than 16’.
Here are some similar examples for you to try.

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 4 Inequalities

Activity 26 Restricting variables

A person’s body mass index is denoted by the variable I. The person is

classed as
underweight if I is less than 18.5,
healthy weight if I is 18.5 or more, but less than 25,
overweight if I is 25 or more, but less than 30,
obese if I is 30 or more.
Express each of these four statements as an inequality (single or double),
and illustrate each of them as an interval on a number line.

Inequalities can also be used to illustrate the range of possible numbers

that round to a particular value.
The number line in Figure 18 shows the values that round to 7.5 when
rounded to one decimal place.

7.4 7.45 7.5 7.55 7.6 x

Figure 18 Numbers that round to 7.5

These are the numbers that lie between 7.45 and 7.55, including 7.45 but
not 7.55. So the double inequality that gives these numbers is
7.45 ≤ x < 7.55.

Activity 27 Describing ranges of numbers

(a) Illustrate each of the following double inequalities on a number line.

(i) −2 ≤ c ≤ 2 (ii) −1 < b < 6 (iii) −4 < x ≤ −1
(b) Suppose that a variable N can take any value that is a positive whole
number. What values of N satisfy the inequality 2 < N ≤ 6?
(c) Write down inequalities to describe the following intervals.
(i)

−4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 x

(ii)

−5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 x

(d) On a number line, show the numbers x that round to 6 when rounded
to the nearest whole number. Write down a double inequality that
describes these numbers.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

This section should have helped you to develop your skills in using
inequalities to describe restrictions on variables. You will meet inequalities
again in Unit 7.

5 Improving your mathematics

This final section considers several aspects of studying mathematics that
you may find helpful. The section is quite short and contains some ideas
that you may like to consider throughout your study. Subsection 5.1 looks
back at the ways in which you have been solving problems, and suggests a
few general strategies that you can use for any mathematical question and
that you may find helpful in the future. Subsection 5.2 summarises some
advice from students on how to read mathematics, and finally
Subsection 5.3 suggests how you can use the feedback you receive on your
assignments to improve your work. You may like to come back to this
section when you receive your first marked iCMA and TMA.

5.1 Some problem-solving strategies

In this unit you have seen how some everyday problems can be
investigated by using mathematics. One way of tackling such real-life
problems is to use the modelling cycle. In fact, the steps in the modelling
cycle are fairly similar to those that you use when you tackle any
mathematics problem, whether it is a practical problem or something more
abstract, as summarised in the box below.

Tips for tackling mathematics problems

• Check you understand the problem – and if you are not sure, talk
to people (your tutor, fellow students, friends) until you do.
• Collect information that will help you to solve it – this may be
data, but it can also include techniques that you have used before
that may help in this case too. What do you want to find out, and
what do you know already?
• Simplify the problem if you can – this may include trying some
You used some numerical numerical examples first or breaking the problem down into
examples in Unit 1 when smaller achievable steps.
investigating the sums of odd
numbers and in Section 3 of this • Carry out the mathematics. Remember, there are often several
unit when constructing your different ways of tackling a problem, including numerically and
own formulas. graphically, which may give different insights. Drawing a diagram
often helps too.
• Check that your answers are reasonable and rounded
appropriately.

Drawing a diagram is a good way of obtaining a different view of a

problem. In this unit, you used diagrams to help with formulas and
inequalities. Diagrams can also be used as part of your notes, to help you
to connect different ideas together and to remember key ideas for later
problems.

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 5 Improving your mathematics

Figure 19 shows an example of a diagram that is very useful for

remembering the following formulas:
distance distance distance
speed = , time = , distance = speed × time.
time speed
You may already be able to remember these formulas – if not, using the
speed time
diagram in Figure 19 might help.
To use this diagram to give the right formula, you should decide which
quantity you need on the left-hand side of the formula, and cover up that
quantity. Then look at the position of the remaining two quantities. For
example, if you cover up ‘speed’, then you are left with ‘distance’ over Figure 19 Remembering
‘time’. The other two formulas work in a similar way. formulas

5.2 Reading mathematics

Reading mathematics is a different skill from more general reading because
you need to concentrate on each word and symbol, learning and using new
vocabulary and notation as you go. This means that it takes longer, and
you may sometimes feel stuck if you cannot see how to get from one line to
the next. For difficult sections, you may find it helpful to annotate the text
by including some extra working to explain the steps or notation.
The cartoons below offer advice on how to cope with some of these
difficulties.

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 Unit 2 Mathematical models

5.3 Using feedback

Throughout Units 1 and 2 you have been encouraged to assess your
progress and to try some of the practice quizzes. So you probably have a
fairly good idea of how you are getting on with the course, and you may
already be making changes to improve your studying.
Doing the assignments will help you to consolidate the main ideas and
provide further evidence of your progress. If you have not already done so,
then it’s a good idea to try the iCMA and TMA questions for this unit
before starting the next unit.
You will receive marks and feedback on the iCMAs and TMAs that you
submit. This subsection outlines the kind of feedback you will receive and
how to use it. When you receive your feedback, it may be tempting to just
look at your overall score and then carry on with the work you are
currently studying. However, to gain full benefit from each assignment,
you should spend some time, say 20–30 minutes, looking in detail at the
feedback you receive. This feedback may suggest how you can improve
your solutions, which would help you with later assignments and other
parts of the course.
You may find that it is more productive to consider the feedback some
time later. Immediately after receiving your score, you may be feeling
thrilled with your score or disappointed by it, or even frustrated by any
mistakes you made!

iCMA feedback
The feedback on the iCMAs will contain some notes on correct solutions
and references to the parts of units where you can find further information
or examples. For each question that you answered incorrectly, you should
study the solution provided and check that you understand it, particularly
where it differs from your solution. Can you see why your answer is
incorrect? You may like to try a similar example from the practice quizzes
to make sure that you understand the ideas, or if you are still having
difficulties, contact your tutor for help. When you have worked through
the feedback, spend a few moments thinking about whether you need to
make any changes to the way you tackle iCMA questions in the future.
• Do you need to try more practice quiz questions before attempting
each iCMA?
• Do you need to allow yourself more time to complete each iCMA?
• Would it be better to tackle iCMA questions as you work through each
section of a unit or to work on them only after you have completed
each unit?

TMA feedback
The feedback that your tutor provides on your TMAs will be tailored to
your solutions, and it may include praise on work you have done well or
suggestions for alternative techniques that you may find helpful in the
future, as well as constructive comments to help you improve your
mathematics and the way you present it. The form attached to your TMA
will highlight the main points that you should try to address before you
submit your next TMA. It’s a good idea to make use of this general advice
straight away as you work on the units, so that these ideas will be familiar
to you when you tackle the next TMA. For example, your tutor may have
commented on how you have explained your solutions, and you can practise
improving your skills in this area as you work on the activities in the units.
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 Learning checklist

More detailed comments on your solutions may be provided on your script.

You should check through these comments carefully, making sure that you
understand them and that you would be able to tackle a similar question
successfully in the future, if required to do so. Do you understand why you
have lost marks (if any)? If there are any comments or lost marks that you
do not understand, contact your tutor.
It is worth making a note of the main points that you need to remember
for the next TMA. If you have printed out the assignments, then you may
like to write these comments directly on the next TMA. Alternatively, you
could highlight the relevant statements on the TMA form or make some
more formal notes. It is important to find a helpful way of recording these
comments so that you can refer to them easily when you tackle the next
TMA.

Activity 28 Improving your mathematics

This final activity asks you to spend a few minutes considering any changes
that you intend to make to the way you study MU123. (You may like to
return to part (b) when you have received the feedback on your TMA.)
(a) Subsection 5.2 gave some advice on reading mathematics. Which parts
of this advice have you tried already? Which parts do you intend to
try?
(b) Based on your work on the assignments and the feedback that you
have received, what changes do you intend to make in the preparation
of your next assignments? Even relatively simple things such as
allowing a bit more time to check through your assignment when you
have finished the questions may help to improve your work.
(c) Do you need to make any changes to the amount of time you have for
studying or your study sessions?
There are no comments on this activity.

Learning checklist
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
• use a map scale to estimate distances
• use formulas relating speed, distance and time
• understand how the modelling cycle can be used to solve problems
• appreciate that mathematical models simplify reality, take account of
some features, and ignore others
• appreciate that mathematical ideas can be communicated in different
ways (for example, numerically or graphically) and the best way to
communicate them may depend on the intended audience
• draw and interpret graphs
• use formulas and find your own formulas to describe simple situations
• understand some conventions for writing formulas
• use inequality signs to describe limits and intervals
• review your studying and make changes to improve it.

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Unit 2 Mathematical models

Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 1 Activity 4
(a) The route planners may have used different (a) The map scale is 1 : 50 000. So a map distance
routes or made different assumptions for the speed of 3.4 cm represents a ground distance of
of the car, the traffic conditions at different times 3.4 × 50 000 cm = 170 000 cm. Now,
of day or the starting and finishing points of the 170 000 cm = (170 000 ÷ 100) m
journey.
= 1700 m
(b) The car will travel 50 km in the first hour and = (1700 ÷ 1000) km
then another 50 km in the next hour, making
= 1.7 km.
100 km overall. So the journey will take about
2 hours. This estimate is probably not good So the distance between the two towns is 1.7 km.
enough as it takes no account of the actual (b) The map scale is 1 : 50 000. So a ground
distances along the roads between Great Malvern distance of 7.85 km is represented by a map
and Milton Keynes or the speeds at which cars distance of 7.85 ÷ 50 000 km. Now,
tend to travel on different types of roads. (7.85 ÷ 50 000) km = 0.000 157 km
Activity 2 = (0.000 157 × 1000 × 100) cm
(a) Since 1 cm represents 10 km, the distance = 15.7 cm.
along the whole route is So the map distance is 15.7 cm.
(13.8 × 10) km = 138 km,
Activity 5
and the distance along the motorway is
(a) By the formula, the average speed is
(3 × 10) km = 30 km.
425
(b) The total distance along the route is 138 km, km/h = 106.25 km/h = 110 km/h (to 2 s.f.).
4
and the distance along the motorway is 30 km. So (b) First method
the distance along the principal roads is
The journey takes (60 + 25) minutes = 85 minutes.
(138 − 30) km = 108 km.
So, by the formula, the average speed is
(c) Since 1 cm represents 10 km, the map distance
is 30
km/min.
85
(25 ÷ 10) cm = 2.5 cm.
Now we convert this answer to km/h. The
Activity 3 30
distance covered in 1 minute is km, so the
85
(a) Here, 1 cm on the map represents 10 km on 30
the ground. Now, distance covered in 1 hour is 60 × km.
85
10 km = (10 × 1000) m So the average speed is
= (10 000 × 100) cm 60 × 30
km/h = 21.17 . . . km/h
= 1 000 000 cm. 85
Thus the map scale is 1 : 1 000 000, so the scale = 21 km/h (to 2 s.f.).
factor is 1 000 000. (Note that keeping the average speed as a fraction
here avoids dealing with an awkward decimal.)
(b) Here, 1 cm on the map represents 500 000 cm
on the ground. Now, Second method
500 000 cm = (500 000 ÷ 100) m The time 85 minutes is
= (5000 ÷ 1000) km 85/60 hours = 1.416 66 . . . hours. So, by the
= 5 km. formula, the average speed is
30
So the map scale is ‘1 cm represents 5 km’. km/h = 21.17 . . . km/h
1.416 66 . . .
= 21 km/h (to 2 s.f.).
(c) By the formula, the average speed is
100
m/s = 7.14 . . . m/s = 7.1 m/s (to 2 s.f.).
14

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 Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 6 Activity 8
(a) First method Some points about Transport Direct are listed
below – don’t worry if your comments are slightly
The average speed is 50 km/h, so 1 km is travelled
different.
in 1/50 h.
(a) The website contains information on journeys
Hence, to travel 108 km, it takes 108/50 h = 2.16 h.
by train, plane, coach and car, the latest travel
Since there are 60 minutes in 1 hour,
news, parking places, and the carbon footprint of
0.16 h = (0.16 × 60) min = 9.6 min ≈ 10 min. proposed journeys.
So the journey takes 2 h 10 min to the nearest (b) The data on the road network are obtained
minute. from the Ordnance Survey, and the data on the
Second method journey times come from the Highways Agency.
By the formula, the time is The journey time data are obtained from
automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)
108
h = 2.16 h, systems, induction loops in the road and floating
50 vehicle data.
that is, 2 h 10 min to the nearest minute, as before.
The Ordnance Survey data are updated every six
Which method you prefer is a personal choice – weeks, but the journey time data are updated only
what is important is finding a method that you can annually, so journey times are calculated using
use easily, quickly and without making mistakes. data from the corresponding journeys a year ago.
(b) The time for the motorway section was The user inputs the details of the required journey,
calculated in Example 4 as 0.3 h, so the total including the origin and the destination, the start
journey time is time and the date, and can also include details
2.16 h + 0.3 h = 2.46 h ≈ 2 h 28 min, about their car.
that is, 2 h 30 min to the nearest 10 minutes. (c) The model considers the journey times of
traffic on roads at 15-minute intervals throughout
Activity 7 each day and at 21 different types of day (for
Motorway (30 km) example, holidays, weekdays and weekends).
Allowances are also made for junctions. The routes
Speed in km/h 80 100 112 include roads on the main road network and then
‘clouds’ of roads around the starting point and
Time taken in minutes 23 18 16
destination.
Principal roads (108 km) (d) A route is obtained by using a computer
Speed in km/h 40 50 96 algorithm that systematically searches through all
possible routes using roads either on the main road
Time taken in minutes 162 130 68 network or in the ‘clouds’.
(e) The planner is improved by taking account of
(a) The shortest journey times for the motorway user feedback, updating the data and gathering
and principal roads sections are approximately new data, for example from local authorities.
16 minutes and 68 minutes, respectively, giving a
total time of approximately 1 hour 24 minutes. Activity 9
This time cannot be achieved, since it is necessary
(a) The information given in the ‘typical stopping
to slow down or even stop at times during the
distances’ chart shows the effect of the thinking
journey, for example at junctions.
and braking distances, and provides detailed
(b) If the average speed on the motorway drops information on these distances, both in metres and
from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, then the time increases as car lengths, to make it easier to visualise.
by 5 minutes. So there is not much change in the However, it may be difficult to estimate the
overall time. This is because the distance on the distances on the road, especially at higher speeds.
motorway is quite short. If the average speed on By comparison, the ‘two-second rule’ is easier to
the principal roads drops from 50 km/h to remember and to use. Including both models gives
40 km/h, then the time increases by 32 minutes. users a choice of ways to check the gap.
(c) The journey time is quite sensitive to changes
in the average speed, so it would probably be wise
to allow some extra time for the journey.

113
Unit 2 Mathematical models

(b) Picturing the distance in car lengths should Activity 12

make the distances easier to visualise. Also, (a) The graph is shown below.
splitting the stopping distance into thinking and
braking distances indicates that as the speed Recommended gaps between cars
travelling at different speeds
increases, the braking distance increases rapidly –
Source: The Highway Code (2007)
roughly, it quadruples each time the speed is

Gap (m)
doubled. Displaying the total distance as a chart 120
also emphasises the lengths of the gaps that should
be left between cars. This is not so apparent from 100
the two-second rule. The chart is clear, but Stopping distance model
remembering the information it contains may be 80
difficult.
(c) An alternative approach is to paint chevrons 60
on the road and advise drivers to keep at least two
chevrons apart; this has been tried on sections of 40
some UK motorways. However, this method
doesn’t take account of different road conditions or 20
types of vehicle.
(d) At 40 mph, you travel 40 miles in 1 hour, that 0
is, a distance of 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Speed (m/s)
40 × 1.609 km = 64.36 km.
So 40 mph is 64 km/h to the nearest integer. Check that you have included the title and source
of the data and that you have labelled the axes
Activity 10 with their titles, units and scales. The points
(a) As in Example 5, the speed 80 km/h is should be joined with a smooth curve.
80 × 1000 80 000 (b) The line is plotted below.
m/s = m/s
60 × 60 3600 Recommended gaps between cars
= 22.22 m/s (to 2 d.p.). travelling at different speeds
Source: The Highway Code (2007)
(b) In each case, the length in metres of the gap
Gap (m)

in the time model is twice the speed in m/s. 120

Speed Speed Time model Distance model 100

Distance model
in km/h in m/s gap in m gap in m Time model
80
32 8.89 18 12
48 13.33 27 23
60
64 17.78 36 36
80 22.22 44 53
40
96 26.67 53 73
112 31.11 62 96
20

Activity 11 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
(a) A speed of 90 km/h is approximately 25 m/s. Speed (m/s)
(b) A speed of 7.5 m/s is approximately 27 km/h.
(c) At 25 m/s, the time model gives a gap of 50 m
and the distance model gives a gap of about 65 m.

114
 Solutions and comments on Activities

(d) The distance model gives the smaller gap up When d = 80 and t = 1.25,
to a speed of about 18 m/s. At speeds greater than 80
18 m/s, the time model gives the smaller gap, and s= = 64.
1.25
the discrepancy between this model and the So the average speed is 64 km/h.
distance model increases quite rapidly as the speed
increases. Notice that the distance model graph is Activity 17
not a straight line. (a) To find the value of Q, multiply a by 4 and
Activity 13 then subtract 5.
In the formula, the width w of the material is Substituting a = 2 gives
measured in cm, so first convert 0.4 m to cm, to Q = 4 × 2 − 5 = 8 − 5 = 3.
give w = (100 × 0.4) cm = 40 cm. Substituting (b) To find the value of R, divide a by the
w = 40 into the formula for L gives product of 3 and b.
L = 3 × 40 + 5 = 125.
Substituting a = 2 and b = 5 gives
So 125 cm, or 1.25 m, of material is needed.
2 2
R= = .
Activity 14 3×5 15
In the formula the horizontal distance is measured (c) To find the value of P , square a and square b,
in km. Now 5000 m = (5000/1000) km = 5 km, so and then add the answers together.
D = 5 and H = 500. Substituting D and H into Substituting a = 2 and b = 5 gives
the formula for T gives
5 500 P = 22 + 52 = 4 + 25 = 29.
T = + = 1 65 .
5 600 Activity 18
Hence the estimate for the time is 1 65 hours, or
1 hour 50 minutes. (a) (i) M = vw
bh
Activity 15 (ii) A = 12 bh or A =
2
(a) When a = 4, b = 5, c = 6, d = 4 and e = 4, (iii) V = hpr2
4+5+6+4+4 23 (b) (i) C = 2 × p × r
m= = = 4.6.
5 5
(ii) V = l × l × l
So the mean number of species is 4.6. 1
(iii) s = u × t + 2 ×a×t×t
(b) When m = 4.6,
1
A = 110 × 4.6 + 30 = 506 + 30 = 536. (iv) A = 2 × h × (a + b)
So, to the nearest hundred years, the hedge is (c) (i) P = 2(a + b)
500 years old. P RT
(ii) I =
100
Activity 16
(a) If the length, width and height are measured Activity 20
in metres, then the volume is in cubic metres. (a) When n = 94,
First convert the given height into metres. Since C = 20 + 0.25 × 94 = 20 + 23.5 = 43.5.
75 Hence the phone bill is £43.50.
75 cm = m = 0.75 m,
100
(b) The formula requires the height in metres, so
the height is 0.75 m. we calculate
When l = 1.5, w = 2 and h = 0.75, 164 cm = (164 ÷ 100) m = 1.64 m.
V = 1.5 × 2 × 0.75 = 2.25. When M = 72 and H = 1.64,
So the volume is 2.25 m3 . 72 72
I= = = 26.8 (to 3 s.f.).
(b) If the unit for distance is km and the unit for 1.642 2.6896
time is hours, then the unit for speed is km/h. So Since I is greater than 25, the woman is classed as
first convert the given time into hours. Since being overweight according to her BMI.
75
75 min = h = 1.25 h,
60
the time is 1.25 h.
115
Unit 2 Mathematical models

(c) When A = 6 and C = 3, tickets, and c is the number of child tickets.

1 + 15 × 6 91 (b) The total cost is
T = =
0.25 × 32 2.25 registration fee + cost of sessions.
= 40 (to the nearest minute). If one session costs £8, then n sessions cost n lots
So the formula predicts that it takes 40 minutes of £8, that is, £8n.
before the children ask if they are nearly there yet.
So the formula is P = 20 + 8n, where P is the
(This prediction would certainly have to be tested
total cost in £, and n is the number of sessions.
to check if it is reasonable!)
(c) The amount of fabric left is
Activity 21 length of roll − length needed for chairs.
(a) When a = −4, If one chair requires 3 metres, then n chairs require
G = 6 + (−4) − (−4)2 = 6 − 4 − 16 = −14. 3n metres.
(b) When x = −9, So the formula is s = r − 3n, where s is the
amount of fabric left in metres, and n is the
y = −(−9) + 4 = 9 + 4 = 13.
number of chairs.
(c) When u = −1,
−1 − 2 −3 Activity 25
v= = = −2.5.
1.2 1.2 (a) (i) 12 > 3 (ii) −5 < 3
(d) When c = −10,
(iii) −2.5 > −4.5
f = 1.8 × (−10) + 32 = −18 + 32 = 14.
(b) (i)
Hence −10◦ C is equivalent to 14◦ F.

Activity 22
a
(a) The formula is d = m + p, where d is the total −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2
distance in km, m is the distance in km on the
motorway, and p is the distance in km on principal (ii)
roads.
(b) The formula is D = 15f , where D is the
distance in km, and f is the number of litres of
−4 −2 0 2 4 6 b
fuel.
(c) The formula is N = 60 − r, where N is the
number of cars available for hire, and r is the (iii)
number of cars rented out.
(d) The formula is T = 2J, where T is the extra
time in minutes, and J is the number of junctions. c
−4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2

Activity 23
(c) 3 < 12, 3 > −5, −4.5 < −2.5;
(a) (i) The total cost is −3 ≤ a, 6 > b, −2.5 ≥ c.
booking fee + cost of tickets.
If one ticket costs £25, then a tickets cost a lots of
Activity 26
£25, that is, £25a. The inequalities are as follows:
So the formula is C = 5 + 25a, where C is the underweight I < 18.5,
total cost in £, and a is the number of adults. healthy weight 18.5 ≤ I < 25,
overweight 25 ≤ I < 30,
(ii) The total cost is obese I ≥ 30.
booking fee + cost of adult tickets These inequalities are each illustrated in the
+ cost of child tickets. following figure.
The cost of a adult tickets is £25a, and the cost of
c child tickets is £15c.
So the formula is T = 5 + 25a + 15c, where T is
the total cost in £, a is the number of adult

116
 Solutions and comments on Activities

(ii)
I < 18.5

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 I b
−1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

18.5 ≤ I < 25
(iii)

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 I

25 ≤ I < 30 x
−4 −3 −2 −1 0

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 I (b) The interval for N is shown below.

I ≥ 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 N
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 I

The whole numbers that lie within this interval are

3, 4, 5 and 6.
Activity 27
(c) (i) −2 < x ≤ 1 (ii) −5 ≤ x < 25
(a) (i)
(d)

c
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2
5 5.5 6 6.5 7 x

The double inequality for these numbers is

5.5 ≤ x < 6.5.

117
UNIT 3

Numbers
 Unit 3 Numbers

Introduction
This unit is all about numbers. You use numbers in many different ways
every day; for example, you might use them to tell the time, look for a
particular page in a book, find the price of an item that you want to buy,
check your bank balance or make a measurement. You probably don’t
think about the numbers themselves, and the interesting properties that
‘Why are numbers beautiful? they have, but these properties have fascinated many people for thousands
It’s like asking why is of years. This unit will give you just a glimpse of the many properties of
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony numbers.
beautiful. If you don’t see
why, someone can’t tell you. In particular, you will learn about some properties of prime numbers, and
I know numbers are beautiful. about different types of numbers, such as rational and irrational numbers,
If they aren’t beautiful,
and how they differ from each other.
nothing is.’
Paul Erdös (1913–1996), Numbers are of course an important part of mathematics, and it is
Hungarian mathematician. essential that you are able to work with them confidently and perform
calculations with them, both by hand and by using your calculator. These
Paul Erdös was one of the
most unusual and prolific skills will underpin much of your later work in the course, so this unit also
mathematicians in history. gives you an opportunity to revise and practise some of your skills in
He travelled constantly, living working with numbers, and to learn some new number skills. If you are a
out of a suitcase, and little rusty on some of the basic number skills, such as adding fractions,
collaborated with other then you may find that you need more detail than is provided in this unit.
mathematicians wherever he
went.
If so, then you should find it helpful to consult Maths Help via the link on
the course website.
In the final section of the unit, you will look at how numbers in the
context of ratio are useful in all sorts of everyday situations. In particular,
you will learn about aspect ratio, which provides a way to describe the
shapes of rectangles. Many forms of media involve rectangular shapes; for
example, computer and television screens, photographs, printed pages and
video pictures are all usually rectangular. Aspect ratio is important in
determining, for example, how well different shapes of rectangular picture
fit on different shapes of rectangular screen.
The calculator section of the Course Guide is needed for two of the
Activities 27 and 35, on activities in this unit. If you do not have the Course Guide to hand when
pages 148 and 159, respectively, you reach these activities, then you can omit them and return to them
are in the Course Guide. later.

1 Natural numbers
As you saw in Unit 1, the integers are the numbers
. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . .
This section is about the positive integers,
1, 2, 3, . . . ,
which are also known as the natural numbers.
The natural numbers are the first numbers that people learn about, and
you might think of them as rather uninteresting. In fact, they have many
intriguing properties that continue to fascinate mathematicians, and are an
important part of the branch of mathematics known as number theory.
Their properties also have many important applications in the real world.

120
 1 Natural numbers

1.1 Multiples
When you use a cash machine to withdraw money, it gives you options for
the amount of money that it will dispense. The options might be
1 x6= 6
£20, £30, £40, £50, £100, £200. 2 x 6 = 12
These amounts are all multiples of £10. Most UK cash machines dispense 3 x 6 = 18
only multiples of £10, because they contain only £10 and £20 notes. 4 x 6 = 24
5 x 6 = 30
In general, a multiple of a natural number is the result of multiplying it 6 x 6 = 36
by a natural number. For example, the multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 7 x 6 = 42
and so on, because 8 x 6 = 48
9 x 6 = 54
1 × 6 = 6,
10 x 6 = 60
2 × 6 = 12,
3 × 6 = 18,
and so on.
Figure 1 The first ten
Another way to think of the multiples of 6 is that they are the numbers multiples of six are the
into which 6 divides exactly. For example, 324 is a multiple of 6 because answers in the six times table
324 ÷ 6 = 54, and 54 is a whole number,
but 472 is a not a multiple of 6 because The numbers 0, −6, −12, . . . can
also be considered to be
472 ÷ 6 = 78.666 . . . , which is not a whole number. multiples of 6. However, this
section is all about positive
integers; so, for example, ‘the
first four multiples of 6’ means
Activity 1 Multiples of natural numbers the first four positive multiples:
6, 12, 18 and 24.
(a) Write down the first five multiples of 7.
(b) The tickets for an event cost £11 each, and all the ticket money is put
in a cash box that is initially empty. After the event, the cash box is
found to contain £4183. Is this a correct amount?

Common multiples
Look at these lists of the first few multiples of 6 and 8:
multiples of 6: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54, 60, . . . ,
multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, 80, . . . .
Notice that the number 24 appears in both lists. We say that it is a
common multiple of 6 and 8. There are other common multiples of 6 and 8:
the number 48 also appears in both lists, and if the lists were extended,
then you would see that other numbers, for example 72, 96 and 120, also
appear in both lists. In fact there are infinitely many common multiples of
6 and 8. The common multiple 24 is special, however, as it is the smallest.
We say that it is the lowest common multiple of 6 and 8.
These ideas are summarised in the box below.

A common multiple of two or more numbers is a number that is a

multiple of all of them. The lowest common multiple (LCM) of
two or more numbers is the smallest number that is a multiple of all
of them. An alternative name for lowest common multiple is least
common multiple.

121
 Unit 3 Numbers

In the box on the previous page, ‘number’ means ‘natural number’. We

often use the word ‘number’ in this way when we are discussing the natural
numbers.

Activity 2 Finding lowest common multiples

(a) Write down the first four multiples of each of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 6
and 8. Use your answers to find the lowest common multiple of each of
the following pairs of numbers.
(i) 2 and 3 (ii) 4 and 6 (iii) 4 and 8
(b) Find the lowest common multiple of 2, 3 and 8.

Activity 3 Sharing chocolates

(a) A confectionery manufacturer wants to produce a box of chocolates

that can be shared evenly among the people in any group of four or
fewer people. What is the smallest number of chocolates that can be
in the box?
(b) If the manufacturer wanted the box to contain more chocolates than
this, what would be the next suitable number of chocolates?

1.2 Factors
A natural number that divides exactly into a second natural number is
called a factor or divisor of the second number. For example, 2 is a
factor of 10, since 2 divides exactly into 10.
Factors are closely related to multiples, since ‘2 is a factor of 10’ means the
same as ‘10 is a multiple of 2’. Another way of saying the same thing is
‘10 is divisible by 2’.
Every natural number greater than 1 has at least two factors, itself and 1,
but most numbers have more factors than this. For example, the
number 10 has four factors: 1, 2, 5 and 10.
The factors of a number can be arranged into factor pairs, where the two
factors in each pair multiply together to give the number. For example, the
factor pairs of 10 are
1, 10 (since 1 × 10 = 10),
2, 5 (since 2 × 5 = 10).
You can use the idea of factor pairs to help you find all the factors of a
number. Here is the strategy – you might like to think about why it works.

Strategy To find the factors of a number

• Try the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . in turn. Whenever you find a factor,
write down the other factor in the factor pair.
• Stop when you get a factor pair that you have already.

The following example illustrates this strategy.

122
 1 Natural numbers

Example 1 Finding the factors of a number

Find all the factors of 28.

Solution
The first factor pair of a number is always 1 and the number.
The first factor pair is 1, 28.
Try 2.
The next factor pair is 2, 14.
Try 3: it’s not a factor. Try 4.
The next factor pair is 4, 7.
Try 5: it’s not a factor. Try 6: it’s not a factor. Try 7: this gives the
factor pair 7, 4, which is already found, so stop. To finish, list the factors
in increasing order.
The factors of 28 are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 28.

Activity 4 Finding the factors of a number

Find all the factors of the following numbers.

(a) 20 (b) 24 (c) 45

Because the factors of a number form pairs, most numbers have an even
number of factors. The only exceptions are the square numbers, each of Remember that a square number
which has an odd number of factors. This is because one of the factors of a is the result of multiplying a
square number pairs with itself. For example, the square number 25 has whole number by itself. For
example, 25 is a square number
three factors: the factor pair 1, 25, and the factor 5, which pairs with itself. because 25 = 5 × 5.
The tests in the box below can be useful when you are trying to find the
factors of a number. They give you a quick way to tell whether a given
number is divisible by 2, 3, 5 or 9.

Divisibility tests
A number is divisible by
• 2 if it ends in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8
• 3 if its digits add up to a multiple of 3 You may see an explanation of
why the tests for divisibility by 3
• 5 if it ends in 0 or 5 and 9 work if you go on to take
• 9 if its digits add up to a multiple of 9. further mathematics courses.
If a number does not satisfy a test above, then it is not divisible by
the specified number.

Activity 5 Testing for divisibility

(a) Is 621 divisible by 3?

(b) Is 273 divisible by 9?

123
 Unit 3 Numbers

Common factors
Look at these lists of the factors of 12 and 18:
factors of 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12;
factors of 18: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18.
The numbers that appear in both lists are called the common factors of 12
and 18. So the common factors of 12 and 18 are 1, 2, 3 and 6. The largest
common factor of 12 and 18 is 6, and this is usually called the highest
common factor. These ideas are summarised in the box below.

A common factor of two or more numbers is a number that is a

factor of all of them. The highest common factor (HCF) of two or
more numbers is the largest number that is a factor of all of them. An
alternative name for highest common factor is greatest common
divisor (GCD).

Activity 6 Finding highest common factors

Use the solution to Activity 4, and the lists of factors of 12 and 18 given
above, to list the common factors of each of the following sets of numbers.
Hence write down the highest common factor of each set of numbers.
(a) 20 and 24 (b) 12 and 24 (c) 18, 20 and 24

Highest common factors can be useful when you are cancelling fractions.
When you want to cancel a fraction down to its simplest form, you need to
divide top and bottom by the highest common factor of the numerator and
denominator. For example, consider the fraction 24
30 . Dividing top and
bottom by 6, the highest common factor of 24 and 30, gives 45 . Because 6
is the highest common factor of 24 and 30, the numerator and denominator
of the simplified fraction have no common factors, other than 1, so the
fraction is in its simplest form.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t immediately spot the highest common factor
of the numerator and denominator of a fraction – you can always cancel
the fraction down in stages, in the way shown in Unit 1.
There is a quicker way to find highest common factors than the method
that you have seen in this subsection. It involves prime numbers, which
you will learn about in the next subsection.

1.3 Prime numbers

You have seen that every natural number greater than 1 has at least two
factors, itself and 1. A natural number that has exactly two factors is
called a prime number, or just a prime. For example, 3 is a prime
number since its only factors are 1 and 3, but 4 is not a prime number
because its factors are 1, 2 and 4. The number 1 is not a prime number, as
it has only one factor, namely 1. Here are the first 25 prime numbers.

The prime numbers under 100

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71,
73, 79, 83, 89, 97

124
 1 Natural numbers

The prime numbers are the ‘building blocks’ of all the natural numbers, in
a sense that you will learn about in the next subsection.

There is a simple algorithm for finding all the prime numbers up to a

certain number, which is attributed to the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes was a man of
Eratosthenes (c. 276 bc – c. 197 bc), and known as the Sieve of many talents: he was a
Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes was a librarian at the famous library at mathematician, geographer,
historian and literary critic.
Alexandria. He was the first person to
The algorithm works well provided that the certain number is not too make a good measurement of
the circumference of the
large, and modified forms of it are still used by mathematicians today.
Earth, and he came up with
The course website has a link to a website demonstrating the Sieve of the idea of the leap year,
Eratosthenes. which stops the calendar
drifting out of step with the
seasons.

Activity 7 Last digits of prime numbers

Every prime number except 2 and 5 ends in 1, 3, 7 or 9. Can you explain

why?

Prime numbers play a central role in both abstract and real-world

mathematics. In the real world, prime numbers are often used in
encryption systems that are used to protect confidential information when
it is transmitted electronically. Encryption involves turning such
information into an unrecognisable form so that it cannot be understood
until it is turned back into its original form.
Mathematicians have proved many theorems about prime numbers, and
they are still working to prove many conjectures. In the next activity you
are asked to investigate some properties of prime numbers. This activity
will give you a taste of the area of mathematics known as number theory.

Activity 8 Investigating prime numbers

(a) The following table lists all the odd prime numbers under 30. Of course, the only even prime
Complete the second row to give the remainder when each prime number is 2!
number is divided by 4.

Prime number 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29
Remainder 3 1 3

(b) Some prime numbers can be written as the sum of two square
numbers: for example, 29 = 25 + 4. Complete the following table with
ticks and crosses to indicate whether each prime number can be
written as the sum of two square numbers.

Prime number 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29
Sum of two squares? $

(c) By comparing the completed tables from parts (a) and (b), make a
conjecture about which odd prime numbers can be written as the sum
of two square numbers. Try to obtain more evidence for your
conjecture by considering one or two slightly larger prime numbers.

125
 Unit 3 Numbers

There are infinitely many prime numbers – this was proved more than
You will learn more about 2000 years ago by the Greek mathematician Euclid. Despite this, it is
Euclid in Unit 8. difficult to identify very large prime numbers.

Thousands of prime number enthusiasts throughout the world are

interested in breaking the record for the largest known prime number.
Mersenne primes are named Most of them search for Mersenne primes – primes of the form 2n − 1
after the French for some natural number n. For example, 7 and 31 are Mersenne
mathematician Marin primes because 7 = 23 − 1 and 31 = 25 − 1.
Mersenne (1588–1648), who
investigated them. It can be At the time of writing, forty-seven Mersenne primes are known. The
proved that if 2n − 1 is prime, latest three of these were discovered in August and September 2008
then n must be prime.
and June 2009, and the discoverer of the earliest of these three primes
won a $100 000 prize for the first Mersenne prime with more than ten
million digits. This prime number was found using software provided
by the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, a scheme in which
enthusiasts can download free software that uses the spare processing
power of their computers.
At the time of writing, a $3000 prize is available for each new
Mersenne prime discovered, and there is a $150 000 prize for the first
Mersenne prime with more than 100 million digits.

It would be easy to find prime numbers if they formed some sort of

regular pattern, but they do not. The Swiss mathematician Leonhard
Euler (1707–1783) wrote: ‘Mathematicians have tried in vain to this
Figure 2 Marin Mersenne day to discover some order in the sequence of prime numbers, and we
The course website has a link to have reason to believe that it is a mystery into which the mind will
a website where you can find out never penetrate.’
the latest news about prime
numbers.

1.4 Prime factors

A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number is called a
composite number. The first few composite numbers are
4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, . . . .
Unlike a prime number, a composite number can be written as a product
of two factors, neither of which is 1. For example,
360 = 20 × 18.

Composite numbers can often be written as products of even more factors.

For example, the number 360 can be broken down into a product of more
factors in the following way. The factors 20 and 18 are themselves
composite, so they can also be written as products of two factors, neither
of which is 1. For example,
20 = 4 × 5 and 18 = 3 × 6.
So 360 can be written as a product of four factors, none of which is 1:
360 = 4 × 5 × 3 × 6.
The process here can be set out as a factor tree, as shown in Figure 3.

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 1 Natural numbers

360

20 18

4 5 3 6

Figure 3 A factor tree for 360

You can continue the process until all the numbers at the ends of the tree
are prime numbers. The result is shown in Figure 4, with the prime
numbers circled.

360

20 18

4 5 3 6

2 2 2 3

Figure 4 A completed factor tree for 360

It follows from Figure 4 that

360 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 3 × 2 × 3.
Writing the factors in increasing order gives
360 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5.
And writing 2 × 2 × 2 as 23 and 3 × 3 as 32 gives the simpler form
360 = 23 × 32 × 5.
Here the number 360 is written as a product of prime factors. You can use
a process similar to the one above to write any composite number as a
product of prime factors.
The process of writing a natural number as a product of factors greater
than 1 (whether prime or not) is called factorisation. The factorisation
above was started by writing 360 = 20 × 18, but it could also have been
started by writing 360 = 10 × 36, or 360 = 9 × 40, for example. And there
are different ways to proceed with the numbers further down the factor
tree, too. Figure 5 shows a different factor tree for 360.

360

10 36

2 5 4 9

2 2 3 3

Figure 5 Another factor tree for 360

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 Unit 3 Numbers

This second factor tree gives the same result:

360 = 23 × 32 × 5.

Activity 9 Using a factor tree

(a) Use a factor tree to write the number 300 as a product of prime factors.
(b) Repeat part (a) using a different factor tree.

In Activity 9 you should have obtained the same answer in parts (a)
and (b). That is, you should have obtained the same prime factors, and
the same number of each of the prime factors.
In fact, no matter how you factorise a composite number into a product of
prime factors, you will always obtain the same answer (except that you can
usually change the order of the factors – for example, you could write
15 = 3 × 5 or 15 = 5 × 3). It can be proved that this is true for every
composite number, an important result known as the fundamental theorem
of arithmetic.

A version of the fundamental The fundamental theorem of arithmetic

theorem of arithmetic appears
in Euclid’s Elements Every natural number greater than 1 can be written as a product of
(c. 300 bc). The first rigorous prime numbers in just one way (except that the order of the primes in
proof was given by the the product can be changed).
German mathematician Carl
Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855)
in his famous treatise For a natural number that is prime, the ‘product’ is just the number itself.
Disquisitiones Arithmeticae,
published in 1801. The prime factorisation of a natural number is the product of prime
factors that is equal to it. Here are the prime factorisations of the numbers
from 2 to 10:
2 = 2, 3 = 3, 4 = 22 ,
5 = 5, 6 = 2 × 3, 7 = 7,
8 = 23 , 9 = 32 , 10 = 2 × 5.
The fundamental theorem of arithmetic is the reason why the prime
numbers can be thought of as the building blocks of the natural numbers.
When you want to write a number as a product of prime factors, it is
sometimes helpful to be systematic. Start by writing the number as
the smallest possible prime × a number,
and do the same with each composite number in the factor tree. If you do
this for the number 252, then you obtain the factor tree in Figure 7. So
252 = 22 × 32 × 7.
Figure 6 Carl Friedrich
Gauss in 1803

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 1 Natural numbers

252

2 126

2 63

3 21

3 7

Figure 7 A systematic factor tree for 252

With this systematic method, at each level of the factor tree you get a
prime factor and a composite factor, until the final level when you get two
prime factors. At each stage ‘the smallest possible prime’ is the same as, or
bigger than, the previous prime factor.
You don’t need to set out the working as a factor tree – you might prefer
to set it out like this:
252 = 2 × 126
= 2 × 2 × 63
= 2 × 2 × 3 × 21
=2×2×3×3×7
= 22 × 32 × 7.

Activity 10 Factorising numbers into products of primes

Write each of the following numbers as a product of prime factors.

(a) 72 (b) 855 (c) 1000 (d) 847

The method suggested above for finding the prime factorisation of a

number works well if the prime factors are fairly small, but it is
time-consuming if they are large. For example, the prime factorisation of
the number 899 is 29 × 31, so to find this factorisation you would have to
test each prime number from 2 to 29 to see whether it is a factor of 899.
Despite much research, no one has managed to find a quick method for
finding large prime factors of a number. So multiplying two large prime
numbers together is a process that is quick to carry out but slow to
reverse. For example, you could quickly multiply the primes 29 and 31 to
obtain the answer 899, but if you were given the number 899 and asked to
find the prime factors, then it would take you much longer!
A computer can multiply two 150-digit prime numbers in seconds, but if a
suitable computer program were given the result, then it would probably
not be able to find the two prime factors within a human lifetime.
Mathematicians have found a clever way to exploit this fact to design
secure encryption systems. With the advent of internet banking and online
purchasing, the security of personal information such as account details
and credit card numbers has become an essential field of computer science.
It is number theory that underpins these computer security systems.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

You can use prime factorisations to help you find the lowest common
multiples and highest common factors of sets of numbers.

Example 2 Using prime factorisations to find LCMs and HCFs

Find the lowest common multiple and highest common factor of 84

and 280.
Solution
Write out the prime factorisations, with a column for each different
prime.
84 = 22 × 3 ×7
3
280 = 2 ×5×7
To find the LCM, multiply together the highest power of the prime in
each column.
84 = 22 × 3 × 7 The LCM of 84 and 280 is

280 = 23 × 5 × 7
23 × 3 × 5 × 7 = 840.
To find the HCF, multiply together the lowest power of the prime in
each column, considering only the primes that occur in all the rows.
84 = 22 × 3 × 7 The HCF of 84 and 280 is

280 = 23 × 5 × 7 22 × 7 = 28.

The methods used in Example 2 are summarised below.

Strategy To find the LCM or HCF of two or more numbers

• Find the prime factorisations of the numbers.
• To find the LCM, multiply together the highest power of each
prime factor occurring in any of the numbers.
• To find the HCF, multiply together the lowest power of each
prime factor common to all the numbers.

Activity 11 Using prime factorisations to find LCMs and HCFs

Use prime factorisations to find the lowest common multiple and highest
common factor of each of the following sets of numbers.
(a) 18 and 30 (b) 9, 18 and 30

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 1 Natural numbers

The next activity illustrates a method that can be useful when you want to
find the lowest common multiple or highest common factor of just two
numbers, which are fairly small.

Activity 12 Finding LCMs and HCFs of two numbers

In the diagram below, one circle contains all the prime factors of 84, and
the other circle contains all the prime factors of 280. The common prime
factors of 84 and 280 are in the overlap of the two circles.

2 2
84 3 2 280
7 5

(a) Can you explain how you could use this diagram to find the lowest
common multiple and highest common factor of 84 and 280? (In
Example 2 a different method was used to determine that the LCM
is 840 and the HCF is 28.)
(b) Check your answer to Activity 11(a) by drawing a similar diagram for
18 and 30 and using it to find the lowest common multiple and highest
common factor of these numbers.

1.5 Powers
In the previous subsection you worked with powers of prime numbers. This
subsection is all about powers.
As you know, ‘raising a number to a power’ means multiplying the number
by itself a specified number of times. For example, raising 2 to the power 3
gives
23 = 2 × 2 × 2.

Here the number 2 is called the base number or just base, and the As you saw in Unit 1, the
superscript 3 is called the power, index or exponent. The word ‘power’ plural of ‘index’ in this
is also used to refer to the result of raising a number to a power – for context is ‘indices’. The word
‘index’ has several different
example, we say that 23 is a power of 2. When we write expressions meanings in English –
like 23 , we say that we are using index form or index notation. confusingly, some have plural
‘indices’, while others have
The square and cube of a number are the results of raising it to the
plural ‘indexes’ ! For example,
powers 2 and 3, respectively. For example, the square of 2 is 22 = 4, and there are indexes at the backs
the cube of 2 is 23 = 8. (Remember that, for example, 22 is read as ‘two of the course books.
squared’ and 23 is read as ‘two cubed’. The power 25 is read as ‘two to the
power five’ or ‘two to the five’. Other indices are read in a similar way to Sometimes you may hear 25 read
as ‘two to the fifth’, which is
25 .) short for ‘two to the fifth power’.
Standard large numbers like a billion and a trillion can be conveniently This is potentially confusing, as
it could be interpreted as 21/5 ,
described in index form. You can see from the following table that it is but the meaning is normally
easier to look at the index than to count the number of zeros! clear from the context.
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 Unit 3 Numbers

Table 1 Standard large numbers

Name Number Number in index form
million 1 000 000 106
billion (UK and US) 1 000 000 000 109
trillion (UK and US) 1 000 000 000 000 1012

The word ‘billion’ meant 1012 rather than 109 in the UK until 1974,
when the British government decided to switch to the American
meaning to avoid confusion in financial markets. Similarly, the word
‘trillion’ has traditionally meant 1018 in the UK, but there has
recently been a switch to the American meaning, 1012 . Many
European countries still use these alternative meanings of ‘billion’ and
‘trillion’.
A googol is 10100 , but this number is of limited use, as it is greater
than the number of atoms in the observable universe! The word was
invented by a child, nine-year-old Milton Sirotta, in 1938. He was
asked by his uncle, the American mathematician Edward Kasner
(1878–1955), what name he would give to a really large number. The
word ‘googol’ gave rise, via a playful misspelling, to the name of the
internet search engine Google.

The next few pages describe some basic rules for carrying out calculations
with numbers written in index form. It is worth getting to know these
rules, as they will be useful later.

Multiplying numbers in index form

The superscript notation for Sometimes you need to multiply numbers in index form. For example,
powers was introduced by the suppose that you want to multiply 102 by 103 . You can do this as follows:
French philosopher and
mathematician René 102 × 103 = (10 × 10) × (10 × 10 × 10) = 105 .
Descartes (1596–1650). It was
Descartes who wrote the You can see that the total number of 10s multiplied together is the sum of
famous philosophical the indices, 2 + 3 = 5. In general we have the following fact.
statement ‘Cogito ergo sum’,
commonly interpreted in
English as ‘I think, therefore To multiply numbers in index form that have the same base number,
I am’. add the indices:
am × an = am+n .

Example 3 Multiplying powers

Write each of the following products concisely in index form.

(a) 34 × 35 (b) 5 × 59 (c) 24 × 37
(d) 23 × 7 × 22 × 72 (e) 9 × 35
Solution
(a) 34 × 35 = 34+5 = 39
(b) Multiplying 59 by 5 increases the index by 1, because the number 5
is the same as 51 .
5 × 59 = 51+9 = 510
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 1 Natural numbers

(c) The product 24 × 37 cannot be written any more concisely, as the base
numbers are different.
(d) 23 × 7 × 22 × 72 = 23+2 × 71+2 = 25 × 73
(e) The base numbers are different, but they can be made the same.
9 × 35 = 32 × 35 = 32+5 = 37

Activity 13 Multiplying powers

(a) Write each of the following products concisely in index form.

(i) 34 × 33 (ii) 72 × 7 (iii) 102 × 103 × 104
(iv) 34 × 512 (v) 8 × 25 (vi) 9 × 3
(b) Use the facts that 294 = 2 × 3 × 72 and 441 = 32 × 72 to find the
prime factorisation of 294 × 441.

Activity 14 Making an estimate by multiplying powers

Make an estimate to check the claim made on page 132 that a googol
(10100 ) is greater than the number of atoms in the observable universe. To
make your estimate, assume that all the atoms in the universe are hydrogen
atoms (it is thought that hydrogen atoms account for about 90% of the
mass of the universe), and use the following very rough approximations.
The number of hydrogen atoms in a kilogram is about 1027 .
The mass of a star and its planets is about 1030 kg.
The number of stars in a galaxy is about 1012 .
The number of galaxies in the observable universe is about 1011 .

Dividing numbers in index form

Suppose that you want to divide 105 by 102 . You can do this as follows:
105 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 × 10
105 ÷ 102 = = .
102 10 × 10
If you now divide both top and bottom of the fraction by 10, and then
by 10 again, you obtain
✑ ×✑
10
✑ ✑ × 10 × 10 × 10
10
= 10 × 10 × 10 = 103 .
10
✑ × 10
✑ ✑
✑
You can see that the final number of 10s multiplied together is the
difference of the indices, 5 − 2 = 3.
In general we have the following fact.

To divide numbers in index form that have the same base number,
subtract the indices:
am
= am−n .
an

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Activity 15 Dividing powers

(a) Write each of the following quotients concisely in index form.

216 521 37
(i) 76 ÷ 72 (ii) (iii) (iv)
28 35 3
7 3 2
(b) Use the facts that 3456 = 2 × 3 and 12 = 2 × 3 to find the prime
factorisation of 3456 ÷ 12.

Raising a number in index form to a power

Suppose that you want to find (102 )3 , the cube of 102 . To raise any number
to the power 3, you multiply three ‘copies’ of the number together. So
(102 )3 = 102 × 102 × 102 = (10 × 10) × (10 × 10) × (10 × 10) = 106 .
The total number of 10s multiplied together is the product of the indices,
2 × 3 = 6. In general we have the following fact.

To raise a number in index form to a power, multiply the indices:

(am )n = amn .

Activity 16 Raising numbers in index form to powers

Write each of the following numbers concisely in index form.

( !2
(25 )2 25
(a) (52 )4 (b) (73 )2 (c) (35 )3 × 32 (d) (e)
22 22

Raising a product or quotient to a power

There are two more facts that are often useful when you are working with
powers. Notice that
(2 × 10)3 = (2 × 10) × (2 × 10) × (2 × 10)
= 2 × 2 × 2 × 10 × 10 × 10
= 23 × 103 .
This is an example of the first fact in the box below. The second fact is
similar, but it applies to quotients rather than products.

A power of a product is the same as a product of powers;

a power of a quotient is the same as a quotient of powers:
# a %n a n
(a × b)n = an × bn ; = n.
b b

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 1 Natural numbers

Activity 17 Finding powers of products and quotients

(a) (i) Use the fact that 21 = 3 × 7 to find the prime factorisation of 214 .
(ii) Use the fact that 24 = 23 × 3 to find the prime factorisation
of 243 .
(b) Express the following numbers as fractions in their simplest form
without using your calculator.
( !2 ( !3
2 3
(i) (ii)
7 4

Raising negative numbers to powers

So far you have worked with natural numbers raised to powers. Other
numbers, such as negative numbers, can also be raised to powers. For
example,
(−2)2 = (−2) × (−2) = 4 Remember that a negative
number times a negative number
and is a positive number, and a
negative number times a positive
(−2)3 = (−2) × (−2) × (−2) = 4 × (−2) = −8.
number is a negative number.

Activity 18 Calculating powers of negative numbers

Calculate the following powers.

(a) (−3)2 (b) (−3)3 (c) (−2)4 (d) (−1)4 (e) (−1)5

In calculations like those in Activity 18, every pair of negative numbers

multiplies together to give a positive number. So you can see that
• a negative number raised to an even power is positive,
• a negative number raised to an odd power is negative.
In this subsection you have seen five rules that you can use when you are
working with numbers in index form. These rules apply to powers of any
type of number, including negative numbers and numbers that are not
whole. They are known as index laws, and they are summarised in the
box below. You will meet four other index laws later in the unit.

Some index laws

am
am × an = am+n = am−n
an
(am )n = amn
# a %n an
(a × b)n = an × bn =
b bn

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 Unit 3 Numbers

2 Rational numbers
Many numbers besides the natural numbers are needed for everyday
mathematics. This section is about the rational numbers, which include
the natural numbers and many of the other numbers that you are used to
working with.

2.1 What is a rational number?

A rational number is a number that can be written in the form
integer
Remember that the integers are ,
integer
. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . .
that is, as an integer divided by an integer.
The following numbers can be written in this form.
• Any fraction
Fractions such as 43 and 11
2 are already written in the form above and
so they are rational numbers.
• Any mixed number
Mixed numbers like 5 31 can be written as top-heavy fractions, so they
are rational numbers. For example, 5 31 = 16
3 .
• Any whole number
For example, 7 = 71 and 0 = 01 .
Remember that infinite means • Any decimal number with a finite number of digits after the decimal
‘endless, without limit’; finite is point
the opposite of infinite. For example,
23 412 058
0.23 = and 41.2058 = .
100 10 000
• Some decimal numbers with infinitely many digits after the decimal
point
For example,
0.333 333 . . . = 31 .
• The negative of any of the numbers above
For example,
−4 3 −3
−4 = and − = .
1 4 4
Perhaps you are now wondering whether there are any numbers that are
not rational numbers! Well, some decimal numbers with infinitely many
digits after the decimal point are not rational numbers. But nearly every
number that you use in a real-world application of mathematics is a
rational number.
The rest of this subsection is about the decimal forms of rational numbers.
In particular, you will find out exactly which numbers with infinitely many
digits after the decimal point are rational numbers.

Rational numbers as decimals

Every rational number can be written as a decimal. To do this, you divide
the integer on the top of the fraction by the integer on the bottom. For
example,
5
8 = 5 ÷ 8 = 0.625.

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 2 Rational numbers

When you find a decimal in this way, there are two possibilities for the
outcome. You might get a decimal number that has only a finite number of Of course, if you use your
digits after the decimal point. This is called a terminating decimal. For calculator to divide the integer
example, the decimal form 0.625 of 85 is terminating – it has only three on the top of a fraction by the
integer on the bottom, then you
digits after the decimal point. Alternatively, you might get a decimal will only be able to see the first
number with a block of one or more digits after the decimal point that few digits of the answer. You
repeats indefinitely. For example, can obtain more digits by
2 carrying out long division by
3 = 0.666 666 . . . hand or by using mathematical
and software. However, the number
of digits on your calculator is
7 adequate for most practical
54 = 0.1296 296 296 296 296 . . . .
purposes.
A decimal like this is called a recurring decimal.
There are two alternative notations for indicating a recurring decimal. You
can either put a dot above the first and last digit of the repeating block, or
you can put a line above the whole repeating block. For example,
2
3 = 0.6̇ = 0.6
and
7
54 = 0.12̇96̇ = 0.1296 .
If you would like to know why you always get either a terminating or
recurring decimal when you write a rational number as a decimal, then
take a look at the document explaining this on the course website. You
need to think about long division!
So every rational number, when written in decimal form, is a terminating We know that the first sentence
or recurring decimal. But is the reverse true? That is, is every terminating here is true, but that doesn’t
or recurring decimal a rational number? mean that we know that the
reverse is true. Every poodle is a
Certainly, every terminating decimal is a rational number, since it can be dog, but not every dog is a
written in the form of an integer divided by an integer, as you saw at the poodle!
beginning of this subsection. It is less obvious that every recurring decimal
is a rational number, but in fact this is true as well. If you go on to study further
mathematics courses, then you
So another way to think of the rational numbers is as follows. may learn how to convert
recurring decimals to fractions.
It is done using basic algebra.
The rational numbers are the decimal numbers that are terminating
or recurring.

Now consider the number below – it has an infinite number of digits after
the decimal point, and they follow a pattern of larger and larger blocks
of 0s separated by individual 1s:
0.010 010 001 000 010 000 01 . . . .
This number is not a terminating decimal and it is not a recurring decimal,
as it does not have a fixed number of digits that keep repeating. So it is
not a rational number! You will learn more about numbers that are not
rational in the next section. First, however, it is important to make sure
that you are proficient with arithmetical operations on fractions. In the
next few subsections you can revise and practise these operations, and
learn more about powers.

137
 Unit 3 Numbers

One situation where numbers occur in the real world is in tables of

data, such as the prices of stocks and shares, sports statistics, the
Percentage occurrence

populations of towns, utility bills, and so on. You might expect that if
30
you were to investigate the first digits of the numbers in such a table
then you would find that each of the possible digits 1, 2, . . . , 9 occurs
20 equally often. Surprisingly, this is usually not the case. In fact, the
digit 1 tends to occur about 30.1% of the time, the digit 2 about
10 17.6% of the time, and the larger digits less and less frequently, up to
the digit 9, which tends to occur about 4.6% of the time. The chart in
Figure 8 illustrates how often each digit tends to occur.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Digit This phenomenon was investigated in the 1930s by the American
physicist Frank Benford (1883–1948). He analysed thousands of
tables of data, and found a mathematical formula that predicts the
Figure 8 The percentage percentage occurrences of each digit. This formula is known as
occurrences of 1, 2, . . . , 9 as Benford’s law. The first rigorous mathematical explanation of it was
the first digits of numbers in provided in 1995. Benford’s law has been successfully applied to fraud
a table of data detection, since tables of invented data usually do not have this
property.

2.2 Adding and subtracting fractions

You saw in the previous subsection that every rational number can be
expressed as a fraction. It is important that you are able to add, subtract,
multiply and divide fractions, not only by using your calculator, but also
on paper.
One reason for this is that it is useful to be able to do arithmetic with
simple fractions without having to resort to your calculator. Another
reason is that you will need to use these techniques when you learn algebra
later in the course, and you cannot use your calculator for fractions that
contain letters! This subsection, and the next, give you a chance to
+ = practise these techniques.
First let’s look at adding and subtracting fractions. Remember that you
can add or subtract fractions only if they are of the same type – that is, if
1 2 3
Figure 9 5 + 5 = 5 they have the same denominator.
For example, if one-fifth of a pizza is eaten and then another two-fifths of
the pizza is eaten, then altogether three-fifths of the pizza has been eaten
(Figure 9):
+ = ? 1 2
5 + 5 = 35 .
If fractions are not of the same type, then you cannot add or subtract
them directly. For example, if two-thirds of a pizza is eaten and then
Figure 10 2
+ 1
=? another quarter of the pizza is eaten, then it is not so clear what fraction
3 4
of the pizza has been eaten. You cannot carry out the following addition
directly (Figure 10):
2
3 + 41 .
+ =
In this situation, you need to change the fractions into equivalent fractions
of the same type – that is, you need to write them with a common
denominator. Here you can change the fractions into twelfths
8 3 11
(Figure 11):
Figure 11 12 + 12 = 12 2 1 8 3 11
3 + 4 = 12 + 12 = 12 .
So eleven-twelfths of the pizza has been eaten.
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 2 Rational numbers

Remember that to find a fraction equivalent to a particular fraction, you

multiply (or divide) top and bottom of the fraction by the same number.
For example,
2 2×4 8 1 1×3 3
= = and = = .
3 3×4 12 4 4×3 12
The next example illustrates some more things to remember when you add For advice on adding and
and subtract fractions. You should find it helpful to watch the tutorial subtracting fractions, see Maths
clip, and there is more detail on fraction calculations in Maths Help. Help Module 1, Subsections
3.10–3.11.

Example 4 Adding and subtracting fractions Tutorial clip

Carry out the following fraction additions and subtractions.

3 1 4 5 6 2
(a) + (b) + (c) − (d) 1 32 + 4 12
8 8 9 6 7 3
Solution
(a) The denominators are the same, so add the numerators. Write the
answer in its simplest form, by cancelling.
1
3 1 4 ✑ 4 1
+ = = =
8 8 8 ✑ 8 2
2
(b) Make the denominators the same. Write each fraction with
denominator 18. Some advice on how to choose
4 5 8 15 23 the common denominator is
5
+ = + = = 1 18 given after the strategy box
9 6 18 18 18 below.
23
The answer 18 cannot be simplified by cancelling. You can write it
5
as the mixed number 1 18 or just leave it as 23
18 .
(c) Write each fraction with denominator 21.
6 2 18 14 4
− = − =
7 3 21 21 21
(d) Add the integer parts of the mixed numbers together, and add the
fractional parts together, separately.
1 23 + 4 21 = 1 + 4 + 2
3 + 1
2 =5+ 4
6 + 3
6 =5+ 7
6 = 5 + 1 61 = 6 16

Here is the strategy that was used in Example 4.

Strategy To add or subtract fractions

• Make sure that the denominators are the same. (You may need to
write each fraction as an appropriate equivalent fraction.)
• Add or subtract the numerators.
• Write the answer in its simplest form.

The trickiest part of adding and subtracting fractions is making the

denominators the same. How do you decide what the common
denominator should be?
For example, the calculation 94 + 56 in Example 4(b) was carried out by
writing each fraction with denominator 18, but how was the number 18
chosen?

139
 Unit 3 Numbers

The number chosen has to be a common multiple of 9 and 6, because you

must be able to get it by multiplying the denominator 9 by something, and
also by multiplying the denominator 6 by something.
One way to obtain a common Any common multiple of 9 and 6 will do, but if you want to keep the
multiple of 6 and 9 is just to numbers in the calculation as small as possible, and keep the cancelling of
multiply them together. the answer to a minimum, then the best number to choose is the lowest
common multiple of 9 and 6, which is 18.
Once you have chosen 18, then since 18 = 2 × 9 and 18 = 3 × 6, you have
to multiply the numerator and denominator of the first and second
fractions by 2 and 3, respectively, as done in Example 4(b).
Here are some fraction additions and subtractions for you to try.

Activity 19 Adding and subtracting fractions

(a) Carry out the following fraction additions and subtractions without
using your calculator.
2 4 7 9 11 3 5 1
(i) 9 + 9 (ii) 8 +24 (iii) 14 − 14 (iv) 6 − 4
(v) 2 17 + 4 27 (vi) 3 34 − 1 15 (vii) 1 1
2 + 3 + 1
4
(b) At the time of writing, half of all UK car drivers are under the age
of 35, and a seventh are over the age of 65. What fraction are
between 35 and 65 years of age?

2.3 Multiplying and dividing fractions

Suppose that three-quarters of the three-year-olds in a village attend a
nursery, and half of them attend full-time. What fraction of the toddlers
1 attend nursery full-time? The answer is a half of three-quarters, and you
2
of =
can see from Figure 12 that this is three-eighths. That is,
1 3
2 × 4 = 38 .
1 3 3
Figure 12 2 × 4 = 8 This is an example of the following general rule.

Strategy To multiply fractions

Multiply the numerators together and multiply the denominators
together.

For advice on multiplying The next example illustrates some more things to remember when you
fractions, see Maths Help multiply fractions.
Module 1, Subsection 3.12.

Example 5 Multiplying fractions

Tutorial clip
Carry out the following fraction multiplications.
2 4 3 2 5
(a) 5 × 7 (b) 2 × 7 (c) 3 × 6 (d) 3 23 × 5
6

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 2 Rational numbers

Solution
2 4 8
(a) 5 × 7 = 35
(b) Here you can either use the strategy, as is done below, or use the
fact that 2 lots of 3 sevenths is 6 sevenths.
3 2 3 6
2× 7 = 1 × 7 = 7
(c) Here the number 2 is a factor of the numerator of the first fraction
and also a factor of the denominator of the second fraction, so it is a
factor of both the numerator and denominator of the product. It is
easier to cancel factors like this before multiplying.
1
2 5 ✑ 2 5 5
× = × =
3 6 3 ✑ 6 9
3
(d) To multiply by a mixed number, first convert it to a top-heavy
fraction.
3 23 × 5
6 = 11
3 × 5
6 = 55
18
1
= 3 18
55
The answer can be left as 18 if you wish.

Here are some fraction multiplications for you to try.

Activity 20 Multiplying fractions

(a) Carry out the following fraction multiplications.

5 3 4
(i) 8 × 10 (ii) 5 ×3 (iii) 1 31 × 2 56
(b) At a particular college, two-fifths of the students have jobs, and of
these a quarter work for more than 35 hours per week. What fraction
of the students work for more than 35 hours per week?

In the next activity you are asked to use your knowledge of fractions to
spot a mistake in a newspaper article.

Activity 21 Fractions in the media

The newspaper clipping below is fictitious, but it contains a mistake similar

to one that appeared in a real newspaper article. Can you find and correct
the mistake? (Assume that half of teenagers are girls and half are boys.)

Teenage smoking rate still too high

A quarter of teenage girls and a sixth
of teenage boys smoke regularly, research
has shown. That’s five-twelfths of the teenage
population - nearly half of all teenagers.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Now let’s look at how to divide fractions. The rule for doing this can be
conveniently described using the idea of the reciprocal of a number.
A number and its reciprocal multiply together to give 1. So, for example,
0.25 is the reciprocal of 4, since 0.25 × 4 = 1;
This line is labelled ‘(1)’ because 3 2 3 2
2 is the reciprocal of 3 , since 2 × 3 = 1. (1)
there is a reference to it further
down the page. Labels like this Another way to think of the reciprocal of a number is that it is 1 divided
are used occasionally throughout by the number. For example,
the course. 1
the reciprocal of 5 is 5 = 0.2.
As you can see from example (1), to find the reciprocal of a fraction, you
just ‘turn it upside down’. For example,
3
the reciprocal of 4 is 43 ;
1 4
the reciprocal of 4 is 1 = 4;
1
the reciprocal of 2 is 2 , since 2 = 21 .
Now suppose that you have a length of string, and you plan to cut it into
two-metre pieces. How many pieces will you get? The answer is the length
of the string in metres, divided by 2.
Next suppose that you want to cut the string into pieces one-third of a
1m 1m metre long. How many pieces will you get this time? The answer is the
length of the string in metres, divided by 13 . But how do you divide by 31 ?
Figure 13 A length of string Well, you get three pieces for every metre of string (Figure 13), so you
cut into one-third metre need to multiply the length of the string by 3. So dividing by 31 is the same
pieces as multiplying by 3, the reciprocal of 31 .
What if you want to cut the string into pieces two-thirds of a metre long –
1m 1m how many pieces will you get this time (Figure 14)? That is, how do you
divide by 32 ? Well, the number of pieces two-thirds of a metre long is half
of the number of pieces one-third of a metre long. So to divide by 23 you
Figure 14 A length of string
multiply by 3 and then by 21 , which is the same as multiplying by 23 . So
cut into two-third metre
pieces dividing by 23 is the same as multiplying by 32 , the reciprocal of 23 .
These are examples of the following general rule.

Strategy To divide by a fraction

Multiply by its reciprocal.

Here are some more examples.

Tutorial clip Example 6 Dividing fractions

Carry out the following fraction divisions.

4 5 5 1 3
(a) 7 ÷ 6 (b) 6 ÷ 4 (c) 5 ÷2
Solution
4 5 4 6 24
(a) 7 ÷ 6 = 7 × 5 = 35
(b) Here, once you have turned the second fraction upside down, there
are factors that you can cancel before multiplying.
2
5 1 5 4 5 ✑ 4 10
÷ = × = × = = 3 13
6 4 6 1 ✑ 6 1 3
3
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 2 Rational numbers

3 3 2 3 1 3
(c) 5 ÷2= 5 ÷ 1 = 5 × 2 = 10

Here are some fraction divisions for you to try. For advice on dividing fractions,
see Maths Help Module 1,
Subsections 3.13–3.14.
Activity 22 Dividing fractions

(a) Carry out the following fraction divisions without using your
calculator.
4 3 11
(i) 6 ÷ 3 (ii) 8 ÷ 24 (iii) 1 13 ÷ 1 79
Hint: In part (iii) you must turn the mixed numbers into top-heavy
fractions before dividing.
(b) A factory worker makes a particular type of metal component. It takes
him 1 14 hours to make each component, and he works a 37 12 -hour week.
How many components can he make in a week?

2.4 Negative indices

Consider the following powers of 2:
21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , . . . .
You could extend this list as far to the right as you like. But does it also
make sense to extend it to the left? That is, do all the powers in the
following list mean something?
. . . , 2−3 , 2−2 , 2−1 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , . . .
The powers with positive indices have the pattern shown below.

. . . 2−3 2−2 2−1 20 21 22 23 24 25 . . .

÷2 ÷2 ÷2 ÷2
If you assume that this pattern continues leftwards, then 20 must be the
number that you get by dividing 21 by 2. That is,
20 = 21 ÷ 2 = 2 ÷ 2 = 1.
Similarly, 2−1 must be the number that you get by dividing 20 by 2.
That is,
2−1 = 20 ÷ 2 = 1 ÷ 2 = 21 .
If the pattern continues in this way, then the zero and negative indices
must have the meanings suggested in Table 2.

Table 2 Powers of 2
Power ... 2−3 2−2 2−1 20 21 22 23 24 25 . . .
1 1 1
Meaning . . . 1 2 22 23 24 25 . . .
23 22 2

But do these meanings make sense? Do they work with the index laws
that you met in Subsection 1.5? For example, one of the index laws is
am
= am−n .
an
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 Unit 3 Numbers

If you use this rule and the meanings in Table 2 to work out 24 divided
by 25 , then you obtain
24 1
5
= 24−5 = 2−1 = .
2 2
This makes sense, because
1 1 1 1
24 ✑✑2 ×✑2 ×✑
✑ 2 ×✑
✑ ✑2 1
= = .
25 ✑ 2 ×✑
✑ 2 ×✑
✑ 2 ×✑
✑ 2×2
✑ 2
1 1 1 1
Similarly, if you use the same rule and the meanings in Table 2 to work out
23 divided by 23 , then you obtain
23
= 23−3 = 20 = 1,
23
which also makes sense, since 23 divided by 23 is 1.
It turns out that the meanings of negative and zero indices suggested in
Table 2 do work with all the index laws you saw in Section 1. So, these are
the meanings that are used. They are summarised below, and you can
think of them as two further index laws.

Negative and zero indices

A non-zero number raised to the power zero is 1:
a0 = 1.
A non-zero number raised to a negative power is the reciprocal of the
number raised to the corresponding positive power:
1
a−n = n .
a

The rules above hold for all appropriate numbers. So, for example, in the
second rule a can be any number except 0; it cannot be 0 because you
cannot divide by 0. The first rule also holds for all values of a except 0
(the power 00 has no meaning).
The second index law above tells you that, in particular,
1
a−1 = .
a
So raising a number to the power −1 is the same as finding its reciprocal.
For example,
" 2 $−1 3
3 = 2.

Example 7 Working with negative and zero indices

Find the values of the following numbers.

" 3 $−1 " 3 $−2
(a) 170 (b) 3−2 (c) 0.4−3 (d) 4 (e) 4
Solution
(a) 170 = 1
1 1
(b) 3−2 = 2 =
3 9

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 2 Rational numbers

1 1
(c) 0.4−3 = 3
= = 15.625
0.4 0.064
" $−1 4
(d) 43 =3
" $−2 1 1
(e) 34 = " $2 = " 9 $ = 1 × 169 =
16
9
3
4 16

Alternatively, you can use the index law (am )n = amn .

" 3 $−2 #" 3 $−1 %2 " 4 $2 42
4 = 4 = 3 = 32 = 16 9

Activity 23 Working with negative and zero indices

Find the values of the following numbers, without using your calculator.
" $0 " $−1 " $−1
(a) 21 (b) 7−1 (c) 7−2 (d) 13 (e) 25
" $−2 " $−2 " $−3
(f) 31 (g) 52 (h) 13 (i) (−2)−3

2.5 Scientific notation

In this subsection you will see one reason why negative and zero indices are
useful. Some of the numbers used in mathematics, science, medicine and
economics are very big or very small. For example, the population of the
world at the time of writing is estimated to be about 6 770 000 000 people,
and the mass of the Sun is about 1 990 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
kilograms. In contrast, the mass of an atom of hydrogen is about
0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 674 kilograms. It’s hard to tell how
many zeros there are in these numbers without laboriously counting them.
Numbers like these are more usefully expressed in scientific notation
(which is also called standard form). To write a number in scientific
notation, you express it as a number between 1 and 10, multiplied by a
power of 10. The number between 1 and 10 can be equal to 1 but not 10.
Any number can be expressed in this form – here are some examples:
250 = 2.5 × 102 ,
25 = 2.5 × 101 ,
2.5 = 2.5 × 100 ,
0.25 = 2.5 × 10−1 .
Here is a strategy that you can use to express a number in scientific
notation.

Strategy To express a number in scientific notation

1. Place a decimal point between the first and second significant
digits to give a number between 1 and 10.
2. Count to find the power of 10 by which this number should be
multiplied (or divided) to restore it to the original number.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Tutorial clip Example 8 Converting numbers to scientific notation

Express the following numbers in scientific notation.

(a) 523.4 (b) 0.006 71
Solution
(a) Place a decimal point between the first and second significant
digits. This gives 5.234. To restore this number to the original
number, you need to move the decimal point 2 places to the right.
That is, you need to multiply by 102 .
523.4 = 5.234 × 102
(b) Place a decimal point between the first and second significant
digits. This gives 6.71. To restore this number to the original number,
you need to move the decimal point 3 places to the left. That is, you
1
need to divide by 103 , which is the same as multiplying by 3 ,
10
or 10−3 .
0.00671 = 6.71 × 10−3

You might be wondering why scientific notation involves numbers between

1 and 10, rather than a different size of number. For example, why is it
preferable to write 75 000 as 7.5 × 104 rather than, say, 75 × 103 or
0.75 × 105 ? The reason is simply that this notation has been agreed as the
one that everyone will use. Using consistent notation makes it easy to
compare numbers and carry out calculations. For example, you can tell
immediately that 2.1 × 105 is greater than 7.5 × 104 by comparing the
powers of ten. It is less easy to tell whether 2.1 × 105 is greater than
75 × 103 .
To convert a number from scientific notation back to ordinary notation,
you just need to carry out the multiplication or division. Since the
multiplication or division is by a power of ten, this involves moving the
decimal point. For example,
8.22 × 104 = 82 200,
1.7 × 10−2 = 1.7 ÷ 102 = 0.017.

Activity 24 Converting to and from scientific notation

(a) Write the following numbers in scientific notation.

(i) 7723 (ii) 50 007 000 (iii) 0.100 34 (iv) 0.000 208
(b) Write the following quantities in scientific notation, using the
approximate values given at the start of this subsection:
(i) the population of the world
(ii) the mass of the Sun
(iii) the mass of a hydrogen atom.
(c) Convert the following numbers from scientific notation to ordinary
notation.
(i) 7.04 × 103 (ii) 4.52 × 104 (iii) 7.3 × 10−2
(iv) 2.045 × 10−5

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 2 Rational numbers

Calculations using numbers in scientific notation

You will use your calculator to carry out most calculations involving
numbers in scientific notation, and you will be asked to practise this in an
activity at the end of this subsection. However, there may be occasions,
perhaps when you are making a quick estimate, when it is more convenient
to work out the answer by hand, using the index laws that you met earlier.
The next example illustrates how to do this.

Example 9 Calculating with numbers in scientific notation

Carry out the following calculations without using your calculator.

The brackets in parts (a) and (c)
(a) (4 × 109 ) × (6 × 10−7 ) are included to help make the
4 × 102 calculations clear. They are not
(b) essential because the
8 × 104 calculations would mean the
" $ " $
(c) 8.2 × 10−2 − 5.4 × 10−3 same without the brackets, by
the BIDMAS rules.
Give the answer to part (c) to two significant figures.
Solution
(a) Use the index law am × an = am+n to multiply the powers of
ten.
(4 × 109 ) × (6 × 10−7 ) = (4 × 6) × (109 × 10−7 ) = 24 × 109−7 = 24 × 102
To write the answer in scientific notation, write the first
number, 24, in scientific notation and use the same index law again.
24 × 102 = 2.4 × 101 × 102 = 2.4 × 103
am
(b) Use the index law n = am−n to divide the powers of ten.
a
4 × 102 4 10 2
4
= × 4 = 0.5 × 102−4 = 0.5 × 10−2
8 × 10 8 10
Write the answer in scientific notation.
0.5 × 10−2 = 5 × 10−1 × 10−2 = 5 × 10−3
(c) To add or subtract numbers in scientific notation, first write the
numbers so that the powers of 10 are the same.
8.2 × 10−2 = 8.2 × 10 × 10−3 = 82 × 10−3 , so
" $ " $ " $ " $
8.2 × 10−2 − 5.4 × 10−3 = 82 × 10−3 − 5.4 × 10−3 .

Now 82 lots of 10−3 subtract 5.4 lots of 10−3 is the same as

(82 − 5.4) lots of 10−3 .
" $ " $
82 × 10−3 − 5.4 × 10−3 = (82 − 5.4) × 10−3
= 76.6 × 10−3
= 77 × 10−3 (to 2 s.f.).
Write the answer in scientific notation.
77 × 10−3 = 7.7 × 10 × 10−3 = 7.7 × 10−2 .
" $ " $
So 8.2 × 10−2 − 5.4 × 10−3 = 7.7 × 10−2 (to 2 s.f.).

You can use some of the methods illustrated in Example 9 to do the

following two activities.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Activity 25 Financial bailouts

The following headline appeared in a British newspaper in February 2009,

following the collapse of several banks.
A trillion is 1012 , and a million Bailouts add £1.5 trillion to Britain’s public debt.
is 106 .
The British population in 2009 was approximately 61 million.
(a) Write both quantities quoted above in scientific notation.
(b) Work out the figure that should go in the gap in the extended headline
below. (Give your answer to two significant figures.)
Bailouts add £1.5 trillion to Britain’s public debt – that’s about
for each person!

Activity 26 The world’s smallest guitar

Figure 15 shows a scanning electron microscope image of a tiny ‘nano

−6
1 micrometre = 10 metres. guitar’, made out of silicon at Cornell University in 1997. According to the
1 nanometre = 10−9 metres. press release, it is 10 micrometres long, and each of the six strings is about
50 nanometres wide. Use the conversion factors given in the margin to
answer the following questions.
(a) An ordinary guitar is about 1 metre long. How many times smaller is
the nano guitar?
(b) A human hair is about 100 micrometres wide. How many times
smaller is the width of a string of the nano guitar?

Figure 15 The nano guitar

In the next activity you will learn how to use your calculator to carry out
calculations involving scientific notation.

Activity 27 Scientific notation on your calculator

If you do not have the Course
Guide to hand, then you can
come back to this activity later. Work through Subsection 4.5 of the Course Guide.

3 Irrational numbers and real

numbers
3.1 What is an irrational number?
In the previous section you saw that many of the numbers that you use in
everyday mathematics are rational numbers – they can be expressed in the
form of an integer divided by an integer.
You saw that all rational numbers have decimal forms that are either
terminating or recurring, and so the following number is not a rational
number:
0.010 010 001 000 010 000 01 . . . .
But perhaps numbers like this are not ‘proper’ numbers? Perhaps the
rational numbers form a sensible system of numbers that we can use for all
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 3 Irrational numbers and real numbers

the usual purposes, and we can ignore decimals like the one above? Let’s
consider whether this suggestion is workable.
One reason why we need numbers is so we can measure things, such as
length. To measure length, you first need to decide on a unit of measure.
The unit could be a centimetre, a metre, an inch or any other convenient
length – it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it is used consistently.
Suppose that we decide to measure lengths in cm. Here are the lengths of
some lines measured using this unit.

1 cm
2 cm
3 cm
1
2 cm
1 19
27 cm

The numbers here, 1, 2, 3, 12 and 1 19

27 , are all rational numbers. But is the
length of every line, measured in centimetres, a rational number?
Consider the diagonal lines in the tiling pattern in Figure 16. The pattern
is made of four square tiles, each with sides 1 cm long, and each tile is half
green and half yellow. The diagonal lines form the sides of a green square.
Suppose that the length of these diagonal lines is d cm.

d cm

1 cm

Figure 16 A tiling pattern

The whole pattern is a square with sides 2 cm long, so its area is For help with calculating areas,
2 × 2 = 4 cm2 . The green square covers half the total area, so its area is see Maths Help Module 7,
1 2 Subsection 3.1.
2 × 4 = 2 cm . Therefore

d × d = 2, that is, d2 = 2.
So the length of the sides of the green square, measured in cm, is a number
whose square is 2.
Now it turns out that there is no rational number whose square is 2. This
is not obvious, but it can be proved in an argument that takes about half a
page. So the length of the sides of the green square, measured in A proof that there is no rational
centimetres, is not a rational number. number whose square is 2 is
available on the course website –
Many other lines can be drawn, using similar patterns, that have lengths take a look if you are interested.
that are not rational numbers. This is true no matter what unit of
measurement you choose. Of course, in practice you can approximate these
lengths by rational numbers, but a sensible system of numbers should
include the numbers that are the exact lengths of these lines.
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 Unit 3 Numbers

So the rational numbers by themselves do not form a workable system of

numbers. We must include many more numbers to obtain such a system,
and the new numbers that we must include are the ones with decimal
forms that are not terminating or recurring – that is, we must include the
decimals with an infinite number of digits after the decimal point but no
repeating block of digits. These numbers are called the irrational
numbers – they are the numbers that are not rational.
One of these numbers is the number whose square
√ is 2. This number is
called the square root of 2, and is denoted by 2. Here it is to the first
120 decimal places:
1.414 213 562 373 095 048 801 688 724 209 698 078 569 671 875 376 948 073
176 679 737 990 732 478 462 107 038 850 387 534 327 641 572 735 013 846
230 912 297 024 . . . .
The irrational numbers
√ also include the positive number whose square is 3,
which is denoted by 3, and many other roots of rational numbers. You
will learn more about these later in this section. Another irrational
number is the number
π = 3.141 592 653 589 793 238 46 . . . ,
which you enountered in Unit 2. This is an important number in
mathematics, and you will see it used frequently in some of the later units
of the course. You have also seen that
0.010 010 001 000 010 000 01 . . .
is an irrational number, but there is nothing special about this one, except
that its digits have a pattern – one that is different from the type of
pattern found in the decimal forms of rational numbers.
The irrational numbers together with the rational numbers form the real
numbers. These numbers are sufficient to represent the length of any line
or curve. Each point on the number line represents a real number, so the
number line is often called the real line. The positions of some real
numbers on the number line are shown in Figure 17.

√ √
−2 21 − 2 − 14 1
2 2 2 13 π 4

−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4

Figure 17 The real line

There are infinitely many rational numbers and infinitely many irrational
numbers.

The Pythagoreans, who were followers of the philosophy of the Greek

mathematician Pythagoras (c. 569 bc – c. 494 bc), one of the most
elusive figures of antiquity, developed a theory of proportions between
natural numbers. They believed in a harmony between the world
and natural numbers and their theory can be considered to be an
early version of our theory of rational numbers. However, they soon
discovered that not all relations between quantities (such as lengths)
can be expressed by such proportions. So the idea of irrational
numbers dawned early in the history of mathematics, about two and
a half thousand years ago.

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 3 Irrational numbers and real numbers

Figure 18 shows a useful way to think about the types of numbers that you
have learned about in this unit. It illustrates the facts that all of the
natural numbers are also integers, all of the integers are also rational
numbers and all of the rational numbers are also real numbers.

Real Rational Integers Natural

numbers numbers numbers

Figure 18 Types of numbers

If you go on to take further mathematics courses, then you can learn about
yet another type of number. The complex numbers include all the numbers
above, and also many ‘imaginary’ numbers, such as the square root of −1.
The idea of imaginary numbers might seem strange, but the complex
numbers have a huge number of useful practical applications.

3.2 Roots of numbers

As you have seen, the number whose square is 2 is called the square root
of 2.
In general, a square root of a number is a number that when multiplied
by itself gives the original number. For example, 6 is a square root of 36,
since 6 × 6 = 36. The number −6 is also a square root of 36, since
(−6) × (−6) = 36.
Every positive number has two square roots – a positive one and a
negative one. However, when we say the square root of a number, we mean
the positive one. The symbol ‘±’, which means ‘plus or minus’, can be
useful when you are working with square roots; for example, you can write
that the two square roots of 36 are ±6.
The positive
√ square root of a positive number is denoted by the √
symbol . For example, Because means the positive
√ square root, it is incorrect to
36 = 6. write, for example,
There are other types of roots apart from square roots. A cube root of a ‘if x2√= 4, then
number is a number such that if you multiply three ‘copies’ of it together, x = 4 = ±2’.
you get the original number. For example, 4 is a cube root of 64, because What you should write is
‘if x2 =
√4, then
4 × 4 × 4 = 64.
x = ± 4 = ±2’.
And −4 is a cube root of −64, because
(−4) × (−4) × (−4) = −64. √
The symbol for roots was
Similarly, a fourth root of a number is a number such that if you raise it to introduced by René Descartes
(see page 132).
the power 4 you get the original number. For example, 5 and −5 are both

151
 Unit 3 Numbers

fourth roots of 625, because 54 = 625 and (−5)4 = 625. Similarly, numbers
can have fifth, sixth and seventh roots, and so on.
√
The (positive) cube root of a positive number is denoted√by 3 , the
√ √
positive fourth
√ root of a positive
√ number is denoted by 4 , and so on. So,
3 4
The symbols , 3 and so on for example, 64 = 4 and 625 = 5.
can also be used with zero under
the root sign. Zero has just one
square root, one cube root and
so on, namely zero. Activity 28 Finding roots of numbers

Find the following roots of numbers, without using your calculator.

√ √ √ √
(a) 9 (b) 3 8 (c) 3 27 (d) 4 16
(e) Two square roots of 9 (f) Two fourth roots of 16

If you know the square roots of two numbers, then you can use this
information to find the square root of the product or a quotient of the
numbers. For example, consider the numbers 9 and 25, with square roots 3
and 5, respectively. By the index law (a × b)n = an × bn , we know that
(3 × 5)2 = 32 × 52 ,
that is
(3 × 5)2 = 9 × 25.
So the positive square root of 9 × 25 is 3 × 5. That is,
√ √ √
9 × 25 = 9 × 25.
This is an example of the first rule in the box below. The second rule is
similar, but it applies to quotients rather than products.

A square root of a product is the same as a product of square roots;

a square root of a quotient is the same as a quotient of square roots:
' √
√ √ √ a a
a × b = a × b, = √ .
b b

Analogous rules apply to cube roots, fourth roots, and so on.

Activity 29 Finding more roots of numbers

√
(a) Use the fact that 1764 = 36 × 49 to find 1764.
(b) Find the following square roots of fractions, without using your
calculator.
' ' '
4 36 1
(i) (ii) (iii)
9 49 4

You can use your calculator to find square roots of numbers, and you will
get a chance to practise this later in this section.

3.3 Surds
All the roots of numbers that you were asked to find in the last subsection
were rational, but most numbers have irrational roots.
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 3 Irrational numbers and real numbers

In particular, the square root of any natural number that is not a perfect
square is irrational. So, for example, the following roots are irrational: A perfect square is another name
√ √ √ √ for a square number.
2, 3, 5, 6.

Because numbers like these cannot be written down exactly as terminating

decimals or fractions, we often leave them just as they are in calculations
and in the answers to calculations. For example, we might say that the two
square roots of 2 are
√ √
2 and − 2.
Or we might say that the answer to a calculation is
√
1 + 5.
The advantage of this approach is that it allows us to work with exact
numbers, rather than approximations. This can help to simplify
calculations.
Expressions like
√
√ √ √
3 √ 7 √ √ √
2, − 2, 2, 1 + 5, , 1 − 2 5 and 2+ 3 The word ‘surd’ is derived
3 from the same Latin word as
are called surds. That is, a surd is a numerical expression containing one ‘absurd’ ! The original Latin
or more irrational roots of numbers. word is ‘surdus’, which means
deaf or silent.
Surds are usually written concisely, in a similar way to formulas.
Multiplication signs are usually omitted, though sometimes it is necessary
or helpful to include them. Also, where a number and a root are multiplied
together, it is conventional to write the number first. So the last surd in
the list above is written as
√ √
1 − 2 5, rather than 1 − 5 × 2, say.
It is also usually helpful to write surds in the simplest form possible. In
the rest of this subsection you will learn some ways to simplify surds.
First, you can sometimes use the rule
√ √ √
a×b= a× b
to make the number under a square root sign smaller. For example,
√ √ √ √ √
12 = 4 × 3 = 4 × 3 = 2 3.
You can simplify a square root in this way whenever the number under the
square root sign has a factor that is a perfect square greater than 1. The first ten perfect squares are
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81,
Here are some more examples. 100.

Example 10 Simplifying square roots Tutorial clip

Simplify the following surds, where possible.

√ √ √ √
(a) 18 (b) 10 (c) 60 (d) 80
Solution
(a) Write 18 as the√product of a perfect
√ square and another number,
√
then use the rule a × b = a × b.
√ √ √ √ √
18 = 9 × 2 = 9 × 2 = 3 2
(b) The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5 and√10. None of the factors greater than 1
is a perfect square, so the surd 10 cannot be simplified. It is already
in its simplest form.
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 Unit 3 Numbers

(c) Write 60 as the product of a perfect square and another number.

√ √ √ √ √
60 = 4 × 15 = 4 × 15 = 2 15
Now check whether 15 has any square factors. It doesn’t, so the
surd can’t be simplified any further.
(d) Write 80 as the product of a perfect square and another number.
√ √ √ √ √
80 = 4 × 20 = 4 × 20 = 2 20
The number 20 has a square factor, so the surd can be simplified
further.
√ √ √ √ √ √ √
80 = 2 20 = 2 4 × 5 = 2 4 × 5 = 2 × 2 5 = 4 5

In Example 10(d) the square root of 80 was simplified by first using the
fact that the perfect square 4 is a factor of 80. The working can be
shortened by instead using the fact that the larger perfect square 16 is a
factor of 80. This gives
√ √ √ √ √
80 = 16 × 5 = 16 × 5 = 4 5.
So it’s most efficient to begin with the largest square factor that you can
spot, but if it turns out that there is a larger one, then you can simplify
the root in stages, as in Example 10(d).

Activity 30 Simplifying square roots

Simplify the following surds, where possible, without using your calculator.
√ √ √ √ √
(a) 8 (b) 75 (c) 15 (d) 56 (e) 48

Another way in which you can sometimes simplify surds is to simplify

products of two or more square roots. Where two identical √ square
√ roots
are multiplied together, this is easily done: for example, 2 × 2 = 2.
Where different square roots are multiplied together, you can use the rule
√ √ √
a × b = a × b.
√ √ √ √
For example, 2 × 3 = 2 × 3 = 6. Here are some more examples of
multiplying square roots in surds.

Tutorial clip Example 11 Multiplying roots

Simplify the following surds, where possible.

"√ $2 √ √ √ √ √ √
(a) 3 (b) 2 5 × 4 5 (c) 6 × 3 (d) 5 2 × 3 10
Solution
"√ $2 √ √
(a) 3 = 3× 3=3
(b) Multiply the numbers together, and multiply the roots together.
√ √ √ √
2 5 × 4 5 = 8 5 5 = 8 × 5 = 40
√ √ √
(c) Use the rule a × b = a × b to multiply the roots. Simplify the
result.
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
6 × 3 = 6 × 3 = 18 = 9 × 2 = 9 × 2 = 3 2

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 3 Irrational numbers and real numbers

(d) Multiply the

√ numbers√together,
√ and multiply the roots together
using the rule a × b = a × b. Simplify the result.
√ √ √
5 2 × 3 10 = 15 2 × 10
√
= 15 20
√
= 15 4 × 5
√ √
= 15 4 5
√
= 15 × 2 5
√
= 30 5

Activity 31 Multiplying roots

Simplify the following surds, where possible, without using your calculator.
√ √ √ √ √ √ √
(a) ( 7)2 (b) 7 × 3 7 (c) 7 × 14 (d) 2 × 8
√ √ √ √
(e) 2 3 × 3 2 (f) 2 3 × 2 15

You can also sometimes simplify quotients of roots in surds. Both of the
rules '
√ √
√ √ a a
a × b = a × b, = √ ,
b b
can be useful.

Example 12 Dividing roots Tutorial clip

Simplify the following surds.

√
15 2
(a) √ (b) √
3 2
Solution
√ √ √
(a) Use the rule a×b= a × b.
1
√ √ √ √✑ √
15 3 × 5 ✑3 × 5 √
√ = √ = √✑ = 5
3 3 ✑3
1
' √
a a
Alternatively, use the rule = √ .
b b
√ '
15 15 √
√ = = 5
3 3
√ √
(b) Use the fact that 2 = 2 × 2.
1
√ √ √ √
2 2 × 2 ✑✑ 2× 2 √
√ = √ = √✑ = 2
2 2 ✑2
1
√
Alternatively, multiply top and bottom by 2.
√ √
2 2× 2 2 2 √
√ =√ √ = = 2
2 2× 2 2

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Activity 32 Dividing roots

Simplify the following surds without using your calculator.

√ √
10 5 8 8
(a) √ (b) √ (c) √ (d) √
2 5 2 2

√ √
You cannot usually simplify a sum of two different roots, such as 3+ 5,
For example, in a surd. In general,
√ √ √ √ √
3 + 5 = 3.96 . . . , a + b is not equal to a + b.
whereas √
√ However, you can add, or subtract, roots that are the same. This is
3 + 5 = 8 = 2.82 . . . .
illustrated in the next example.

Tutorial clip Example 13 Adding and subtracting roots

Simplify the following surds, where possible.

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
(a) 2 3 + 4 3 (b) 5 2 − 2 (c) 3 + 2 5 (d) 12 − 3
Solution
√ √ √
(a) Two lots of 3 plus four lots of 3 is six lots of 3.
√ √ √
2 3+4 3=6 3
√ √ √
(b) Five lots of 2 subtract one lot of 2 is four lots of 2.
√ √ √
5 2− 2=4 2
√ √
(c) The roots in the surd 3 + 2 5 are different (and are in their simplest
forms), so the surd cannot be simplified.
√
(d) First write 12 in its simplest form. Then proceed as before.
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
12 − 3 = 4 × 3 − 3 = 4 3 − 3 = 2 3 − 3 = 3

Activity 33 Adding and subtracting roots

Simplify the following surds, where possible, without using your calculator.
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
(a) 3 + 3 (b) 2 + 5 (c) 7 3 − 2 3 (d) 5 8 − 2 2

Here is a summary of some of the ways in which surds can be simplified.

To simplify surds
• Simplify roots of integers with square factors.
• Simplify products and quotients of roots.
• Add or subtract roots that are the same.

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 3 Irrational numbers and real numbers

3.4 Fractional indices

Earlier in this unit you worked with powers that have negative and zero
indices, such as 3−2 and 20 . Meanings were given for these indices, and you
saw that with these meanings the index laws work for negative and zero
indices.
Meanings can also be given to fractional indices in such a way that the
1
index laws work for these indices. For example, consider the power 5 2 . If
this power has a meaning, then by the index law
am × an = am+n ,
we have
1 1 1 1
5 2 × 5 2 = 5 2 + 2 = 51 = 5,
1
so you can see that a sensible meaning for 5 2 is
1 √
5 2 = 5.
1 √ 1 √
(The meaning 5 2 = 5 is preferable to 5 2 = − 5 because you would
1
expect 5 2 to be positive. For example, you have seen that 50 = 1 and
1
51 = 5, so you would expect 5 2 to be between 1 and 5.)
Similarly, By the index law
1 1 1 1
+ 13 + 31
am × an = am+n , we have
5 ×5 ×5 =5
3 3 3 3 = 51 = 5, 1 1 1
53 × 53 × 53
1 1 1 1
so a sensible meaning for 5 3 is = 53+3 × 53
1 1 1
1 √3
= 53+3+3 .
5 3 = 5.
We make the following definition, which you can think of as another index
law.

Raising a number to the power 21 is the same as taking its square root,
raising a number to the power 13 is the same as taking its cube root,
and so on:
1 √
a n = n a.

This rule, together with the index laws that you have already met, can be
used to give a meaning to any fractional index. For example, using the
index law
(am )n = amn ,
we obtain
4 1
# 1 %4 # √ %4
3
5 3 = 5 3 ×4 = 5 3 = 5 .
It is worth stating the general rule illustrated here as another index law.

m
Raising a number to the power is the same as raising the nth root
n
of the number to the power m:
m " √ $m
an = n a .

The two rules in the boxes above hold for all appropriate numbers. For

157
 Unit 3 Numbers

√
example, a must be positive, since the notation applies only to positive
numbers.
Here are some more examples of fractional indices.

Example 14 Raising numbers to fractional indices

Find the values of the following powers.

1 3 3
(a) 9 2 (b) 4 2 (c) 4− 2
Solution
1 √
(a) 9 2 = 9=3
3 "√ $3
(b) 4 2 = 4 = 23 = 8
1
(c) Use the index law a−n = , then use the result of part (b).
an
3 1 1
4− 2 = 3 = (by part (b))
4 2 8

Activity 34 Raising numbers to fractional indices

Find the values of the following powers, without using your calculator.
1 3 1 5 2
(a) 16 2 (b) 9 2 (c) 4− 2 (d) 4 2 (e) 27 3

Now that you have met fractional indices, you can see that the two rules
for square roots that you met earlier,
' √
√ √ √ a a
a × b = a × b and = √ ,
b b
1
are really just index laws in disguise. They are obtained by taking n = 2
in the index laws
# a %n an
(a × b)n = an × bn and = n,
b b
which you met in Section 1.
You have seen that the index in a power can be any rational number.
Perhaps you are√now wondering whether an index can be irrational? For
example, does 2 2 have a meaning? Powers like this do have precise
meanings, which you can learn about in detail in more advanced
mathematics courses. The basic idea is that since
√
2 = 1.414 213 562 373 09 . . . ,
√
you can work out the value of 2 2 as accurately
√ as you like by using as
many decimal places of √the decimal form of 2 as you like. For example,
one approximation to 2 2 is
21.414 = 2.664 749 650 184 04 . . . ,
and a more accurate one is
21.414 213 = 2.665 143 103 797 72 . . . ,
and so on. The indices here, 1.414 and 1.414 213, and so on, are rational,
as they are terminating decimals.
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 4 Ratios

So the index in a power can be any real number. All the index laws that
you have seen in this unit hold for indices and base numbers that are any
real numbers (except that the numbers must be appropriate for the
operations – for example, you cannot divide by zero, or take a square root
of a negative number). Here is a summary of the index laws.

Index laws
am
am × an = am+n = am−n
an
(am )n = amn
# a %n an
(a × b)n = an × bn =
b bn
1
a0 = 1 a−n =
an
1 √
n m √ m
an = a an = ( n a)

Powers and surds on your calculator

In the final activity of this section you can practise using your calculator
for calculations involving powers, scientific notation and surds.

Activity 35 Powers and surds on your calculator

If you do not have the Course
Work through Subsection 4.6 of the Course Guide. Guide to hand, then you can
come back to this activity later.

4 Ratios

4.1 What is a ratio?

If you have made vinaigrette salad dressing, then you may remember that
the recipe is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. So, for example, you could mix
30 ml oil and 10 ml vinegar, or 120 ml oil and 40 ml vinegar, or perhaps, if
you need a lot of salad dressing, 1.5 l oil and 0.5 l vinegar.
We say that the ratio of oil to vinegar is
3 : 1. The symbol ‘:’ is a colon; it is
read as ‘to’ when it is in a ratio.
This ratio is equivalent to
30 : 10, and 120 : 40, and 1.5 : 0.5. Notice that ratios do not have
units.
Ratios can contain more than two numbers. For example, to make a
particular type of concrete, you need 1 part cement to 2 parts sand to
4 parts gravel. That is, the ratio of cement to sand to gravel is
1 : 2 : 4.
So, for example, you could mix 1 shovelful of cement with 2 shovelfuls of
sand and 4 shovelfuls of gravel, or 5 shovelfuls of cement with 10 shovelfuls
of sand and 20 shovelfuls of gravel, and so on, depending on how much
concrete you need.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

You met a particular type of ratio in Unit 2, when you looked at map
scales. You saw that if the scale factor of a map is 500 000, say, then the
map scale is often given in the form
1 : 500 000.
This is the ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding
distance on the ground.
A ratio is changed to an equivalent ratio in the same way that a fraction
is changed to an equivalent fraction.

To find a ratio equivalent to a given ratio

Multiply or divide each number in the ratio by the same non-zero
number.

If the numbers in a ratio are rational, then the ratio has a simplest form in
the same way that fractions do. A ratio is in its simplest form when each
number in the ratio is a whole number, and these numbers are cancelled
down as much as possible – that is, they have no common factors.

Example 15 Simplifying ratios

Express the following ratios in their simplest forms.

(a) 9 : 12 : 6 (b) 0.5 : 1.25
Solution
(a) Divide each number by 3.
9 12 6
9 : 12 : 6 = : : =3:4:2
3 3 3
The numbers 3, 4 and 2 have no common factors, so this ratio can’t
be cancelled down any further.
(b) Multiply by 100 to give integers, then cancel down.
50 125
0.5 : 1.25 = (100 × 0.5) : (100 × 1.25) = 50 : 125 = : =2:5
25 25
Alternatively, you might spot that you can just multiply by 4.
0.5 : 1.25 = (4 × 0.5) : (4 × 1.25) = 2 : 5

Activity 36 Simplifying ratios

Express the following ratios in their simplest forms.

(a) 18 : 3 (b) 12 : 60 : 18 (c) 2 : 0.5 : 1.5 (d) 6 : 12 : 7

When you are working with ratios that contain just two numbers, it is
sometimes helpful to convert them to the form ‘number : 1’. For example,
this can help you to compare different ratios. You can convert a ratio to
this form by dividing both numbers by the second number. For example,
5 6
5 : 6 = : = 0.83 : 1 (to 2 d.p.).
6 6
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 4 Ratios

Activity 37 Comparing ratios

A mother has the choice of two different after-school clubs for her child.
Club A takes 46 children and has 6 staff, and club B takes 25 children and
has 4 staff.
(a) Find the ratio of children to staff for each club in the form
‘number : 1’, rounding your answer to one decimal place.
(b) Which club has fewer children per member of staff?

Writing ratios in the form ‘number : 1’ can also help you to find
approximate ratios, which can be useful when you want to compare
quantities.

Example 16 Finding an approximate ratio

A secondary school has 823 boys and 534 girls on its roll. What is the
approximate ratio of boys to girls at the school?
Solution
Find the ratio in the form ‘number : 1’, approximate the number by a
whole number or simple fraction, then simplify the ratio.
The ratio of boys to girls is
823 534
823 : 534 = :
534 534
= 1.54 . . . : 1
≈ 23 : 1 You can approximate 1.54 . . .
= 3 : 2. by 1.5 = 23 .

So there are about three boys for every two girls.

The next activity asks you to find two approximate ratios.

Activity 38 Finding approximate ratios

In 2007 the population of the UK was about 61.0 million. About

31.9 million of these people were taxpayers (paying income tax). About
3.9 million of the taxpayers paid tax at the higher rate, and the remainder
paid tax at the basic rate or less. Calculate approximate values for the
following ratios.
(a) The ratio of taxpayers to non-taxpayers
(b) The ratio of ordinary taxpayers to higher-rate taxpayers (where the
ordinary taxpayers are those paying tax at the basic rate or less)

Sometimes you need to divide a quantity in a particular ratio. The next

example illustrates how to do this.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Example 17 Dividing a quantity in a ratio

Three flatmates, Amy, Becky and Carol, have agreed to contribute to their
For every £5 Amy contributes, joint budget in the ratio 5 : 2 : 3. The flatmates’ expenses amount to £1250
Becky contributes £2 and Carol per month. How much does each flatmate contribute to this?
contributes £3.
Solution
We have to divide £1250 in the ratio 5 : 2 : 3.
The total number of parts in the ratio is 5 + 2 + 3 = 10.
Amy contributes 5 of the 10 parts, so the amount that she contributes is
5
× £1250 = £625.
10
Similarly, Becky contributes
2
× £1250 = £250,
10
and Carol contributes
3
× £1250 = £375.
10
(Check: £625 + £250 + £375 = £1250.)

Activity 39 Dividing a quantity in a ratio

A bottle of screenwash for cars recommends the following ratios of

screenwash to water.

Conditions Ratio of screenwash to water

Summer 1 : 20
Winter 1:4
Severe winter 2:1

Calculate, to the nearest 100 ml, the volume of screenwash and the volume
of water you would need to make 2 litres of diluted screenwash for your car
in the following conditions.
(a) Winter (b) Severe winter

Other forms of ratio

Ratios that contain just two numbers are sometimes written as fractions.
For example, the ratio 3 : 2 can be written as 23 . The first and second
numbers in the ratio become the numerator and denominator of the
fraction, respectively. The fraction representing a ratio can also be written
as a decimal: for example,
3
3:2= 2 = 1.5.

The mathematical term This is why you sometimes see ratios given as single numbers.
‘rational’ arises from the fact
that a rational number is the The single number that represents a ratio is just the number that is
ratio of two integers. obtained when the ratio is written in the form ‘number : 1’. For example,

162
 4 Ratios

3 2
3:2= 2 : 2 = 1.5 : 1.
You can use this fact to convert a ratio given as a single number into the
usual colon form. For example, the ratio 1.4 is the same as
1.4 : 1 = 14 : 10 = 7 : 5.

Activity 40 Converting forms of ratio

Write the following ratios in colon form, and simplify them as much as
possible.
3
(a) 4 (b) 1.75 (c) 0.2

The fact that ratios can be written as single numbers also explains why
you often see phrases such as ‘the larger ratio’.

Activity 41 Comparing more ratios

In 2003 the United Kingdom had about 59.6 million people and
27.0 million cars, and Germany had 82.5 million people and 45.0 million
cars.
(a) Calculate the ratio of cars to people for each of the two countries, to
two significant figures.
(b) Which of the two countries had the larger ratio of cars to people?

4.2 Aspect ratios

Many forms of media involve rectangular shapes. For example,
photographs, video images and sheets of paper are all usually rectangular.
Some rectangles are long and thin, while others are closer to the shape of a
square. The shape of a rectangle can be conveniently described using the
idea of aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter
side. For example, the aspect ratio of the left-hand rectangle in Figure 19
is 25 : 15, which simplifies to 5 : 3. The aspect ratio of the right-hand
rectangle is 10 : 6, which also simplifies to 5 : 3, so these two rectangles
have the same aspect ratio. So the two rectangles have the same shape,
though the second is smaller.

15 cm

6 cm

25 cm 10 cm

Figure 19 Two rectangles with aspect ratio 5 : 3

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Activity 42 Finding aspect ratios

Find the aspect ratios of the following rectangles, in their simplest forms.

4 cm 4 inches 7.5 cm

16 cm
5 cm
6 inches
(a) (b) (c)

A rectangular image can be enlarged or reduced to any rectangle that has

the same aspect ratio as the original image. If a different aspect ratio is
required, then the image has to be cropped.

Photographs
Most digital cameras produce images with aspect ratio 3 : 2 or 4 : 3,
depending on the camera. If your camera produces images with aspect
ratio 4 : 3, and you want a print of size 20 cm × 15 cm, then this can be
made without losing any part of the picture, because 20 : 15 = 4 : 3.
However, if you want a 15 cm × 10 cm print, which has an aspect ratio of
3 : 2, then your photograph has to be cropped as illustrated in
Figure 20(a). Similarly, if your camera produces images with aspect ratio
3 : 2, and you want a print with aspect ratio 4 : 3, then your photograph
has to be cropped as illustrated in Figure 20(b).

(a) (b)

Figure 20 (a) A crop of a 4 : 3 image to give a 3 : 2 image. (b) A crop of a 3 : 2 image to give a 4 : 3 image.

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 4 Ratios

Activity 43 Choosing photographic print sizes

The first column of the table below contains some standard photographic
print sizes, which are available from many photograph-processing shops
and websites. The dimensions are in inches.

Aspect ratio Aspect ratio

Print size in simplest form in form ‘number : 1’
6×4
7×5
8×6
9×6
10 × 8
12 × 8

(a) Complete the second and third columns of the table, rounding the
numbers in the third column to two decimal places.
(b) Which three print sizes are most appropriate for photographs taken
with a camera that produces images with an aspect ratio of 3 : 2?
Which print size is the next most appropriate?

Scale factors
If an image that measures 3 cm × 2 cm is enlarged to 9 cm × 6 cm, then the
width and the height both triple. We say that the scale factor is 3.
Similarly, if the same image is instead reduced to 1.5 cm × 1 cm, then the
width and height both halve, and the scale factor is 21 . In general,
new length
scale factor = ,
old length
where the length is the width or height of the image, or the length of
anything that appears in the image.
The scale factors displayed on photocopiers are usually expressed as
percentages. For example, if you want a photocopier to produce an image
that is double the height of the original image, then you need a scale factor
of 2, so you would set the copier to enlarge by 200%.

Activity 44 Finding scale factors

Find the scale factors of the following enlargements and reductions.

Express each answer both as a number and as a percentage.
(a) An image measuring 4 cm × 3 cm enlarged to 16 cm × 12 cm
(b) An image measuring 3 cm × 2 cm enlarged to 7.5 cm × 5 cm
(c) An image measuring 20 cm × 10 cm reduced to 4 cm × 2 cm

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Videos
Aspect ratio is also an important issue for videos. Many older video
programmes were made with an aspect ratio of 4 : 3, but in recent years
16 : 9 has become the most common video standard throughout the world.
When a 4 : 3 image is displayed on a 16 : 9 screen, the image has to be
pillarboxed (displayed with black bars on each side), stretched or cropped.
Often a combination of these methods is used.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 21 A 4 : 3 image of Harold Wilson (a) pillarboxed, (b) stretched and (c) cropped to appear on a
16 : 9 screen. The Open University was established by Harold Wilson’s Government, and received its Charter
on 23 April 1969.

Paper sizes
Finally in this subsection, we consider the aspect ratios of sheets of paper.
You are probably familiar with the paper sizes A4, A3, and so on. The
largest paper size in this series is A0, the next-largest is A1, and so on.
The ISO (International This series of paper sizes is known as the ISO 216 standard.
Organization for
Standardization) sets The paper sizes in the series were designed so that they all have the same
standards for a wide range of aspect ratio. This means that an A4 image, for example, can be scaled up
products, and 216 is the to an A3 one with no need for cropping. They were also designed to have
number assigned by this the additional property that each size of paper is exactly the same size and
organisation to this particular
shape as two of the next-smaller sizes placed side by side. This is
standard.
illustrated in Figure 22.

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 4 Ratios

A4 A4 A3

Figure 22 Two sheets of A4 make one sheet of A3

So, for example, if you fold an A3 sheet of paper in half, then it becomes This fact is illustrated by the
the same size as a sheet of A4. There are various advantages of this pages of this book!
property. For example, an envelope sized to fit an A5 sheet of paper will fit
an A4 sheet folded in half, or an A3 sheet folded in quarters, and so on.
You can see this property of the ISO paper sizes in the next activity.

Activity 45 ISO paper sizes Animation

View the animated demonstration of the ISO paper sizes on the course
website. Instructions are given within the animation.

The aspect ratio that is needed if the paper sizes are to have the properties
described above can be worked out as follows. Suppose that the aspect
ratio needed is a : 1, where a represents some number.
Consider a sheet of paper with this aspect ratio. If its shorter side has
length w cm, say, then its longer side has length aw cm, since
aw : w = a : 1. This is shown on the left of Figure 23.
You can see from the right of Figure 23 that since two smaller sheets of
paper must make one larger sheet, the next-larger size of paper measures
2w cm by aw cm.

aw cm aw cm

w cm 2w cm

Figure 23 The dimensions of smaller and larger sheets of paper

So the aspect ratios of the two sizes of paper are Remember that the aspect ratio
of a rectangle is the ratio of the
aw : w and 2w : aw. length of its longer side to the
length of its shorter side.
These ratios can be simplified to
a:1 and 2 : a,
by dividing each number by w.

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 Unit 3 Numbers

Since the two paper sizes have the same aspect ratio, these ratios must be
equal. So that we can compare them, let’s make the first ratio have second
number a, the same as the second ratio. To do this, we multiply both
numbers in the first ratio by a. So the two ratios are now
a2 : a and 2 : a.
Since these ratios are equal, you can see that
a2 = 2.
√ √
The number a must be positive Therefore a must be 2. So the aspect ratio that is needed is 2 : 1 – it
because a : 1 is an aspect ratio. involves an irrational number! Each size
√ of paper in the ISO 216 standard
has an aspect ratio of approximately 2 : 1.

The ISO 216 paper sizes were developed in Germany in the

early 1900s. They were adopted as a standard there in 1922, and soon
spread to other European countries. The UK adopted them in 1959,
and they were adopted by the International Organization for
Standardization in 1975. They are now used throughout the world: at
the time of writing the only exceptions are the USA and Canada. The
largest ISO 216 paper size, A0, has an area of 1 m2 .

Activity 46 Scaling ISO paper sizes

(a) Use the shorter sides of the rectangles in Figure 23 to work out the
scale factor needed to enlarge from one ISO 216 paper size to the
next-larger size.
(b) What scale factor is needed to reduce from one ISO 216 paper size to
the next-smaller size?
(c) Explain why most photocopying machines offer the scale factors 141%
and 71% as standard options for enlarging and reducing.

If you have not already done so, try the iCMA and TMA questions for this
unit now.

Learning checklist
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
• understand multiples and factors of natural numbers
• find lowest common multiples and highest common factors
• begin to investigate some simple properties of numbers
• find prime factorisations of natural numbers
• carry out calculations with numbers in index form, including those
with negative and fractional indices
• carry out calculations with fractions
• understand and use scientific notation
• understand the difference between rational and irrational numbers
• simplify surds
• understand and use the concepts of ratio and aspect ratio.

168
 Solutions and comments on Activities

Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 1 Activity 5
(a) The first five multiples of 7 are 7, 14, 21, 28 (a) The number 621 is divisible by 3, because the
and 35, because sum of its digits is 6 + 2 + 1 = 9, which is divisible
1 × 7 = 7, by 3.
2 × 7 = 14, (b) The number 273 is not divisible by 9, because
3 × 7 = 21, the sum of its digits is 2 + 7 + 3 = 12, which is not
divisible by 9.
4 × 7 = 28,
5 × 7 = 35. Activity 6
(b) Since 4183 ÷ 11 = 380.272 . . ., the number (a) The common factors of 20 and 24 are 1, 2
4183 is not a multiple of 11. So the amount of and 4. So their highest common factor is 4.
money in the cash box is not correct. (b) The common factors of 12 and 24 are 1, 2, 3,
4, 6 and 12. So their highest common factor is 12.
Activity 2
(c) The common factors of 18, 20 and 24 are 1
(a) The multiples of 2 are 2, 4, 6, 8, . . . .
and 2. So their highest common factor is 2.
The multiples of 3 are 3, 6, 9, 12, . . . .
The multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, . . . . Activity 7
The multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, . . . . A number ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 is even and so is
divisible by 2. A number ending in 0 or 5 is
The multiples of 8 are 8, 16, 24, 32, . . . .
divisible by 5. So if a number ends in 0, 2, 4, 5, 6
(i) The LCM of 2 and 3 is 6. or 8, then it is divisible by either 2 or 5, and hence
(ii) The LCM of 4 and 6 is 12. it is not prime, unless it is 2 or 5 itself. So every
prime number except 2 and 5 ends with one of the
(iii) The LCM of 4 and 8 is 8. other possible digits, 1, 3, 7 or 9. You can see from
(b) The LCM of 2, 3 and 8 is 24. (This is the the list of prime numbers on page 124 that each of
smallest number that is a multiple of all of 2, 3 these possible digits occurs.
and 8.)
Activity 3 Activity 8
(a) The smallest number of chocolates is the LCM (a)
of 2, 3 and 4, which is 12. Prime number 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29
(b) The next suitable number of chocolates is Remainder 3 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1
2 × 12 = 24.
(b)
Activity 4 Prime
(a) The first factor pair is 1, 20. number 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29
The next is 2, 10. Sum of × $ × × $ $ × × $
The next is 4, 5. two squares?
The next is 5, 4, which is a repeat, so the factors
of 20 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20. (5 = 4 + 1, 13 = 9 + 4, 17 = 16 + 1 and
(b) The first factor pair is 1, 24. 29 = 25 + 4.)
The next is 2, 12. (c) It seems that the odd prime numbers that can
The next is 3, 8. be written as the sum of two square numbers are
The next is 4, 6. those that have remainder 1 when they are divided
The factors of 24 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24. by 4.
(c) The first factor pair is 1, 45. To test this conjecture, you could consider the
The next is 3, 15. prime numbers 31 and 37, for example.
The next is 5, 9.
The first of these numbers, 31, has remainder 3
The factors of 45 are 1, 3, 5, 9, 15 and 45.
when it is divided by 4, and it cannot be written
as the sum of two square numbers. To see this,
notice that if 31 were the sum of two square

169
Unit 3 Numbers

numbers, then one of the square numbers would be Activity 12

greater than 31/2 = 15.5, and the other square (a) The LCM is the product of all the numbers
number would be less than this. So one of the inside the circles, which is
square numbers must be either 16 or 25, and the
other must be 1, 4 or 9. Also, one of the square 3 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 2 × 5 = 840,
numbers must be odd and the other must be even. and the HCF is the product of the numbers in the
So the only possibilities are 16 + 1, 16 + 9 and overlap, which is
25 + 4, and none of these sums is equal to 31. 2 × 2 × 7 = 28.
The second number, 37, has remainder 1 when it is (b) The diagram is below.
divided by 4, and it can be written as the sum of
two square numbers: 37 = 36 + 1. So the two
prime numbers 31 and 37 provide further evidence
for the conjecture.

2 5
It has been proved that the conjecture above 18 30
3
is true. That is, the odd prime numbers that 3
can be written as a sum of two square
numbers are those that have remainder 1
when they are divided by 4. This theorem is
known as Fermat’s Christmas Theorem,
because the French mathematician Pierre de
The LCM of 18 and 30 is the product of all the
Fermat (1601–1665) announced it in a letter
numbers inside the circles, which is
to Marin Mersenne dated 25 December 1640.
Fermat’s proof of the theorem was 3 × 2 × 3 × 5 = 90.
incomplete, however, and the missing steps The HCF of 18 and 30 is the product of the
were provided by the Swiss mathematician numbers in the overlap, which is
Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) about a hundred 2 × 3 = 6.
years later.
Activity 13
(a) (i) 34 × 33 = 34+3 = 37
Activity 9
(ii) 72 × 7 = 72+1 = 73
2 2
(a) 300 = 2 × 3 × 5
(iii) 102 × 103 × 104 = 102+3+4 = 109
(b) Any factor tree gives the same answer.
(iv) 34 × 512 cannot be written any more
Activity 10 concisely in index form, because the base numbers
are different.
(a) 72 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 = 23 × 32
(v) 8 × 25 = 23 × 25 = 23+5 = 28
(b) 855 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 19 = 32 × 5 × 19
3 3
(vi) 9 × 3 = 32 × 3 = 32+1 = 33
(c) 1000 = 2 × 5
(b) 294 × 441 = (2 × 3 × 72 ) × (32 × 72 )
(d) 847 = 7 × 112
= 2 × 31+2 × 72+2
Activity 11 = 2 × 33 × 74
9= 32
Activity 14
18 = 2 × 32
An estimate for the number of atoms in the
30 = 2 × 3 × 5 observable universe, obtained using the figures in
(a) The LCM of 18 and 30 is 2 × 32 × 5 = 90. the question, is
The HCF of 18 and 30 is 2 × 3 = 6. 1027 × 1030 × 1012 × 1011 = 1027+30+12+11
(b) The LCM of 9, 18 and 30 is 2 × 32 × 5 = 90. = 1080 .
The HCF of 9, 18 and 30 is 3. This is much less than a googol, which is 10100 .

170
 Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 15 (v) 2 17 + 4 72 = 2 + 4 + 1 2
7 + 7 = 67
3

76 (vi) 3 34 − 1 51 = 3 − 1 + 34 − 15
(a) (i) 76 ÷ 72 = = 76−2 = 74
72 15
= 2 + 20 − 204
= 2 11
20
216 1 1 1 6 4 3 13 1
(ii) = 216−8 = 28 (vii) 2 + 3 + 4 = 12 + 12 + 12 = 12 = 1 12
28
521 (b) Half of all drivers are under the age of 35, so
(iii) The quotient 5 cannot be written any more half are aged 35 or over. One-seventh are over the
3
concisely in index form, because the base numbers age of 65, so the fraction of drivers who are
are different. between 35 and 65 years of age is
1 1 7 2 5
37 2 − 7 = 14 − 14 = 14 .
(iv) = 37−1 = 36
3 So five-fourteenths of UK drivers are aged between
3456 27 × 33 35 and 65. (This is slightly more than a third of
(b) = 2 = 27−2 × 33−1 = 25 × 32 UK drivers, since 155
= 31 .)
12 2 ×3
Activity 16 Activity 20
1
(a) (52 )4 = 58 5 3 ✑5 3 3
(a) (i) × = × =
(b) (73 )2 = 76 8 10 8 10
✑✑ 16
2
(c) (35 )3 × 32 = 315 × 32 = 317
(ii) 54 × 3 = 54 × 13 = 125 = 25
2
(25 )2 210
(d) = = 28 (The answer can be left as a top-heavy fraction or
22 22
( 5 !2 written as a mixed number.)
2
(e) = (23 )2 = 26 (iii) 1 13 × 2 56 = 4
3 × 17
6
22 2
174
✑
Activity 17 = = 34
× 7
9 = 39
3 ✑
✑6
(a) (i) 214 = (3 × 7)4 = 34 × 74 3
" $3 (b) The fraction of students who work for more
(ii) 243 = (23 × 3)3 = 23 × 33 = 29 × 33 than 35 hours per week is
( !2 1
2 22 4 2 1 ✑ 2 1 1
(b) (i) = 2 = × = × = .
7 7 49 5 4 5 ✑4 10
( !3 2
3 33 27
(ii) = 3 =
4 4 64 Activity 21
Activity 18 If a quarter of teenage girls and less than a quarter
of teenage boys smoke, then less than a quarter of
(a) (−3)2 = (−3) × (−3) = 9 all teenagers smoke. The fraction five-twelfths is
(b) (−3)3 = (−3) × (−3) × (−3) greater than a quarter, so it cannot be correct.
5
= 9 × (−3) = −27 The fraction 12 is obtained by adding 14 and 16 , but
this is not the correct calculation. The correct
(c) (−2)4 = (−2) × (−2) × (−2) × (−2) calculation is as follows.
= 4 × 4 = 16 About half of teenagers are girls, so the fraction of
(d) (−1)4 = (−1) × (−1) × (−1) × (−1) teenagers who are girls and smokers is
1 1 1
=1×1=1 2 × 4 = 8.
(e) (−1)5 = (−1)4 × (−1) = 1 × (−1) = −1 Similarly, the fraction of teenagers who are boys
and smokers is
Activity 19 1 1 1
2 × 6 = 12 .
2 4 6 2
(a) (i) 9 + 9 = 9 = 3 Therefore the fraction of all teenagers who smoke is
1 1 3 2 5
8 + 12 = 24 + 24 = 24 .
7 9 21 9 30 5
(ii) 8 + 24 = 24 + 24 = 24 = 4 = 1 14
5 1
(iii) 11 3 8 4 (The fraction is halfway between and 16 .)
14 − 14 = 14 = 7 24 4
5 1 10 3 7
(iv) 6 − 4 = 12 − 12 = 12

171
Unit 3 Numbers

Activity 22 Activity 25
3 (a) 1.5 trillion = 1.5 × 1012 , which is in scientific
4 6 3 ✑ 6 3 9 1
(a) (i) 6 ÷ = × = × = =4 notation, and 61 million = 61 × 106 = 6.1 × 107 .
3 1 4 1 4
✑ 2 2
2 (b) The amount of public debt per person, in
3 pounds, is
3 11 3 24 3 24
✑
✑ 9
(ii) ÷ = × = × = 1.5 × 1012 1.5 1012
8 24 8 11 ✑ 8 11 11 = ×
1 6.1 × 107 6.1 107
1 3 = 0.25 × 1012−7 (to 2 s.f.)
4 16 4 9 ✑4 ✑✑9 3
(iii) 1 13 ÷ 1 79 = ÷ = × = × = = 0.25 × 105
3 9 3 16 ✑3 ✑16
✑ 4
1 4 = 25 000
(b) The number of components that the factory So the headline would be as follows.
worker can make in a week is Bailouts add £1.5 trillion to Britain’s public debt
15 2
1 1 75 5 75 4 75
✑✑ ✑ 4 – that’s about £25 000 for each person!
37 2 ÷ 1 4 = ÷ = × = × = 30.
2 4 2 5 2 ✑
✑ 5
1 1 Activity 26
Activity 23 (a) The approximate length in metres of an
" 1 $0 ordinary guitar, divided by the length in metres of
(a) 2 =1 the nano guitar, is
(b) 7 −1
= 1 1 1 1
7 −6
= 1+(−6) = −5 = 105 = 100 000.
10 × 10 10 10
1 1
(c) 7−2 = 2 = So the nano guitar is 100 000 times smaller than an
7 49 ordinary guitar.
" $−1 (
(d) 13 =3 1
" 2 $−1 5 You can work out that −5 = 105 in either of
(e) 5 =2 10
" 1 $−2 the following ways. You can use the index law
(f ) 3 = 32 = 9 1
a−n = n :
" $−2 " 5 $2 25 a
(g) 52 = 2 = 4 1
" 1 $−3 = 10−(−5) = 105 .
(h) 3 = 33 = 27 10−5
am
1 1 1 Or you can use the index law n = am−n :
(i) (−2)
−3
= = =− a !
3 −8 8 0
(−2) 1 10
= −5 = 100−(−5) = 105 .
10−5 10
Activity 24
(b) The approximate width in metres of a human
(a) (i) 7723 = 7.723 × 103 hair, divided by the width in metres of a string of
(ii) 50 007 000 = 5.0007 × 107 the nano guitar, is
(iii) 0.100 34 = 1.0034 × 10−1 100 × 10−6 100 10−6
= × −9
50 × 10−9 50 10
(iv) 0.000 208 = 2.08 × 10−4
= 2 × 10−6−(−9)
(b) (i) The population of the world at the time
= 2 × 103
of writing is about 6.77 × 109 people.
= 2000.
(ii) The mass of the Sun is about 1.99 × 1030 kg.
So a string of the nano guitar is 2000 times less
(iii) The mass of a hydrogen atom is about wide than a human hair.
1.674 × 10−27 kg.
(c) (i) 7.04 × 103 = 7040 Activity 28
√
(ii) 4.52 × 104 = 45 200 (a) 9=3
√
(iii) 7.3 × 10−2 = 0.073 (b) 3 8 = 2
√
(iv) 2.045 × 10−5 = 0.000 020 45 (c) 3 27 = 3

172
 Solutions and comments on Activities

√
4
√ √
(d) 16 = 2 8 4×2 4× 2× 2 √
(d) √ = √ = √ =4 2
(e) Two square roots of 9 are ±3. 2 2 2
(f ) Two fourth roots of 16 are ±2. Activity 33
√ √ √
Activity 29 (a) 3+ 3=2 3
√ √ √ √ √
(a) 1764 = 36 × 49 = 6 × 7 = 42 (b) The roots in the surd 2 + 5 are different
' √ (and are in their simplest forms), so the surd
4 4 2 cannot be simplified.
(b) (i) =√ = √ √ √
9 9 3
' √ (c) 7 3 − 2 3 = 5 3
36 36 6 √ √ √ √
(ii) =√ = (d) 5 8 − 2 2 = 5 4 × 2 − 2 2
49 49 7 √ √
' √ =5×2 2−2 2
1 1 1 √ √
(iii) =√ = = 10 2 − 2 2
4 4 2 √
=8 2
Activity 30
√ √ √ √ √ Activity 34
(a) 8= 4×2= 4 2=2 2 1 √
√ √ √ √ √ (a) 16 2 = 16 = 4
(b) 75 = 25 × 3 = 25 3 = 5 3 "√ $3
√ 3
(b) 9 2 = 9 = 33 = 27
(c) The surd 15 is already in its simplest form,
since the factors of 15 greater than 1 are 3, 5 1 1 1 1
(c) 4− 2 = =√ =
1
and 15, and none of these factors is a square 4 2 4 2
number. 5 "√ $5
√ √ √ √ √ (d) 4 2 = 4 = 25 = 32
(d) 56 = 4 × 14 = 4 14 = 2 14 " √ $2
(e) 27 3 = 3 27 = 32 = 9
2
√
(The root 14 cannot be simplified.)
√ √ √ √ √ Activity 36
(e) 48 = 16 × 3 = 16 3 = 4 3
(a) 18 : 3 = 6 : 1
Activity 31
√ √ √ (b) 12 : 60 : 18 = 2 : 10 : 3
(a) ( 7)2 = 7 × 7 = 7
√ √ (c) 2 : 0.5 : 1.5 = 4 : 1 : 3
(b) 7 × 3 7 = 3 × 7 = 21
√ √ √ (d) The ratio 6 : 12 : 7 is already in its simplest
(c) 7 × 14 = 7 × 14 form.
√
= 7×7×2
√ √ Activity 37
= 7×7× 2
√ (a) The ratio of children to staff for club A is
=7 2
√ √ √ 46 6
(d) 2 × 8 = 16 = 4 46 : 6 = : ≈ 7.7 : 1.
√ √ √ 6 6
(e) 2 3 × 3 2 = 6 6 The ratio of children to staff for club B is
√ √ √
(f ) 2 3 × 2 15 = 4 3 × 15 25 4
√ 25 : 4 = : ≈ 6.3 : 1.
=4 3×3×5 4 4
√ √
=4 3×3× 5 (b) Club B has fewer children per member of staff.
√
=4×3 5
√ Activity 38
= 12 5
(a) The number of non-taxpayers, in millions, was
Activity 32 approximately
√ √ √
10 2× 5 √ 61.0 − 31.9 = 29.1.
(a) √ = √ = 5 So the ratio of taxpayers to non-taxpayers was
2 2
√ √ approximately
5 5× 5 √ 31.9 29.1
(b) √ = √ = 5 31.9 : 29.1 = : = 1.096 . . . : 1 ≈ 1 : 1.
5 5 29.1 29.1
√ √ √
8 4×2 2 2 So there was about one non-taxpayer for every
(c) √ = √ = √ =2
2 2 2 taxpayer.

173
Unit 3 Numbers

(b) The number of ordinary taxpayers, in Activity 42

millions, was approximately (a) The aspect ratio is 16 : 4 = 4 : 1.
31.9 − 3.9 = 28.0.
(b) The aspect ratio is 6 : 4 = 3 : 2.
So the ratio of ordinary taxpayers to higher-rate
taxpayers was approximately (c) The aspect ratio is 7.5 : 5 = 15 : 10 = 3 : 2.
28.0 3.9 Remember that the aspect ratio of a rectangle is
28.0 : 3.9 = : the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side.
3.9 3.9
= 7.179 . . . : 1
Activity 43
≈ 7 : 1.
(a)
So there were about seven ordinary taxpayers for
Aspect ratio Aspect ratio
every higher-rate taxpayer.
Print size in simplest in form
Activity 39 form ‘number : 1’

(a) In winter conditions the recommended ratio of 6×4 3:2 1.50 : 1

screenwash to water is 1 : 4, so there are 1 + 4 = 5 7×5 7:5 1.40 : 1
parts. 8×6 4:3 1.33 : 1
9×6 3:2 1.50 : 1
The volume of screenwash needed is
10 × 8 5:4 1.25 : 1
1
5 × 2000 ml = 400 ml, 12 × 8 3:2 1.50 : 1
and the volume of water needed is
4 (b) The three most appropriate print sizes for
5 × 2000 ml = 1600 ml.
photographs taken with a camera that produces
(Check: 400 + 1600 = 2000.)
3 : 2 images are 6 × 4, 9 × 6 and 12 × 8, since all of
(b) In severe winter conditions the recommended these have aspect ratio 3 : 2.
ratio of screenwash to water is 2 : 1, so there are
The next most appropriate print size is 7 × 5. This
2 + 1 = 3 parts.
is because 3 : 2 = 1.50 : 1, and the aspect ratio in
The volume of screenwash needed is the table closest to 1.50 : 1 is 1.40 : 1 = 7 : 5. So
2
3 × 2000 ml ≈ 1300 ml,
less of the picture will be lost in a print with
and the volume of water needed is aspect ratio 7 : 5 than in a print with aspect ratio
1 4 : 3, for example.
3 × 2000 ml ≈ 700 ml.
(Check: 1300 + 700 = 2000.) Activity 44
16
Activity 40 (a) The scale factor is = 4 = 400%.
4
3
(a) 4 =3:4 7.5
(b) The scale factor is = 2.5 = 250%.
(b) 1.75 = 1.75 : 1 = (1.75 × 4) : 4 = 7 : 4 3
4
(c) 0.2 = 0.2 : 1 = (0.2 × 5) : 5 = 1 : 5 (c) The scale factor is = 0.2 = 20%.
20
Activity 41 Activity 46
(a) The ratio of cars to people in the United (a) By looking at the shorter sides of the
Kingdom was
rectangles in Figure 23, you can see that a length
27.0 of w cm must be scaled up to a length of aw cm.
≈ 0.45, √
59.6 So the scale factor needed is a = 2.
and the ratio of cars to people in Germany was (b) Similarly, from Figure 23 you can see that a
45.0 length of aw cm must be scaled down to a length
≈ 0.55. 1 1
82.5 of w cm, so the scale factor needed is = √ .
a 2
(b) Germany had the larger ratio of cars to
people. (It had about 55 cars for every 100 people, √ 1
(c) 2 ≈ 1.41 = 141% and √ ≈ 0.71 = 71%, so
whereas the UK had about 45 cars for every 2
100 people.) the given values are the scale factors needed for
enlarging or reducing from one ISO 216 paper size
to the next size.

174
UNIT 4

Statistical summaries
 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Introduction
‘Statistical thinking will one This is the first of two units in the course that deal with statistical ideas.
day be as necessary for It looks first at some of the kinds of question that can be addressed by
efficient citizenship as the statistical methods and then at some issues that arise when appropriate
ability to read and write.’
data have been collected. It then provides an introduction to some
Attributed to H.G. Wells, an important statistical techniques for finding numerical summaries (for
English science fiction author.
example, calculating an average or a measure of spread) in order to see
more clearly some of the useful information provided by the data.
This unit presents statistical techniques in the context of practical
investigations. As you will see, in any purposeful statistical investigation,
there are four useful stages that can help you to organise your planning of
the tasks that need to be carried out. In fact, they make up a statistical
version of the general mathematical modelling cycle that you met in Unit 2.
In this unit you will see how to use these four stages in the context of
using calculations to reveal patterns in data. Then, in the second unit on
statistics (Unit 11), you will look again at the four stages, this time in the
context of statistical pictures (charts and graphs).

1 Questions, questions
You only need to glance at a newspaper, a magazine, television or the
internet to see that statistical information is all around you. A key aim of
this unit is to present statistical ideas as more than simply facts and
techniques – statistical thinking is presented as a helpful way of seeing the
A quantitative view uses world quantitatively (as opposed to qualitatively), and could become a
numbers such as measurements valuable tool in your decision-making toolbox.
and counts. A qualitative view
describes what something is like Mathematical thinking can also be viewed in this way and, indeed, many
in words, for example, ‘small, of the remarks about statistics in this unit can be equally applied to
medium, large’. mathematics in general.
‘Statistics’ can be used as either Here are some of the ways in which statistics is unavoidable in our lives.
a singular or a plural word.
Statistics in its plural form is • Numbers: each person operates within a variety of key life roles, such
probably more familiar to you: as at work, at home, as a consumer and in the wider community. In
statistics are numerical facts. each of these environments, you are presented with information, often
Statistics in its singular form – in the form of numbers, that must be processed and interpreted if you
allowing the wording ‘statistics are to be a successfully functioning worker, family member, consumer
is’ – refers to statistics, like
mathematics, as a scientific
and citizen.
subject. The former are part of • Graphs and charts: statistical information often takes a visual form.
the concern of the latter! You need to know how to interpret these ‘data pictures’, both in terms
of the overall trends and patterns they suggest and also by knowing
how to pull out and examine some of the relevant detail.
In fact, increasingly, almost every subject that you might wish to study
has become more quantitative, making it ever more important to have a
sound grasp of basic statistics.
Much of this statistical information arises as an attempt to answer
questions of various kinds. For example, should people stop smoking?
Should we drive more carefully? But they often end up raising just as
many questions as they answer!

176
 1 Questions, questions

1.1 Types of statistical question

Before rushing into answering any question, it is always a good idea to ask:
‘Have I seen one like this before?’ Most of the questions and forms of
investigation that occur in statistics can be categorised into one of the
following three types.

Summarising: how can the information be reduced?

Looking at a lot of facts and figures does not always provide you with a
clear picture of what is going on. To avoid data overload, it is often a good
idea to find a way of summarising the information – perhaps by reducing
the many figures to just one representative number.
For example, in many places, especially along a river, one town’s waste
water discharge may be part of the next town’s water supply. It makes
sense to monitor the water quality by taking regular measurements of the
quality of the river water. This might require hourly measures of the
number of milligrams per litre of solids in the water, sampled at many Figure 1 Sampling water
different points on the river. Quite quickly, such a mass of data is quality
generated that it can become difficult to see any underlying patterns. Imagine being handed the
What is needed is some way of reducing many figures into just a few hourly measurements over a
representative ones. Computing a simple daily average, both globally for whole month, for twenty
different points along the river.
the entire stretch of the river and locally for each sample point, will For a 30-day month, this would
provide a useful summary of the levels of pollution. consist of 14 400 numbers!
A second, and equally powerful, way of summarising data is to represent
the numbers pictorially using statistical charts or plots – a central theme
of Unit 11.
Here are some more examples of investigations of the form ‘how many?’ or
‘how much?’:
• How many people die from road accidents each day in the UK?
• What is the typical cost of a tube of toothpaste?
• How old are the students studying MU123?
These are the sorts of questions where a summary in the form of a simple
average can really clarify things.

Comparing: is there a difference?

Many of the decisions that we make are based on deciding whether or not
there is a difference between two things – does one thing perform better,
last longer, or offer better value for money than another?
For example, suppose that in a particular town, some traffic-calming
measures are introduced in order to reduce the speed of the vehicles. How
would you know whether the initiative was successful? The relevant
comparison here is between vehicle speeds before and after the initiative.
Let’s suppose that a sample of 20 vehicle speeds were recorded both before
and after, and that the average speed did indeed fall slightly. What might
be your conclusion? One possible explanation might be that the
traffic-calming measures have worked. However, there are several problems
with this conclusion. First, sample sizes of only 20 are too small to be
reliable; one speeding car in the first sample may have made all the
difference. Second, it is likely that the speeds of different vehicles vary
quite a lot, so differences are to be expected anyway. Third, the difference
between the two averages was small. And finally, the lower speeds might
have been brought about by some other factor, such as a greater density of

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traffic in the ‘after’ phase of the experiment, perhaps because it was school
term time. So an alternative explanation is that the result is just a matter
of chance and that if the experiment were to be repeated, a different
conclusion might be drawn. We’ll return to this scenario in Activity 3,
where you’ll be asked to think about how we might perform a more formal
statistical investigation into the effects of traffic-calming measures.
In general, investigations involving comparing two averages will depend on
several factors, such as the sizes of the samples on which the averages are
based, the degree of variation that one might reasonably expect to see in
such values, and whether the size of the observed difference is sufficiently
large to act upon.
Here are some examples of ‘comparing’ investigations following on from the
previous three examples:
• Do more people, on average, die from road accidents on weekdays or at
weekends?
• How does the cost of Brand X toothpaste compare with that of
Brand Y?
• Are students studying MU123 older or younger than students on an
introductory Arts course?

Seeking a relationship: what sort of relationship is there?

Sometimes a statistical question is not about differences between two or
more sets of results but about investigating a possible relationship between
quite separate things.
For example, as far back as the 1950s, medical researchers were able to link
Sir Richard Doll, one of the the number of cigarettes smoked to the incidence of lung cancer. At the
scientists famous for time they found that countries with relatively high smoking rates, like
establishing the link between the UK, also showed high levels of lung cancer, whereas countries with low
smoking and lung cancer,
originally suspected tarmac as
smoking levels, like Iceland and Norway, also had low rates of lung cancer.
the cause. Sir Ronald Fisher, Of course, there were other factors at play that may have affected lung
an eminent statistician and cancer rates, and it is part of the statistician’s job to try to isolate and so
leading sceptic about the link, take account of each of the relevant factors. It is important to remember
suggested a genetic link that a statistical association between two measures does not prove a
between lung cancer and the
cause-and-effect relationship between them. For example, the changes in
propensity to smoke.
both measures may be caused by a third factor, such as (in the smoking
The first paper to propose the example) that the citizens of some countries may experience a high level of
link between smoking and
general stress, which encourages smoking and also contributes to lung
lung cancer was R. Doll and
A.B. Hill (1950) ‘Smoking cancer.
and carcinoma of the lung. If there appears to be a relationship between two factors, it is often useful
Preliminary report.’, British
Medical Journal, vol. 2,
to determine what that relationship is. That is, how much does one factor
pp. 739–748. change relative to the other? Here are some more examples in which we
might investigate whether there is a relationship between the factors under
consideration:
• Are the numbers of road deaths in different countries linked to their
respective maximum speed limits?
• How does the cost of tubes of toothpaste depend on their size?
• What is the connection between the numbers of hours that students
work on a level 3 course in mathematics and their final grade?

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 1 Questions, questions

Classifying statistical investigations

Three types of investigation have been described above:
• summarising
It will be convenient to use the
• comparing single word ‘relationship’ to
• seeking a relationship. point to the third type of
investigation.
Activity 1 asks you to distinguish between summarising investigations and
those of other types.

Activity 1 Summarising or otherwise?

Which of the following investigations are summarising investigations, and

which belong to one of the other two categories – that is, either comparing
or relationship investigations? Do not try to distinguish between the latter
two categories just yet.
(a) How much does a typical loaf of bread cost?
(b) Do men earn more than women?
(c) How heavy is a typical bag of potato crisps?
(d) How do grades in an exam depend on the social backgrounds of the
students who take the exam?
(e) Is there a link between income level and ill-health?
(f) Did the introduction of car seat-belts save lives?
(g) What proportion of MU123 students are female?
(h) Are people taller than they were 100 years ago?

While summarising investigations are fairly easy to pick out, it can be less
easy to distinguish the other two. For example, suppose that an
investigation was to be set up to look into the question: ‘Do people with
long legs tend to run faster than people with short legs?’
Depending on how the investigation was approached, this could be based
either on comparing or on seeking a relationship. For example, one
possible approach would be to identify two separate groups of people,
those with long legs and those with short legs, and compare the running
speeds of the two groups. This would be an investigation based on
comparing. However, an alternative experimental design could be to
choose a sample of people randomly, measure the running speed and leg
length of each person, and see if there is a relationship between these two
measures. This would be an investigation based on seeking a relationship.
Activity 2 asks you to revisit the five investigations in Activity 1 that were
not based on summarising and try to classify them into one or other of the
two remaining types.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 2 Comparing or seeking a relationship?

Classify the investigations below into the ‘comparing’ and ‘relationship’

types.
(a) Do men earn more than women?
(b) How do grades in an exam depend on the social backgrounds of the
students who take the exam?
(c) Is there a link between income level and ill-health?
(d) Did the introduction of car seat-belts save lives?
(e) Are people taller than they were 100 years ago?

Exploring questions like those above gives a purpose and a direction to

statistical learning. In this unit and Unit 11, you will concentrate on
questions of the first two types above – summarising and comparing. The
third category of question, seeking a relationship between two things, is
not explored in great detail in this course, although there is a little on this
in Unit 6.

1.2 The statistical investigation cycle

As was mentioned in the Introduction to this unit, there are four clearly
identifiable stages in most statistical investigations, which can be
summarised as follows.

The four stages of a statistical investigation

Stage 1 Pose a question
Stage 2 Collect relevant data
Stage 3 Analyse the data
Stage 4 Interpret the results

It may be helpful to think of these stages set out as a cycle, the PCAI
cycle, as illustrated in Figure 2. Here the problem starts in the real world
and is resolved by making a journey into the statistical world and back
again. Complete resolution of the problem might require several trips
around the cycle.

P Real
world
Statistical
world A

I
Figure 2 The PCAI statistical investigation cycle
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 1 Questions, questions

Note that it is important to be as specific as possible in posing a statistical

question. The more focused the question, the better the investigation can
be attuned to the question, and the better the chance of obtaining a useful
answer. The less focused the question, the wider the investigation and the
greater the chance that nothing very informative will come out of it.
Not surprisingly, different statistical techniques apply to different stages of
the statistical modelling cycle.
• P: Posing a clear question should normally be the first stage of any
statistical work. The decision as to which techniques are to be used
subsequently will depend on the sort of question that has been asked at
the start of the investigation.
• C: Collecting relevant data will involve issues such as choosing samples
and designing questionnaires.
• A: This stage, analysing the data, is where techniques like calculating
averages and plotting graphs and charts will take place.
• I: The final stage, interpreting the results, takes the action back to the
original context from which the initial question was posed. Does the
data analysis help to answer the original question? If ‘yes’, then you
can stop there. If ‘no’, then you may need to travel around the cycle
once again, perhaps this time with a slightly modified question or using
different analytical techniques.

Activity 3 Applying the PCAI cycle to a traffic-calming investigation

Consider a possible investigation, mentioned on page 177, into whether

traffic-calming measures are successful in reducing vehicle speed. Spend a
few minutes performing a ‘back-of-an-envelope’ design of this investigation, That is, jot down a few ideas.
thinking about the various tasks involved. Then answer the questions It’s amazing how many useful
below. things can be (and have been)
written, drawn or scrawled on
(a) Try to write a description of how this investigation might be the back of an envelope!
conducted, using the stages of the PCAI cycle set out above.
(b) This investigation was introduced as an example of a comparing
investigation. What kind of statistical techniques do you think might
be involved in the ‘A’ stage in this case?

The discussion in this subsection should all be rather reminiscent of the

four-stage mathematical modelling cycle described in Unit 2; see Table 1
below.

Table 1 A comparison of the four stages of statistical and

mathematical modelling
Stage Statistical modelling Mathematical modelling (as in Unit 2)
1 P: pose question Clarify question or problem
2 C: collect data Make assumptions; collect data
3 A: analyse data Use mathematics to describe the problem
and obtain results
4 I: interpret results Interpret and check results

Activity 4 asks you to think further about three of the four stages of the
PCAI cycle and what sorts of statistical work might be linked to each one.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 4 Organising the tasks of an investigation

Here are nine of the common types of task that tend to arise in the C, A
and I stages of a statistical investigation. Try to match each task to one of
these three stages and then fill in the table below.
• Calculate an average
• Calculate a percentage
• Choose a set of values, or sample
• Make a decision based on an observed, numerical difference
• Design a questionnaire
• Draw a conclusion
• Draw a helpful graph
• Key the data into a spreadsheet
• Make a prediction about the real world

C, A and I stages of a statistical investigation

Collect relevant data:

Analyse the data:

Interpret the results:

Activity 5 Thinking through the stages of an investigation

Conventional wisdom suggests that clouds tend to act as a warm blanket,

keeping heat in at night and preventing the ground temperature from
dropping too far. But is there any evidence, either way, with which to
answer the question: ‘Do clouds keep heat in?’
Spend up to ten minutes thinking about how you might investigate this
question, and then use the four PCAI headings to organise your ideas.
Note that you are not asked to carry out this investigation but just to
think through the stages involved.

This section concerned two ways of thinking about and addressing

statistical questions.
The first was the categorisation of statistical investigations into three
types: summarising, comparing or seeking a relationship.
Second, the PCAI statistical investigation cycle was introduced. This
cycle, which may be gone around more than once, consists of four stages:
posing a question (P), collecting relevant data (C), analysing the data (A),
and interpreting the results (I).

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 2 Dealing with data

2 Dealing with data

This section looks at some issues to do with collecting data (stage ‘C’ of ‘ “Data! Data! Data!”, he
the PCAI cycle) as well as some important distinctions between different cried impatiently. “I can’t
types of data, which have relevance when it comes to stage ‘A’, analysing make bricks without clay.”
the data. From The Adventure of the
Copper Beeches, a Sherlock
Holmes story by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, first published
2.1 Primary and secondary data in 1892.
Having identified the question of interest in the ‘P’, pose a question, stage
of the PCAI cycle, how might you go about the ‘C’ stage – collect relevant
data?
You might consider collecting some data yourself. This might be
particularly appropriate if the question of interest is one very specific to
you and your surroundings or on which you can collect relevant data quite
easily. Data that you collect yourself are called primary data. For more
substantial research questions, this tends to be a reasonable approach only
if ‘yourself’ refers to a research team in a university, company or other
research unit.
As was mentioned at the start of Subsection 1.1, ‘Types of statistical
question’, before rushing into collecting data about any question, it is
always a good idea to ask: ‘Has anyone collected data on this before?’ The
answer is often ‘yes’ ! Secondary data are data that already exist and
can be used or adapted for your purpose.
In this information age, secondary data are plentiful and often readily
available through the internet, published literature and other sources.
However, inevitably the quality of such data is highly variable. There are a
number of consistently reliable sources such as UK government statistics,
which are generally professionally collected and presented and free from
bias. For example, a useful source of statistical data is Social Trends, an
annual publication from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which
can be downloaded freely from its website (simply type ‘social trends’ into
an internet search engine to find its site).
However, other sites are set up by organisations that may want to sell you
some product or promote a particular set of ideas. In some cases, the data
that they present may be subject to bias and distortion, and such sites are
best avoided as sources of reliable secondary data.
Data are usually presented as ‘datasets’. A dataset is a collection of data,
usually presented in tabular form, or as a single row, or sometimes as a
single column. In this unit you will see all three ways of presenting
datasets.
An important convention when presenting any dataset, whether primary or
secondary, is to provide an accurate reference to the data source (so that
the reader can check the details if they so wish).

Backache in pregnancy
Table 2 contains an extract of data taken from a larger, secondary dataset
collected at the London Hospital (now Royal London Hospital). It was
designed to help answer questions concerning backache in pregnant women,
including: How common is it and how severe? Which factors affect it?
Which factors alleviate it?

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Table 2 Backache in pregnancy dataset

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

Month Weight Weight

of at start at end Weight
1 Back pregnancy of of of Number Relieved Relieved Aggravated Aggravated
Patient pain pain Age Height pregnancy pregnancy baby of by by hot by by
number severity started (years) (m) (kg) (kg) (kg) children aspirin? bath? fatigue? bending?

2 1 1 0 26 1.52 54.5 75 3.35 0 0 0 0 0

3 2 3 0 23 1.6 59.1 68.6 2.22 1 1 0 0 0
4 3 2 6 24 1.57 73.2 82.7 4.15 0 0 0 1 0
5 4 1 8 22 1.52 41.4 47.3 2.81 0 0 0 0 0
6 5 1 0 27 1.6 55.5 60 3.75 1 0 0 0 0
7 6 1 7 32 1.75 70.5 85.5 4.01 2 0 0 0 0
8 7 1 0 24 1.73 76.4 89.1 34 0 0 0 0 0
9 8 1 8 25 1.63 70 85 4.01 1 0 0 1 0
10 9 2 6 20 1.55 52.3 59.5 3.69 1 0 0 0 0
11 10 2 8 18 1.63 83.2 90.9 3.3 99 1 0 0 0
12 11 1 0 21 1.65 64.5 75.5 2.95 0 0 0 0 0
13 12 1 0 26 1.55 49.5 53.6 2.64 0 1 0 1 0
14 13 2 6 35 1.65 70 82.7 3.64 7 0 1 0 1
15 14 1 8 26 1.6 52.3 64.5 4.49 1 0 1 0 0
16 15 1 6 34 1.68 68.2 77.3 3.75 3 0 0 1 0
17 16 0 0 25 1.5 47.3 55 2.73 1 0 0 0 0
18 17 1 7 42 1.52 66.8 73.2 2.44 6 0 0 0 1
19 18 2 6 26 1.65 70 81.4 3.01 1 0 0 0 0
20 19 2 6 18 1.6 56.4 70 3.89 1 0 0 0 0
21 20 0 1 42 1.65 53.6 2.73 2 0 0 0 0
22 21 2 0 28 1.63 59.1 72.3 3.75 99 0 0 0 0
23 22 1 0 26 1.52 44.5 56.4 3.49 0 0 0 0 0
24 23 1 0 23 1.57 55.9 60.9 3.07 0 0 0 0 0
25 24 2 6 21 1.55 57.3 77.3 3.35 0 0 0 99 99
26 25 2 7 32 1.52 69.5 75.5 3.64 5 0 1 0 1
27 26 1 8 18 1.6 73.2 81.4 2.05 0 0 0 0 1
28 27 1 0 25 1.7 2.44 1 1 0 0 0
29 28 1 0 29.916666 1.63 62.7 72.3 3.07 4 0 0 0 0
30 29 1 0 19 1.92 73.6 92.7 3.35 0 0 0 0 0
31 30 2 7 26 1.65 70 89.1 3.21 1 0 0 1 1
32 31 1 8 28 1.68 56.69905 70.9 3.41 0 0 0 0 0
33 32 1 0 21 1.6 58.2 69.5 3.3 0 0 0 0 1
34 33 0 0 29 1.57 68.2 7.5 3.35 0 0 0 0 0

Source: M.J. Mantle et al. (1977) ‘Backache in pregnancy’, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, no. 16,
pp. 95–101, quoted in C. Chatfield (1988) Problem solving: a statistician’s guide, London,
Chapman and Hall.

In order to make the dataset manageable for your work in this unit, the
number of respondents has been reduced from 180 women to 33, and the
number of items of information reduced from 33 to 13. Note also that the
data have been laid out in a spreadsheet format, with numbered rows
(1, 2, 3, . . . ) and lettered columns (A, B, C, . . . ) which will facilitate
identifying particular items of data by their column/row references.
In the remainder of the unit, This dataset will be used to illustrate most of the issues concerned with
this dataset will be referred to handling data in this section, and to that end, a few of the data values
as the backache dataset. from the original source have been changed. Several of the columns in this
table have been entered into the course software resource Dataplotter but,
for reasons that will be explained shortly, a few of the data values from
this table have been changed. (Also, you won’t get around to directly
considering the questions concerning backache here as we will focus on
making sense of the numbers.)
Take a quick look at these data. The first thing to notice is that each row
corresponds to results for one patient, and each column – except the first –
to a specific item measured. The first column just contains patient
reference numbers. (Notice that because there are column headings in
row 1, the patient reference numbers are unfortunately not the same as the
table row numbers – a common occurrence.)
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 2 Dealing with data

Activity 6 Scanning the data

Look carefully at the 13 column headings in Table 2 and try to get a sense
of what each is measuring. Then try to come up with a few impressions
that strike you about the variations in the numbers in the table.

2.2 Discrete and continuous data

The distinction between ‘discrete’ and ‘continuous’ measures is important Note that the word ‘discrete’ is
as it provides useful information about the nature of the data collected. As not the same as ‘discreet’, which
an introduction to these terms, here is a context that should help you get a means ‘unobtrusive and
restrained’.
sense of how they are used.
Look at the picture in Figure 3, which shows a route through a forest. The
path itself is continuous, so any position on the path is possible, whereas
the stepping-stones placed on the path are discrete; they represent distinct,
separate positions with nothing in between any two consecutive steps.
Using the path, you might mark your journey in terms of a measured
distance, whereas taking the same journey on the stepping-stones involves
counting out steps (first, second, third, and so on). In general, this
distinction between measuring and counting is a useful way of identifying
which measures are discrete and which are continuous.
When it comes to statistical data, the same distinction can be made. An
example of discrete data is measurement of shoe size. You can talk about
shoe sizes of, say, 7 21 or 9, but a shoe size of, say, 8.314 cannot occur in
practice, since shoe sizes are restricted to either whole or half sizes. Foot
length, on the other hand, has no such restriction – it is something that is
measured on a continuous scale of measure and therefore produces
continuous data. Figure 3 Discrete stepping
stones on a continuous forest
Turn back to the data in Table 2. One of the clearest distinctions between
path
the numbers in the columns is that in some columns, the numbers seem to
be discrete values while in other columns, the numbers seem to come from
a continuous scale. Discrete data are data that can take one of a
particular set of values; such data typically, though not necessarily, take
integer values.
Here are some examples of discrete data:
• the number of days in a week on which one takes exercise
• the number of times a particular website is visited in a day
• the quality of a person’s recovery after a serious accident when coded 0
for full recovery, 1 for partial recovery, 2 for failure to recover.
Often, as in the first two examples, discrete data arise from a process of
counting, sometimes over a limited range of possible integer outcomes (for
example, up to a maximum of 7 days in a week), at other times over an
unlimited range (for example, the number of ‘hits’ on a website, at least in
principle!). Sometimes, as in the third example, discrete data arise as a
convenient way of coding data whose outcome is really some non-numerical
category. A widely-occurring example of this is when there are just two
categories such as yes/no, pass/fail or true/false. Such data, coded by two
numerical values, are said to be binary data. The two values are often The ‘bi’ in binary means ‘two’ –
taken to be 1 and 0. as in bicycle (a cycle with two
wheels).

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 7 Identifying discrete data

Examples of columns containing discrete data in the backache dataset are

listed and explained below.

Columns Values Explanation

available
Back pain severity 0, 1, 2, 3 0 = ‘nil’
1 = ‘nothing worth troubling about’
2 = ‘troublesome but not severe’
3 = ‘severe’
Relieved by aspirin? 0, 1 0 = no
1 = yes

Note that the ‘Relieved by aspirin?’ question is a binary measure (with

just two outcomes).
Which other columns of data from the backache dataset do you think
contain discrete data?

Unlike discrete data, continuous data can take all the in-between values
on a number scale. In theory, and depending on the context, they may
take any numerical value from the set of real numbers, either negative or
positive. Alternatively, they may be constrained to be positive (e.g. the
length of a particular manufactured item) or they may be limited to a
finite interval (e.g. the percentage of active ingredient in a particular
compound, which can be anywhere between 0 and 100). In Table 2, the
columns not identified in Activity 7, namely ‘Height’, ‘Weight at start of
pregnancy’, ‘Weight at end of pregnancy’ and ‘Weight of baby’, contain
continuous data, as perhaps should ‘Age’. Notice that all of these columns
contain data that take positive values.

Mass and weight

Did you notice that the weights in Table 2 are given in kilograms,
even though the kilogram is a unit of mass?
The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of matter that it
contains, whereas its weight is a measure of the gravitational force
acting on it. Weight, being a force, is measured in newtons. However,
you will often see weights quoted in kilograms in everyday life and
this informal approach will sometimes be used in MU123 too.

Now, with counts (such as the number of days in a week on which a person
takes exercise) and other forms of discrete data, it is possible to give exact
answers. With measurements (such as the length of a particular
manufactured item), it is never possible to get an exact value, as the next
activity illustrates.

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 2 Dealing with data

Activity 8 Investigating measurement precision: how exact is exact?

Measure the width of a piece of A4 paper with a metric ruler and write
down your answer. Please do this before reading any further.

You were deliberately not told in this activity what level of precision to
use. You might have written down 21 cm and this would carry the
implication that the page width was nearer 21 cm than 20 cm or 22 cm.
Alternatively, you might have tried to be more precise and written down
21.1 cm or 211 mm. Again there would be an implication that the actual
measurement was nearer 211 mm than 210 mm or 212 mm. If you had
access to a more precise measuring device still, you might have been able
to write down 211.0 mm or 211.03 mm, and so on.
However, no matter how good your measuring device, you would never be
able to say what the exact width of the particular sheet of paper was.

(a) (b)

Figure 4 Images showing the ragged edge of a sheet of A4 paper magnified by a factor of (a) 40 and (b) 160

Indeed, as can be seen from Figure 4, at a microscopic level, the edge of a

piece of paper is by no means straight and smooth – in fact, the closer we
look, the rougher the edge appears to be! Clearly there is a limit to the
precision with which is it meaningful to describe its width. However, for
most practical purposes, there is no need for extreme precision, and
recording the value of the width correct to, say, the nearest centimetre or
the nearest millimetre may well suffice.
In practice, for all manufactured items there is a tolerance for the possible
range of sizes that each item can be. For example, according to the ISO
standard, the width of manufactured A4 paper should be 210 ± 2 mm
(i.e. between 208 and 212 mm). This is despite the mathematical exactness
suggested in Unit 3 of how ISO paper sizes relate to each other!

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

This argument about exact measurement applies to other continuous data

too: time, age, weight, height, temperature, distance, area, volume or
whatever. This is the sense in which each of the columns C to H in Table 2
can be considered to contain continuous data. It is just that the
measurement and recording process has resulted in these columns of data
being presented correct to the nearest month (when pain started), year
(age), millimetre (height), tenth of a kilogram (mothers’ weight
measurements), and hundredth of a kilogram (babies’ weights),
respectively.
It follows that while the actual values of two items of continuous data can
never strictly be identical, their stated values, given to a certain degree of
precision, may well be. For example, patients numbered 15 and 31 in
Table 2 are considered to be the same height, 1.68 m or 168 cm, correct to
the level of precision measured and recorded.

Activity 9 Discrete or continuous?

Which of the following are examples of continuous values and which are
discrete?
(a) Price of a loaf of bread, in pence
(b) Number of seagulls on a cliff face
(c) Time of an athlete running 1500 metres, in seconds
(d) Number of goals scored by a hockey team
(e) Distance between major cities, in miles
(f) TMA score achieved by a student
(g) Air temperature at midday at a weather station, in ◦ C
(h) Wind speed measured in kilometres per hour
(i) Wind speed on the Beaufort scale (e.g. gale force 8)

You would be right to think that all measured data are actually discrete,
but the idea of continuous data remains useful both conceptually and when
creating mathematical and statistical models of the world.

2.3 Checking and cleaning data

In Activity 6, your inspection of the data in Table 2 probably came up
with a number of apparent anomalies in the backache dataset. First, there
are some blank cells in the spreadsheet where data are missing. Second,
you probably also noticed the values of 99 appearing in columns that
otherwise contain only small integer values. These must be wrong: those in
cells I11 and I22 correspond to women having 99 children from previous
pregnancies; those in cells L25 and M25 are given in answer to yes/no
questions.
An explanation for these, other than a typing mistake, is that numbers
such as 99 are sometimes used as codes that signal ‘value missing’. (They
can cause trouble: missing data codes might not always be so easy to spot
and might even sometimes mistakenly correspond to reasonable actual
values.) Good documentation of the data file should make the presence
and value of a ‘missing data’ code clear, but with secondary data this

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 2 Dealing with data

information can get lost. Large datasets of real data inevitably contain
plenty of missing data, and sophisticated statistical methodology has been
developed to cope with these gaps.
Take another look at Table 2 on page 184. Are there any further
outstandingly large (or small) values in the backache dataset?
Column H contains the weights of the babies, in kilograms. The minimum
weight is 2.05 kg, which is not a great deal less than the next smallest
weights, 2.22 kg and 2.44 kg. The largest baby’s weight, however, appears
to be 34 kg (as you might have spotted in Activity 6). This impossible
value must surely be the result of a recording error. Most probably, the
decimal point was missed out of a weight of 3.4 kg (but without
confirmation from the original data collection source, there is no certainty
that this is the explanation).

Activity 10 Examining unusual values in columns of data

Scan the following columns of the backache data in Table 2 and comment
on whether or not you think there might be a problem with any of the
most extreme values in each column.
(a) Column G, weights of the mothers at the end of their pregnancies
(in kg).
(b) Column E, height (in m).

Outliers
One or more data values that are considerably smaller or larger than the
other values in the same dataset are called outliers. Sometimes, outliers
correspond to errors and it may be possible to correct them and thus
remove the outliers. However, as in the case of the tallest mother
mentioned in the solution to Activity 10, often there is no such obvious
reason and the outlier may just be an unusual, but not unreasonable,
observation. You might still wish to ignore or underplay the outlier to
come to conclusions about the rest of the data without the outlier
influencing results too strongly, or you might wish to embrace the outlier
as an important aspect of the data. Either way, again, there are
sophisticated statistical techniques available to deal with outliers but these
are not explored here.

2.4 Spurious precision

In the backache dataset, you probably noticed the values 29.916666 in Figure 5 Spot the outlier!
cell D29 and 56.69905 in cell F32. These are given with five or six decimal
places, whereas other entries in columns D and F are given with zero and
one decimal places, respectively. These values are surely examples of
spurious precision. In the first case, the data value seems to be a result The term ‘spurious’ means
of the person’s age being given as 29 years and 11 months, and 11 months ‘different from what it claims to
being 11/12 = 0.916666 years (given to six decimal places). It is likely that be’.
this value was entered as ‘= 29 + 11/12’, which would automatically be
displayed in its decimal form. In the second case, the spurious precision
has arisen by conversion, to kilograms, of data measured in different units
(pounds).

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 11 Converting spurious precision into appropriate precision

(a) Given that 1 pound is equivalent to 0.45359237 kilograms, use a

calculator to convert a weight of 125 pounds to kilograms. Express the
answer correct to five decimal places.
(b) What should the values in cells D29 and F32 be when (appropriately)
rounded to zero and one decimal places, respectively?

Spurious precision can arise in various ways. One way, which was
illustrated in Activity 11, is in the conversion of units – particularly
between metric and imperial measures. For example, a newspaper report
may state: ‘the flood water was 1 metre (3.2808 feet) deep . . . ’. Another
way is to imply that a quantity can be measured to a greater level of
precision than is possible with the measuring instrument used. For
instance, a household ruler may be used to measure lengths to the nearest
millimetre, so it would be incorrect to state a measurement to the nearest
tenth or hundredth of a millimetre, if the ruler is used.
Another way that spurious precision can arise is when figures are quoted to
a greater number of significant figures than is warranted in the context.
An example is contained in the following statement which appeared in a
newspaper report of a court case in 2005:
It was estimated that, over a nine-and-a-half year period, the
defendant stole £557 327.11.
The accused was a council employee who regularly stole a portion of the
money she was counting from the fees paid into machines by motorists in
car parks. Think about the quotation for a moment. Do you believe it?
Did she really keep a careful record of all the money taken and add it all
up accurately? Ah, no, the figure was ‘estimated’ – but by whom and how?

Activity 12 Where did the eleven pence come from?

It is most implausible that the amount of money stolen was exactly

£557 327.11.
(a) How do you think this figure might have been arrived at?
(b) In what sense is the figure spurious, and what might be a more
reasonable estimate?

The point about using a rounded figure for the amount stolen, £550 000, is
that it gives a fairer impression of the degree of precision of the data.
Generally speaking it is customary, when analysing data gathered by
others, to assume that the claimed precision is justified unless there is
definite evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, in displaying data it is
frequently unnecessary to retain their full precision. A key principle here is
that displayed data should be just precise enough to reveal the key
features – offering the reader an answer containing too many significant
figures can easily obscure these patterns in a mass of numbers.

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 2 Dealing with data

If you are collecting primary data, you should bear in mind the kinds of
difficulty with data discussed above, and do your best to avoid them. In
the case of secondary data, ideally you should be able to go back to the
original data collector and check with them any suspicions you have about
the data. Unfortunately, all too often this is not possible; with the passage
of time, details concerning data collection tend to be forgotten or lost.

2.5 Single and paired data

Column H of the backache dataset in Table 2 contains 33 values of the
weights of babies (in kg). This constitutes a single sample of weights of
babies from mothers, many of whom suffered from backache in pregnancy.
For the moment, ignore the remainder of the data in the table. Looking
just at column H, these values are all based on a single measure (weight)
and can be described as single data. These 33 numbers can be
summarised and represented in a variety of ways. You could calculate an
average: you will learn more about averages in Section 3, where two
different types of average are explored (the mean and the median).
Alternatively, you could measure how widely dispersed the values are – in
other words, whether the values are tightly clustered together or widely
spread. Three measures of spread are explained in Section 4. Finally, you
could plot the values to discern the overall pattern visually, and you will be
shown a number of useful statistical plots in Unit 11. The purpose of doing
these things would be to try to gain an insight into baby weights in general.
Suppose now that there was a second sample, of birth weights from a Dataset 1
different set of mothers, the babies in this second sample all being classed
as premature. This is now a two-sample, as opposed to one-sample, Dataset 2
dataset. Interest now is in comparing features of the birth weights of
premature babies with those of full-term babies. Other examples of making
statistical comparisons might include making a comparison between two
medical treatments or two commercial products. Again, a sample of
measures would be taken from each and the results compared. (When Figure 6 With two-sample
making such a statistical comparison, there is no requirement that the two data we are interested in
samples contain the same number of values, although they could do.) comparing
Now return to the babies recorded in the backache dataset in Table 2. A
statistical question of interest might be how the babies’ weights (in
column H) relate to the weights of their mothers at the start of their
pregnancy (column F). This question links two pieces of information for
each of the people in the study – a case of paired data. Interest centres
on how one of these pieces of data (birth weight) relates to the other
(mother’s weight). In statistical investigation terms, this falls under the
general heading of seeking a relationship. Although each measure can be
explored individually, the main point of collecting paired data is to assess A characteristic feature of paired
the relationship between the two variables in question. data is that the two data lists
must contain the same number
A number of important statistical ideas are linked to exploring of values. Also, for each item in
relationships to do with paired data (for example, regression and one list, there is a specific
scatterplots), and some of these ideas are discussed in Unit 6. corresponding item in the other.

To end this section on properties of data, tackle Activity 13, which asks
you to think more deeply about the various data types and how they are
typically used to draw sensible conclusions in a statistical investigation.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 13 Investigating mothers’ weights

Columns F and G of the backache dataset contain the weights at the

beginning of pregnancy and at the end of pregnancy for the same set of
mothers (ignoring the problem of missing data). Below are four
descriptions of possible datasets.
• Weights of mothers and of their babies
• Weights of mothers at end of pregnancy
• Weights of two samples of babies, one in the UK and one in France
• Weights of mothers and average earnings in 20 EU countries
Classify each of these datasets as two-sample data, paired data, single data
or two unrelated samples. Also, classify the relevance of each of these for
statistical investigation. (One is of no direct interest; one is useful for
summarising, one for comparing, and one for seeking a relationship.)
Lay out your solution in tabular form, by filling in the blank spaces below.

Datasets Data type(s) Relevance

Weights of mothers and
of their babies

Weights of mothers at
end of pregnancy

Weights of two samples

of babies, one in the UK
and one in France
Weights of mothers and
average earnings in
20 EU countries

In this section you looked at dealing with data – in particular, how to

classify and distinguish different types of data. Primary and secondary
data are terms that identify the data source – primary data you collect
yourself, whereas secondary data are taken from somewhere (or someone)
else. Data can be discrete, like shoe sizes, or continuous, like the
measurement of foot length. Subsection 2.3 explored questions to do with
precision, and then introduced the important idea of spurious precision,
where values are displayed to a greater-than-warranted number of
significant figures. Finally, you looked at single and paired data. Single
data are usually represented by a single set of values. Paired data, as the
name suggests, involve two related datasets with each data value in one
dataset corresponding to a data value in the other dataset. As you will see
later in this unit, with single data, the aim is usually to summarise a set of
values in order to get a handle on where they lie or to compare two sets of
values to see whether one set is bigger or more widely spread than the
other. With paired data there is usually a different aim – to investigate a
possible relationship between the two measures.

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 3 Summarising data: location

In the next two sections, we will concentrate on single data and how to
summarise the information that they contain.

3 Summarising data: location

In this section and the following one, you will take some first steps into
stage ‘A’ of the PCAI cycle, analysing the data that have been collected.
In particular, in this section you will look at simple summary measures of
what statisticians often call the location of a dataset, that is, a single
number that represents an ‘average’, ‘typical’ or ‘central’ value.

Activity 14 Location, location, location

A group of school students challenged their teachers to a speed-texting

competition. The 12 participants (5 teachers and 7 students) each sent a
short text message on a mobile phone. The times are given below, and for
convenience, the data have been sorted in order of size.
Teacher times (seconds): 18 27 31 36 47
Student times (seconds): 19 19 21 24 25 27 29
Source: adapted from A. Graham (2006) Developing thinking in
statistics, London, Paul Chapman Publishing, p. 82.
(a) If you had to summarise each set of times by a single number without
doing any calculations, what might you say? (Please bear in mind that
there is not a definitively correct answer here.)
(b) Can you make any general comparison of these datasets on the basis of
your answer to part (a)?

A statement that describes whereabouts a dataset lies (e.g. ‘about

25 seconds’) is a way of describing the dataset’s location. Activity 14
illustrated the two main purposes of measuring location:
• summarising a set of data values by a single number that might be
thought of as an ‘average’ or ‘typical’ or ‘central’ value
• comparing sets of data values on the basis of their locations, to see
which set tends to have bigger values.

Measuring language
In the following example, the context is investigating people’s use of the
language of chance.
At an Open University summer school, a group of 30 students were asked The students were studying the
to investigate their understanding of various words used to describe course ‘Developing mathematical
degrees of likelihood (terms such as likely, impossible, nearly certain, thinking at Key Stage 3’.
fifty-fifty, and so on).

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

The task began with a consideration of just two such words, ‘possible’ and
‘probable’. Each student was asked to make a personal, numerical estimate
on a scale from 0 to 100 (where 0 means impossible and 100 means
certain) of their interpretation of these two words as measures of
likelihood. The question they were asked to investigate was:
This corresponds to the first What do people understand by the words ‘possible’ and ‘probable’ ?
stage of the PCAI cycle
(discussed in Subsection 1.2):
Or, more specifically,
posing a question. What numerical values do people attribute to the words ‘possible’ and
‘probable’ ?
This is an example of a summarising investigation. Before looking at the
student data, try this exercise for yourself in Activity 15.

Activity 15 Investigating words for likelihood

This task can be thought of as (a) On a scale from 0 to 100, write down your estimates of the degree of
the second stage of the PCAI likelihood suggested by the words ‘possible’ and ‘probable’. (You
cycle: collecting relevant data. might think of one or both of these words as describing a range of
numerical values, but for the purposes of this activity please select a
single number reflecting the ‘centre’ of such a range.)
(b) In your opinion, which of these words would most people rate as
describing a higher level of likelihood?
(c) In your opinion, which of these words would generate scores that
showed the greater measure of agreement among the respondents?
There are no comments on this activity.

The students’ data are contained in the course resource Dataplotter (which
you need not open on your computer yet) and shown in Table 3 below.
Notice that these are paired data in the sense that each ‘pair’ corresponds
to the response of a particular student. However, for the purposes of this
unit, the values will be treated as two-sample data.

Table 3 Thirty students’ interpretations of ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’

Student Possible Probable Student Possible Probable
1 30 95 16 10 75
2 90 90 17 50 80
3 60 60 18 20 80
4 70 60 19 50 75
5 5 70 20 50 99
6 1 60 21 30 90
7 1 76 22 1 51
8 50 80 23 30 90
9 50 75 24 40 75
10 50 75 25 30 70
11 80 80 26 20 75
12 30 70 27 50 90
13 1 99 28 30 70
14 10 90 29 98 95
15 85 85 30 35 75

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 3 Summarising data: location

3.1 Scanning data

As you saw in Section 2, before performing a detailed analysis of any
dataset, it is always a good idea to scan the data, looking closely at the
numbers to see if any patterns or anomalies stand out.

Activity 16 Scanning Table 3

(a) Inspect the data in Table 3 and, referring back to the comments on
Activity 6 for reminders of the kinds of things you might look for,
comment on the presence or otherwise of each of the following:
(i) missing data
(ii) spurious precision
(iii) the constraint that the data lie between 0 and 100
(iv) the presence of outliers.
(b) Does any other feature of the numbers in Table 3 stand out?

Inspecting the data needn’t stop there, however. In Activity 17 you are
asked to get a first feel for the locations of these sets of data just by
further inspection.

Activity 17 Further inspection of Table 3

(a) Look closely at the sets of ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’ values in Table 3
and write down what you think would be a typical ‘central value’ for
each one. Then think for a moment about how you came up with this
figure – for example, did you do a rough calculation or did you try to
pick out a typical value or use some other approach?
(b) Based on your estimates in part (a), which set of values shows the
higher location?

3.2 Measuring location

The most important and useful summary of a dataset is a measure of its
location, based on some sort of average or typical value. There is no single
and universally most appropriate measure of location, but there are
various useful measures that can be chosen, depending on the situation
and on the nature of the data. Each measure has its own pros and cons.
The three most common measures of location in statistics textbooks are
the mean, the mode and the median. In this course we will mainly use the The mode of a dataset is the
mean and the median. These are considered in detail below. data value that occurs most
frequently. Since there can be
You may find the diagram in Figure 7 a useful summary of the ideas set several ‘most frequent’ values, it
out in the previous paragraph. We will return to this diagram at the end is a rather problematic measure,
of the next section, by which time a second important summary will have which we shall not use in
MU123.
been added, namely the idea of spread and its associated measures: range,
interquartile range and standard deviation.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Mean

Location

Median

Summaries
of data

Figure 7 Summaries of data: the mean and median are useful measures
of location
The mean, which is often just called the average, is probably quite
familiar to you.

Strategy To find the mean of a dataset

The mean is more specifically To find the mean of a set of numbers, add all the numbers together
called the arithmetic mean, and divide by however many numbers there are in the set.
and when applied, as here, to
data, it is often called the
sample mean. Let’s look at a simple example, after which you can try a calculation for
yourself.

Example 1 Calculating the mean of a dataset

Find the mean of the texting times of the five teachers given in
Activity 14 (page 193).
Solution
Add together the numbers in the ‘Teacher times’ dataset and divide by
however many numbers are in that dataset.
The mean is
(18 + 27 + 31 + 36 + 47)/5 = 159/5 = 31.8 seconds.

Activity 18 Finding means

(a) Calculate the mean of the texting times for the seven students given in
Activity 14 (remember to include units in your answer).
(b) Calculate the mean of the ‘Possible’ values given in Table 3, giving
your answer correct to one decimal place.

In Activity 14(a), you may well have taken the approach of selecting the
middle value from the five teacher times, which, as you may remember,
were listed in increasing order of size. If so, you obtained a statistical
average known as the median. Speaking roughly, the median is the data
value that is in the middle when the data are arranged in order. A more
precise definition is given in the following box.
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 3 Summarising data: location

Strategy To find the median of a dataset

To find the median of a set of numbers:
• Sort the data into increasing or decreasing order.
• If there is an odd number of data values, the median is the middle
value.
• If there is an even number of data values, the median is defined as
the mean of the middle two values. If the middle two values are
equal, then the mean is just this
common value.

Activity 19 Finding medians

(a) Calculate the median of the texting times for the seven students of
Activity 14.
(b) How do the medians of the teacher and student texting times compare
with the corresponding approximate values of location given in the
Comment on Activity 14(a) and the means calculated above?

Activity 20 More medians

(a) Twelve sixteen-year-olds were asked to guess the size of the population
of the UK and came up with the following estimates, in millions.
60 100 25 60 60 100 80 160 58 23 60 200
Order these numbers and then calculate the median.
(b) Here is an ordered list of the 30 ‘Possible’ values given in Table 3:
1 1 1 1 5 10 10 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30
35 40 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 60 70 80 85 90 98
What is the median of these values?

Activity 21 Calculating the ‘Probable’ mean and median

Here is an ordered list of the 30 ‘Probable’ values given in Table 3: This activity, and the next one,
represent the third stage of the
51 60 60 60 70 70 70 70 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 PCAI cycle: analysing the data.
76 80 80 80 80 85 90 90 90 90 90 95 95 99 99
(a) What is the mean of these values?
(b) What is the median of these values?
(c) How do the mean and median compare?

As you are probably already thinking, calculating the mean by ‘hand’ or

calculator becomes increasingly tedious and error-prone as the size of a
dataset increases. Calculating the median is a lot easier if the data are
already sorted. However, this too becomes a long calculation if you have to
order a large set of values. So, for anything but the smallest sets of data, it
seems appropriate to turn to a calculator, spreadsheet or other software to
compute these summary values. Fortunately, these and similar summary
calculations can also be easily carried out using the Dataplotter software.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Using Dataplotter to measure location

Using the instructions in Subsection 2.4 of the Course Guide, open
Dataplotter, which is available on the MU123 website. You can see that
four types of plot are available: Dotplot, Boxplot, Histogram and
Scatterplot. Ensure that the first of these, Dotplot, is selected. With the
‘Datasets’ tab selected on the left of the screen, you will see two data lists.
From the drop-down menu at the top of the first list, select the dataset
‘# Possible’. By a similar method, select the dataset ‘# Probable’ from
the second list. These two lists contain the data provided in Table 3.
As you can see, as soon as each dataset is selected, Dataplotter processes
the information in two ways. First, the values are displayed visually as
dotplots, a type of statistical plot where each data value is represented by
the position of a dot along the number line below it. Dotplots are a useful
way of seeing patterns in data at a glance.
The second main outcome of selecting these datasets is that a set of nine
key summary values has been automatically calculated and displayed for
each dataset. This is the feature that you are asked to look at now by
tackling Activity 22.

Dataplotter Activity 22 Summaries of location

(a) By selecting appropriate values from the two summary lists, complete
the table below.
Means and medians of students’
values for ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’
Summary ‘Possible’ ‘Probable’
scores scores
Mean
Median

(b) Based on the information in the table in part (a), try to come to an
initial conclusion about the original question: ‘What numerical values
do people attribute to the words “possible” and “probable”?’ Which of
the two datasets had the higher location? Were these results
consistent with your previous impression?

The conclusions from using either measure of location in Activity 22 are

the same: people tend to think that the word ‘probable’ indicates a higher
degree of likelihood than the word ‘possible’. This may not be surprising
to you and may be in accordance with what you expected when you
thought about the question for Activity 15. But that’s not all there is to
say about these data. So far you have looked at two summaries that
concern measures of location from the ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’ data – the
calculation of mean and median. In Section 4 you will explore some
measures of spread.

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 3 Summarising data: location

3.3 Mean versus median

You might be thinking that it’s all very well being told how to calculate
two different measures of location, but which should you use, and when?
Well, it has already been suggested that there is no simple universally
applicable answer to this question. But there are a few advantages and
disadvantages of one measure compared with the other, and in Activity 23
you are asked to think what some of these might be.

Activity 23 Mean versus median

(a) Find the mean and the median of the following datasets.
Dataset A: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Dataset B: 3 4 5 6 7 8 99
(b) Which of these two averages seems a more appropriate summary for With this question we are
these datasets? entering the fourth stage of
the PCAI cycle: interpreting
(c) List the advantages of using each location measure (mean and median). the results.

In practice, both the mean and the median are widely used. They often
give similar results but can sometimes differ considerably. Typically, when
the values of the dataset are bunched towards one or other end of the
range of values, there are larger differences between the mean and the
median. For example, with earnings data, it is often the case that the
extremely high earnings of a small number of very wealthy individuals will
drag up the value of the mean and so may give a rather distorted
impression of the location of earnings. For this reason, the median rather
than the mean tends to be used for summarising earnings. Where the
values are symmetrically spread, there will be little difference between the
values of the two summaries, in which case, it will not matter much which
one is chosen.
To sum up this section, we have discussed summarising a dataset by
measuring its location, that is, a number that might be thought of as an
‘average’, ‘typical’ or ‘central’ value. Two particular measures of location
were looked at in detail: the mean and the median. The mean of a set of
numbers is found by adding all the numbers together and dividing by
however many numbers there are. To find the median, first sort the data in
order of size. If there is an odd number of data values, the median is the
middle value. If there is an even number of data values, the median is
defined as the mean of the middle two values. The mean and median are
two measures of location that were used as part of an initial study of the
‘probability words’ datasets. By comparing them, you were able to give
support to the notion that the word ‘probable’ seems to indicate a higher
degree of likelihood than the word ‘possible’.
In the next section you will look at another important property of data
that can be reduced to a single summary measure. It indicates how closely
bunched or spread out the values are and is known as the spread of the
dataset.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

4 Summarising data: spread

In Section 3 you looked at the best known and most widely used
summaries of a dataset, which provided information about the location of
the numbers. These were the mean and median. A second basic property
of data is how widely spread the values are. For example, here is a set of
TMA marks of six students (sorted in increasing order):
42 58 60 68 78 92
As you can see, there is a wide spread of marks here, from a minimum
value of 42 to a maximum of 92. In the following TMA, the same students’
marks were:
60 65 72 74 75 80
This time the spread of marks is much narrower, ranging from a minimum
of 60 to a maximum of 80.
If you go on to more advanced In this section you will look at three of the most common measures of
study of statistics, you will find spread – the range, interquartile range and standard deviation.
that the measures of spread
mentioned here continue to play
an important role.
4.1 Range
As you have just seen, a simple way of estimating spread is to scan along
the data to find the smallest (minimum, or ‘min’) and largest (maximum,
or ‘max’) values. The range is the difference between these two values. In
other words,
range = max − min.

Let’s try an example.

Example 2 Calculating the range

Look at the data below, which give the distances, in kilometres, travelled
by eleven students to attend an Open University tutorial.
Distances from home
Distance (km): 12 40 26 4 2 18 66 30 45 12 15
Calculate the range of these data.
Solution
By inspecting the data, the maximum value is 66 km and the minimum
value is 2 km.
So the range of these data is
max − min = 66 km − 2 km = 64 km.

Now try Activity 24, which asks you to calculate the range for a different
dataset and think about how useful it is as a measure of spread.

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 4 Summarising data: spread

Activity 24 Calculating the range

Below are the earnings, for a particular week, of 15 staff (including the
owner) working in a small business.
Earnings data from a small business
Weekly earnings (£): 280 370 305 285 480 1260 210 340
280 290 315 325 370 360 280
(a) Write down the minimum and maximum values in this dataset. Hence
calculate the range of weekly earnings.
(b) Why might the range be an unhelpful measure of spread for these
particular data?

As you saw in Activity 24, the range is sometimes a rather inadequate

measure of spread, particularly where there are one or two extreme outliers
in the dataset. In the jargon of statisticians, the range could be referred to
as a ‘quick-and-dirty’ measure of spread – it is quick and easy to calculate,
can sometimes give a useful overall impression, but lacks the subtlety and
sophistication of other methods. You will now be introduced to two
alternative measures of spread that overcome the basic weakness of the
range, namely that it is too easily affected by outliers. These are the
interquartile range and the standard deviation.

4.2 Quartiles and the interquartile range

The earnings data in Activity 24 are not very easy to absorb or interpret
as presented. Figure 8 shows the same data displayed as a dotplot.

200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
Weekly earnings (£)

Figure 8 A dotplot showing the earnings data from Activity 24

The 15 dots have been placed above a number line, positioned to
correspond to the weekly earnings of the 15 members of staff. Where
values coincide (for example, there are three values of £280), the dots are
placed vertically, one above another.
When you have a small number of values in a dataset, as is the case here,
it is quick and easy to create a simple dotplot of the data like this. Usually You will use dotplots again in
it provides a useful, intuitive picture of where the values lie, whether there Unit 11.
is some bunching of the data to one side or they are symmetrical, and
whether there are clear outliers.
In this case, the extent to which the outlier is unrepresentative now shows
up very clearly.
How then can the problem of the range being unduly affected by this
outlier be solved? You might simply decide to ignore this particular
untypical value, but that is a somewhat arbitrary decision and not one
that can be called a general method, although it is sometimes done.
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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Alternatively, you might choose to omit, say, the largest and smallest
values and take the range of the remaining 13 values. This is a better
solution, and one that works well in this particular instance, but if there
were several outliers at either end, the problem would not be solved. In
order to be confident that you have dealt with the outlier problem, you
really need to exclude a greater number of values at either end. The
question is, how many?

Introducing the quartiles

The conventional solution, and the one described now, is to exclude the
top quarter and bottom quarter of the values and create a new measure of
spread that measures the ‘range’ of the middle 50% of the values. There
are two such points that mark the cut-off points of the top and bottom
quarters of the data. They are known as the quartiles – in particular, the
lower quartile (Q1) and upper quartile (Q3).

Q1 Q3

200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
Weekly earnings (£)

Figure 9 A dotplot of the earnings data from Activity 24 with the

quartile positions marked

These quartiles are marked on a dotplot of the earnings data in Figure 9.

Take a few moments to satisfy yourself that these values do lie,
respectively, roughly one-quarter (Q1) and three-quarters (Q3) of the way
through the data.
You will probably find that the description of quartiles is not totally
convincing as it rather depends on how we choose to interpret ‘a quarter of
the way through the dataset’. Incidentally, the median, being the value
that lies halfway through the data, is sometimes referred to as Q2, as it is
the second quartile.
The convention when defining which quartile is Q1 and which is Q3 is that
the data should be presented in increasing order of size. Then, even and
odd sample sizes need slightly different approaches, and there are various
ways of coping with this. The method for finding the quartiles described in
the following two examples is used on some graphical calculators – it is
straightforward and quite easy to perform. These examples also show you
how to find the measure of spread known as the interquartile range, or
IQR. The interquartile range is the difference between the upper and lower
quartiles, that is, it is the value Q3 − Q1.

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 4 Summarising data: spread

Example 3 Finding the lower and upper quartiles: even sample size

Find the lower quartile (Q1), the median and the upper quartile (Q3) of
the following dataset.
8 3 2 6 4 1 5 7
Then find the interquartile range.
Solution
Sort the data into increasing order. Find the median.
In increasing order, the dataset is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8.
The median is the mean of the two middle data values, 4 and 5.
Median = 4.5.
To find the lower quartile, focus on the lower half of the dataset and
find the median of this smaller dataset.
The lower half of the dataset is 1 2 3 4.
Its median is 2.5.
So Q1 = 2.5.
To find the upper quartile, focus on the upper half of the dataset and
find the median of this smaller dataset.
The upper half of the dataset is 5 6 7 8.
Its median is 6.5.
So Q3 = 6.5.
The interquartile range is the difference between the upper and lower
quartiles.
The interquartile range is thus
6.5 − 2.5 = 4.

Example 4 Finding the lower and upper quartiles: odd sample size

Find the lower quartile (Q1), the median and the upper quartile (Q3) of
the following dataset:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Then find the interquartile range.
Solution
First find the median.
The median is the middle value of the ordered dataset.
Median = 4.

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To find the lower quartile, ignore the middle data value and find the
median of the lower ‘half’ of the dataset.
The lower half of the dataset is 1 2 3.
Its median is 2.
So Q1 = 2.
To find the upper quartile, ignore the middle data value and find the
median of the upper ‘half’ of the dataset.
The upper half of the dataset is 5 6 7.
Its median is 6.
So Q3 = 6.
The interquartile range is the difference between the upper and lower
quartiles.
The interquartile range is thus
6 − 2 = 4.

These examples lead to the following strategy for finding the quartiles and
interquartile range.

Strategy To find the quartiles and the interquartile range of a dataset

1. Arrange the dataset in increasing order.
2. Next:
(a) If there is an even number of data values, then the lower
quartile (Q1) is the median of the lower half of the dataset,
and the upper quartile (Q3) is the median of the upper half of
the dataset.
(b) If there is an odd number of data values, throw out the middle
data point (which of course has the median value of the
dataset). Then the lower quartile (Q1) is the median of the
lower half of the new dataset, and the upper quartile (Q3) is
the median of the upper half of the new dataset.
3. The interquartile range (IQR) is Q3 − Q1.

As you have seen, when there is an even number of data values, the
dataset breaks neatly in half and the quartiles are simply the medians of
these two half-sets. The procedure is slightly more complicated if the
original dataset contains an odd number of values, as a decision needs to
be made about what constitutes these half-sets. In the strategy above, the
data value in the middle is excluded from these half-sets, and this is the
convention used on this course. However, the choice of whether or not to
include the middle data value is quite arbitrary – some authors include it
and others, as we have done here, exclude it. Indeed, there are yet other
methods of calculation that are different again and all of these may give
slightly different answers for the values of the quartiles. With very small
datasets like the ones you have been using, these differences may be
noticeable, but in a real investigation, where the sizes would be larger,
these small differences tend to disappear.

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Activity 25 Calculating the lower and upper quartiles

Here again are the earnings data of 15 employees, first introduced in

Activity 24. This time, for your convenience, they have been sorted by size.
Weekly earnings (£): 210 280 280 280 285 290 305 315
325 340 360 370 370 480 1260
(a) What are the lower and upper quartiles of these values?
(b) Hence find the value of the interquartile range.

4.3 Standard deviation

The best known measure of spread is the standard deviation, or SD.
The bad news is that, using pencil and paper, it is hard work to calculate
the standard deviation, particularly with large datasets. The good news is
that, these days, once the data have been keyed in, a calculator or
computer can work out the standard deviation in a flash. But before
becoming totally reliant on a machine, it is a good idea to perform one or
two pencil and paper calculations of the standard deviation using very
simple datasets.
An alternative name for the standard deviation is the RMS deviation – in
full, the root mean squared deviation. Literally, it is the (square) root
of the mean of the squared deviations. This complicated name will make
more sense when you follow through the steps involved in the calculation.
There are in fact two different
versions of the standard
Strategy To find the standard deviation of a dataset deviation – the method used
here involves the mean found in
1. Find the mean of the dataset. the usual way of adding together
2. Find the difference of each value from the mean – these are the all the numbers in a dataset and
‘deviations’, often labelled as the d values. dividing by n, the size of the
dataset. In the other technique
3. Square each deviation – this gives the d2 values. for finding the standard
4. Find the mean of these squared deviations – this number is the deviation, the mean is found by
dividing by n − 1 rather than n.
‘mean squared deviation’, better known as the variance. These two methods are used in
5. Find the square root of the variance to get the ‘root mean squared different circumstances, but a
deviation’ – that is, the standard deviation. discussion of when it is
appropriate to use each one is
beyond the scope of MU123. In
this course, the divisor n will
always be used when calculating
the standard deviation.
Example 5 Finding a standard deviation

Find the standard deviation of the following dataset.

1 2 4 6 7
Solution
Find the mean.
Mean = (1 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 7)/5 = 20/5 = 4.
Subtract the mean from each data value to find the deviations.
The deviations are −3, −2, 0, 2, 3.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Square the deviations.

The squared deviations are 9, 4, 0, 4, 9.
Calculate the mean of the squared deviations to find the variance.
The variance is (9 + 4 + 0 + 4 + 9)/5 = 26/5 = 5.2.
The standard deviation is the square root of the variance.
So, the standard deviation is
√
5.2 = 2.3 (to 1 d.p.).

The steps of the calculation may be easier to see when laid out using a
table such as the one in Figure 10.

Data values Deviations (d) d2

1 1 − 4 = −3 (−3)2 = 9
2 2 − 4 = −2 (−2)2 = 4
4 4 − 4 = −0 (0)2 = 0
6 6−4=2 (2)2 = 4
7 7−4=3 (3)2 = 9
√
Mean = 4 Mean = 5.2 SD = 5.2 = 2.3 (to 1 d.p.)

Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: Step 5:

Find the Find the Square the Find the Find the
mean deviations deviations variance standard deviation

Figure 10 The calculation of standard deviation (SD)

Students often find the calculation of standard deviation rather

complicated and the steps hard to remember. It can be helpful to think
about some of the ideas visually. Look at Figure 11, which shows these
same five data values, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, in a dotplot. As you can see, the
mean, 4, is shown with a vertical line, while the deviations from the mean
are represented by horizontal arrows.

−3
−2
2
3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mean

Figure 11 Deviations from the mean

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 4 Summarising data: spread

You may have wondered why it is necessary to square the deviations in

Step 3 of the calculation. In order to see the point of this, consider what
would have happened if you had not squared them. For example, why not
just find the mean of these deviations? This would be calculated as follows:
mean deviation = (−3 + (−2) + 0 + 2 + 3)/5 = 0/5 = 0.
As you can see, the positive and negative deviations have cancelled each
other out and we are left with a numerator of zero. So the value of the
mean deviation is zero. In fact, this will always be true of the mean
deviation; the positive and negative deviations will always cancel each
other out, leaving an answer of zero for the mean deviation. You may like
to try this yourself with some other simple numerical examples. For
example, take the dataset 3, 4, 6, 11, which has a mean of 6. This
produces deviations −3, −2, 0, 5, and again these add to zero.
It is to avoid this problem that the deviations are squared in Step 3
(making them positive), and this is then ‘undone’ by taking the square
root in Step 5.
Now tackle Activity 26, which will give you practice at performing
standard deviation calculations using simple datasets.

Activity 26 Calculating the standard deviation

Calculate the standard deviations of the following simple datasets.

(a) 1 2 6 11
(b) 2 3 5 6 9

Although calculating standard deviation by pencil and paper is quite hard

work, rest assured that these days it is normally done on a calculator or
computer; as you will see later, the course resource Dataplotter calculates
and displays it and other statistical summaries automatically. There are a
number of reasons why the standard deviation is a useful measure of
spread, and here are two of the main ones.

Reasons for using the standard deviation as a measure of spread

The standard deviation is the best known and most commonly used
measure of spread.
All the values in a dataset are included in its calculation.
(However, unlike the interquartile range, its value can be to some
extent distorted by outliers.)

4.4 Investigating spread

Just as Dataplotter provided instant summary measures of location (the
mean and the median), it also provides the three summaries of spread
introduced in this section: range, interquartile range and standard
deviation. To end this section, you are asked to return to the two datasets
concerning the words ‘possible’ and ‘probable’. But this time you will
explore what these three summaries reveal about the spread of these two
datasets and how this can be interpreted.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Dataplotter Activity 27 Summaries of spread

Return to Dataplotter and choose the same settings that you used in
Activity 22, namely with the Dotplot option checked and the datasets
‘# Possible’ and ‘# Probable’ selected.
(a) By selecting appropriate values from the two summary lists on the
screen, complete the table below.

Range, interquartile range and standard deviation

of students’ values for ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’

Summary ‘Possible’ ‘Probable’

scores scores
Range
Interquartile range (IQR)
Standard deviation (SD)

(b) Based on the information in the table in part (a), which of the two
datasets had the wider spread? How would you interpret this?

We should now be able to reach a conclusion about the original question:

‘What do people understand by the words “possible” and “probable”?’ For
reference, Table 4 provides you with a handy list of all of the summaries
from Dataplotter associated with the ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’ datasets
given earlier.

Table 4 Summaries of the ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’ data

Summary ‘Possible’ scores ‘Probable’ scores
Min 1 51
Q1 20 70
Median 32.5 75.5
Q3 50 90
Max 98 99
Mean 38.6 78.5
SD 27.1 11.9
IQR 30 20
Range 97 48
n (size of dataset) 30 30

So, taking the mean and median (found in Activity 22) together with the
range, interquartile range and standard deviation (calculated in
Activity 27), two conclusions can be drawn. There is evidence that:
• people tend to think that the word ‘probable’ indicates a higher degree
of likelihood than the word ‘possible’ (a conclusion based on comparing
locations)
• there is a greater degree of agreement on the meaning of the word
‘probable’ than on the meaning of the word ‘possible’ (a conclusion
based on comparing spreads).
As a footnote to this investigation, one of the students who carried out the
study commented that the meaning of the word ‘possible’ rather depends
on the tone of voice used when saying it and also on the context. Another

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said that there was so much variation in its interpretation that ‘possible’
really seemed to be a useless word for conveying meaning and should be
dropped from the vocabulary!
In Activity 28, the final activity of Section 4, you are invited to enter data
directly into Dataplotter to explore the properties of the five summary
values that have been introduced in Sections 3 and 4.

Activity 28 Investigating small datasets Dataplotter

Open Dataplotter and clear both datasets by clicking on ‘New’.

(a) Enter the four numbers 3, 4, 6, 7 into the first column (press Enter
after each data entry). From the displayed list summaries, you will see
that the mean and median of this dataset are both equal to 5. See Section 2 of the Course
Guide for more information on
Now think about entering a fifth number that will raise the overall using Dataplotter.
mean from 5 to 6; what must this number be, and what will be the
value of the median of the new dataset? Enter this number to see if
you are correct.
(b) Now change the number you entered to 10, if necessary. With the five To edit a cell entry, click on the
numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 entered in the dataset, the range is 7 (that cell, type the new value and
is, 10 − 3) and the interquartile range is 5 (that is, 8.5 − 3.5). Alter press Enter.
one of these five numbers to a different whole number so that the
range remains unchanged but the value of the interquartile range
increases to 6.
(c) Click on ‘Clear’ in the first column. The title of the dataset is
displayed under the drop-down box. Click on the title, type ‘SD1’ into
the box and press Enter. Then enter the six numbers 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 10
into the list. The value of the standard deviation is 2.2 (to 1 d.p.).
Next, in the drop-down menu of the second data column, select the
dataset ‘SD1’ that you have just created, click on its title below the
drop-down box, change its name to ‘SD2’ and press Enter. In this
second dataset, alter the two 6s by the same amount in opposite
directions, that is, by adding some non-zero number to one and
subtracting the same number from the other.
Compare the displayed summaries of the two datasets: what effect
does this change have on the value of the standard deviation? Can you
explain why?

Following on from Section 3, where you looked at summarising a dataset

by measuring its location, this section looked at measures of spread. Three
particular measures of spread were looked at in detail.
• The range of a set of numbers is found by calculating max − min.
• The interquartile range (IQR) is the range of the middle half of the
data and is calculated as Q3 − Q1 (where Q3 is the upper quartile and
Q1 is the lower quartile).
• The standard deviation (SD) is the square root of the mean of the
squares of the deviations of each data value from the mean. (You were
also briefly introduced to a fourth measure of spread, the variance,
which is the square of the standard deviation.)
These three main measures of spread (range, interquartile range and
standard deviation) were used as part of the investigation of the ‘Possible’
and ‘Probable’ datasets to demonstrate that there seems to be a greater

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

measure of agreement on the meaning of the word ‘probable’ than on the

meaning of the word ‘possible’.
Figure 12 is a development of the figure introduced in Subsection 3.2. As
you can see, it sets out some of the main ideas of this unit, namely that
location and spread are the two key forms of data summary, that two
measures of location are the mean and median, and that three measures of
spread are the range, the interquartile range and the standard deviation.

Mean

Location

Median

Summaries
of data Range

Spread Interquartile range

Standard deviation

Figure 12 The completed summaries diagram

5 Measuring with accuracy and

precision
This unit has looked at some important statistical questions. First, types
of statistical questions were categorised (summarising, comparing, seeking
a relationship), after which came the idea of a framework for investigating
statistical questions (the ‘PCAI’ framework) – both these notions were
explored in Section 1. In Section 2 you saw how to classify and distinguish
different types of data (for example, primary and secondary data, discrete
and continuous data). Sections 3 and 4 looked at the sorts of measures of
location and spread that typically crop up in the ‘A’ (analyse the data)
stage of most statistical investigations. It is these sorts of summary values
that really help you to make decisions about data. The second statistical
unit of the course, Unit 11, will extend this set of techniques to include a
variety of statistical representations in the form of charts and plots.
To end this unit, we look at datasets of a particular kind. It is often useful
or necessary to measure the size of a quantity, and this can be done in
different ways, depending on the quantity – for example, a length or weight
could be measured by using a measuring device, the amount of
unemployment in a country or the viewing figures for a television
programme could be measured by using surveys, and the strength of
gravity could be measured by carrying out an experiment (as you will see
shortly). No matter how a measurement is made, it is important to think
about how good the measurement is. One way to do that is to consider
datasets of repeated measurements, and this is the topic of this final
section.
First, you are invited to use your own initiative to explore a small dataset
created as part of a science investigation. The unit ends with an

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examination of two important terms that are often misused and confused:
precision and accuracy, with reference to the statistical summaries location
and spread.

5.1 Summarising a set of scientific measurements

Gravity on the Earth’s surface is the downward force exerted on an object
by the mass of the Earth. The size of this force varies slightly at different
parts of the Earth, in particular at different altitudes and latitudes. When
an object is dropped, and if no other forces except gravity are acting on it,
its speed increases at a constant rate as it falls to the ground. At sea level,
the speed increases by approximately 9.81 m/s every second. This increase
in the speed each second is known as the acceleration due to gravity and it
is denoted by the letter g. In SI units, g is measured in ‘metres per second
per second’ which is written as m/s2 , so g ≈ 9.81 m/s2 . The unit m/s2 can also be
written as m s−2 .
A group of experimenters tried to measure g, based on the following two
different methods:
• ‘free fall’, where a ball bearing is dropped, and the time taken for it to
fall through a known height is measured
• ‘pendulum’, where the period of swing of a pendulum (which is
affected by the strength of gravity) is timed.
An interesting question arising out of this experiment is: which of these Posing the question
two methods gives the better estimate for g? You are asked to investigate
this, using the data that the experimenters collected.
The data from the two experiments are given in Table 5 and are also Collecting the data
available in Dataplotter. The numbers represent the researchers’ results
for g, measured in units of m/s2 , based on 16 ‘free fall’ trials and 14
‘pendulum’ trials.

Table 5 Estimates of g from two

experiments
Free fall (m/s2 ) Pendulum (m/s2 )
9.97 10.18
9.84 10.08 Source: C. Maher and J. Pancari
9.80 9.78 (1990) ‘Statistics in high school
9.81 9.83 science’, Teaching Statistics,
9.80 10.13 vol. 12, pp. 34–7.
9.80 9.95
9.81 9.82
9.81 10.12
9.88 9.96
9.97 9.97
9.78 9.80
9.81 9.81
9.78 9.83
9.80 9.73
9.87
9.81

At first glance, you may have noticed that there are some subtle variations
in the measured values of g shown in Table 5. These variations are not
necessarily associated with any geographical differences in g; we can
assume that each experiment took place in the same location, so in theory
the results should all be the same.
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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

In fact, the differences that we observe in the data can be ascribed to what
is known as experimental error . All experiments involve a degree of
inherent error – inaccuracy in a measurement can arise from a number of
sources, for example, poor experimental design, limitations of the
measuring equipment, inconsistent application of techniques or even simple
human error when reading a measurement. Statistical analysis of repeated
measurements, such as calculating the mean of a dataset of repeated trials,
is an important method for minimising the effects of experimental error in
scientific experiments.

Activity 29 Scanning the data

Run your eye down both columns of figures. What general impressions do
you have of these figures and what clues do they give about the success of
the two experiments?

Dataplotter Activity 30 Analysing the data

Return to Dataplotter. Using the drop-down menus at the top of each list,
select dataset ‘# Free fall’ for the first list and ‘# Pendulum’ for the
second list.
Use suitable measures of location and spread to decide which of these two
experiments produced a better estimate for g. It will suffice to consider all
summary measures rounded to two decimal places.

As was done in Sections 3 and 4 with the ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’

datasets, a variety of measures of location and spread are instantly
Analysing the data calculated and displayed in Dataplotter. Table 6 gives the various location
and spread summary measures (rounded to 2 decimal places) for these two
datasets.

Table 6 Summaries of the ‘Free fall’

and ‘Pendulum’ datasets
Free fall Pendulum
Min 9.78 9.73
Q1 9.80 9.81
Median 9.81 9.89
Q3 9.86 10.08
Max 9.97 10.18
Mean 9.83 9.93
SD 0.06 0.14
IQR 0.06 0.27
Range 0.19 0.45
n (size of dataset) 16 14

Two features stand out from these summaries.

In terms of location, the averages (i.e. mean and median) of the ‘free fall’
data lie closer to the ‘true’ value for g of 9.81 m/s2 than do the ‘pendulum’
averages.
In terms of spread, there is a much narrower spread for the ‘free fall’ than
for the ‘pendulum’ data as calculated by any of the measures.
Interpreting the results So, on the evidence of these summaries, the ‘free fall’ experiment produced

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better results, since the average of the experimental values was closer to
the true value and the results were more closely clustered together.

5.2 Accuracy and precision

A word often used in this unit is ‘precision’. Elsewhere in the course it is
used in the context of a number being stated to so many decimal places or
a certain number of significant figures. Its meaning will be extended here.
It is a term that can easily be confused with ‘accuracy’, but in fact these
two terms have a subtle difference in meaning.
Imagine that you have been asked to audition for Robin Hood’s ‘merry
men’ and you have passed all the necessary merriment tests. The final set
of tests requires you to demonstrate prowess with the bow and arrow. On
your first run, with the sun glinting through the old oak tree, your five
arrows land as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13 First run:
How would you describe this performance? The answer is that this shows
accurate but not precise
accuracy but not precision. You can be described as accurate, because the
average of the five shots is close to the centre. You are not precise, because
the shots are widely spread.
Robin wasn’t too impressed with your first effort, but he agrees to give you
five more shots. This time, there is greater consistency, as shown in
Figure 14.
‘More consistent, yes,’ says Robin, who was known throughout Sherwood
Forest for his wit and repartee, ‘but you are consistently missing!’
What Robin meant to say was that your shooting shows greater precision
(the shots now cluster together) but the accuracy is actually worse than
before (they are off-centre).
You beg for one last chance – and this time you really show that you have
got to grips with the accuracy and precision issues in your archery skills, as
shown in Figure 15. The tight clustering on this final run shows that you
have lost none of the precision of Run 2, while the centring on the
bull’s-eye shows that your accuracy from Run 1 has returned. Figure 14 Second run:
Welcome to Sherwood Forest! precise but not accurate
The first moral of this little tale is that accuracy is a statement about the
location of a set of measurements: the closer the average of the
measurements to the true value of what is being measured, the more
accurate your estimation of that value. The second message is that
precision tells you about the spread of that set of measurements: the more
tightly packed your values, the more precise your measurements are.

Accuracy versus precision

For a set of (repeated) measurements:
• Accuracy describes how close the average is to the true value.
• Precision describes how close the measurements are to each
other.

Ideally, when making measurements, you would like to have both accuracy
and precision! In Subsection 5.1, the measurements from the ‘free fall’ Figure 15 Third run: both
experiment were both more accurate and more precise than the accurate and precise
measurements from the ‘pendulum’ experiment.

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 Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 31 Distinguishing between precision and accuracy

Two kitchen weighing scales are being tested to see if they measure
accurately. A 100 g test weight is weighed five times on each set of scales
and the results are shown below.
Scales A: 102 g 101 g 102 g 100 g 100 g
Scales B: 98 g 100 g 99 g 99 g 103 g
(a) Calculate the mean and range of each dataset.
(b) Use the measures in (a) to decide which set of scales is more accurate
and which is more precise.

This final short section began by asking you to apply your skills in
calculating summaries (both of location and spread) to a scientific
investigation for estimating the value of g, the acceleration due to gravity.
The final subsection looked at two words, accuracy and precision. It
suggested that accuracy is a statement about the location of a set of
measures, whereas precision tells you about their spread.
To review the ideas in this unit, have a go at the practice quiz for Unit 4
and then try the iCMA and TMA questions.

Learning checklist
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
• distinguish between different types of data, such as: primary and
secondary data; discrete and continuous data; single and paired data
• use the PCAI cycle and appreciate how the various statistical skills and
techniques fit into the PCAI stages of a statistical investigation
• gain a rough-and-ready, but sensible, overview of a dataset by just
scanning the data (inspecting the values by eye)
• check and, if justified, clean data where there are numerical
discrepancies such as outliers
• summarise a dataset in terms of measures of location and spread, select
suitable data summaries for the context and use them as evidence to
draw a conclusion
• appreciate the differences between accuracy, precision and spurious
precision and use appropriate rounding in numerical summaries.

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 Solutions and comments on Activities

Solutions and comments on Activities

Activity 1 could be expected to be slower anyway. Also, the
Investigations (a), (c) and (g) are in the difference may not be sufficiently large to allow us
summarising category. All the remaining to draw any firm conclusions. It is worth pointing
investigations are in either the comparing or the out that although more focused questions are
relationship category. usually easier to answer, they may contain certain
in-built assumptions that compromise the original
Activity 2 question that you asked. So, as has already been
The cases (a), (d) and (e) are ‘comparing’ indicated, it is one thing to show that the average
investigations. Case (c) is a ‘relationship’ speeds after the traffic-calming measures were
investigation. In case (b), the social backgrounds introduced had fallen, but it is another to prove
can be measured on a numerical scale and a cause-and-effect.
relationship investigation carried out. However, Furthermore, it is conceivable (though perhaps
the social backgrounds can also be used to split unlikely) that average speeds are indeed reduced
the students into two groups so that a comparing but that this makes no difference to the number
investigation can be carried out. and severity of accidents. (Reducing accidents and
their severity was probably the purpose of the
Activity 3 exercise in the first place.)
(a) Although this is a hypothetical example, the (b) Calculating averages and plotting data
potential stages should be fairly easy to identify. graphically are very useful statistical techniques,
Here is one possible answer (yours may be different particularly for investigations of comparing.
in several respects).
Stage P: The general question here is: ‘Did the Activity 4
traffic-calming measures slow the traffic?’ A more
focused question might be: ‘Were vehicle speeds Collect relevant data:
slower, on average, after the measures were Choose a sample
introduced?’ Design a questionnaire
Key the data into a spreadsheet
Stage C: A suitable sample of vehicle speeds would
be collected before and after the traffic-calming Analyse the data:
measures were introduced. Care would need to be Calculate an average
taken to ensure that the sample sizes were Calculate a percentage
sufficiently large, that the vehicles were chosen Draw a helpful graph
randomly, and that the circumstances of the
Interpret the results:
sampling (e.g. time of day) were similar between
Make a decision based on a difference
the two samples.
Draw a conclusion
Stage A: A simple technique for analysing these Make a prediction about the real world
figures is to calculate and compare the two average
speeds. (You haven’t seen these yet, but useful
techniques at the ‘A’ stage could include drawing a Activity 5
variety of different charts and plots: for example, Clearly there are no uniquely correct answers to
dotplots, boxplots and histograms, all of which are this activity, but you might like to compare your
covered in Unit 11.) notes with the suggestions below.
Stage I: The trickiest stage is relating the data Stage P: A suitable question might be: ‘Do clouds
analysis to the original problem. In simple terms, keep heat in?’ A more focused question might be
if the average speed is lower after traffic-calming something like: ‘Do night temperatures drop less
measures are in place, then we might conclude when it is cloudy?’
that they have been successful. However, although Stage C: Various newspapers publish daily lists of
average traffic speeds may have fallen slightly, how the highest and lowest temperatures recorded on
do we know that this was because of the the previous day across a number of towns in the
traffic-calming measures? There might be some UK, and also whether the weather had been sunny,
other explanation for these results, such as that cloudy, raining, and so on. For a particular town or
the ‘after’ measurements were conducted in very region, collect this information for 30 consecutive
different weather conditions when traffic conditions days, noting whether each day was cloudy or clear.

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Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Stage A: Separate the 30 days’ data into two Activity 8

groups, labelled cloudy and clear. For each of the Comments on this activity are included in the text.
30 days, calculate the ‘temperature swing’, that is,
the difference between the highest and lowest Activity 9
temperatures. Calculate the average temperature Discrete:
swing for the cloudy data and the clear data. (a) Price of loaf
Stage I: Observe which average temperature swing
(b) Number of seagulls
was greater. If the answer was the ‘clear’ data, this
would provide evidence to suggest that clouds do (d) Number of goals scored
tend to retain heat. However, a weakness with the (f) TMA score
design of this investigation is that we are not (i) Wind speed on the Beaufort scale
strictly comparing like with like. Since sunny days
are generally warmer than cloudy days, an Continuous:
alternative explanation might be that temperature (c) Athlete’s time
swings are larger on warmer days (as opposed to
(e) Distance between cities
sunny days, which are not necessarily the same
thing). (g) Air temperature
(h) Wind speed measured in kilometres per hour
Activity 6
In cases (c), (e), (g) and (h) the underlying
Probably the most striking features are the measures (time, distance, temperature and wind
following. speed) are continuous, but in practice values are
• Some columns (such as E to H) seem to measured and recorded on what is effectively a
contain ‘detailed’ decimal numbers taking a discrete scale.
wide range of values, while all the others seem
to contain many fewer integers, some (such as Activity 10
J to M) containing a lot of zeros. (a) Column G has a maximum weight of 92.7 kg,
• Some cells (G21, F28, G28) that might be which is both a realistic value and in line with the
expected to contain data are blank. next largest weights, and a minimum of 7.5 kg . . .
which is not realistic and wholly out of line with
• Some individual numbers stand out as being other mothers’ weights! A possible explanation
much larger than the rest of the numbers in here is that a decimal point has been erroneously
the same column. For example, the values introduced into a true value of 75 kg.
of 99 in cells I11, I22, L25 and M25 are
enormous compared with other numbers in (b) The data in cells E2 to E34 range from 1.5 m
those columns, as is (rather less obviously) the to 1.92 m. The latter is very much greater than
value in cell H8 which corresponds to a baby any other height in this column. However, is it
weighing 34 kg! necessarily in error? Such a woman would be
unusually tall, but such a height is by no means
• Some individual numbers stand out as being
impossible.
given in a rather different form from the rest of
the numbers in the same column. The values Activity 11
in cells D29 and F32 are given to many more (a) 125 pounds, in kg, is
decimal places than the other values in their 125 × 0.45359237 = 56.699046 . . . kg, which is
columns. 56.69905 kg when given correct to five decimal
places, as in cell F32.
Activity 7
Discrete data can be found in the columns ‘Month (b) 29.916666 years becomes 30 years, and
of pregnancy pain started’, ‘Number of children’, 56.69905 kg becomes 56.7 kg.
‘Relieved by hot bath?’, ‘Aggravated by fatigue?’ Activity 12
and ‘Aggravated by bending?’. The last three of
these contain binary data (except for the values of (a) The likelihood is that this estimate involved
‘99’). You may have added ‘Age’ to the list – the ‘scaling up’ daily or weekly data. For example,
column contains (mostly) integer values between suppose on a particular day the accused was found
18 and 42 – but you may have had a nagging to have stolen, say, £266.65. Let us assume that
doubt that surely age is measured on a continuous the employee worked roughly 220 days per year
scale; more on this very soon! (44 weeks at 5 days per week). Over 9.5 years, the
number of days worked would be 9.5 × 220 = 2090

216
 Solutions and comments on Activities

days. Based on the assumption that £266.65 was a (b) An interesting observation of human
typical day’s ‘takings’, a rough estimate of the behaviour is that, when asked to make an estimate
total theft could be made by calculating of something, most people have a tendency to
£266.65 × 2090 = £557 298.50. round their answers to, say, the nearest 5 or 10.
(b) One wonders where the spare 11p or, more There seems to be considerable evidence of such a
particularly, the final 1p would have come from. tendency here since a large number of values in
This is the sort of spurious precision that makes both columns are divisible by 5 or 10. (You might
one smell a statistical rat! It seems unlikely that particularly have noticed the many numbers
car park pay-and-display machines were accepting ending with a zero. These represent respondents
pennies in 1996. It would be much more who have applied an appropriate degree of
reasonable to accept, say, £550 000 as a rough precision to the question asked.)
estimate of the amount of money stolen.
Activity 17
Activity 13 (a) You might have tried to identify the values
that tended to crop up most often, or maybe
Datasets Data type(s) Relevance disregarded the very large and very small values
and identified a value that lies in the middle of the
Weights of mothers Paired data Seeking a remaining items.
and weights of relationship
their babies (b) Based on inspecting the data and perhaps
your own response to Activity 16(b), you may have
Weights of mothers Single data Summarising thought that the ‘Probable’ values were a bit
at end of pregnancy higher than the ‘Possible’ values.
Weights of two Two-sample Comparing Activity 18
samples of babies, data
one in the UK and (a) The mean texting time for the seven students
one in France is
(19 + 19 + 21 + 24 + 25 + 27 + 29)/7
Weights of mothers Two unrelated No direct
and average samples interest = 164/7 = 23.4 seconds (to 1 d.p.).
earnings in 20 EU (b) The mean of the ‘Possible’ values in Table 3 is
countries (30 + 90 + 60 + · · · + 35)/30
= 1157/30 = 38.6 (to 1 d.p.).
Activity 14
Activity 19
(a) You might say that the teacher times were all
about 30 seconds, while the student times were all (a) Where there are seven values sorted in order of
about 25 seconds. size, the median is the fourth value. So the median
of the seven student texting times is 24 seconds.
(b) On the basis of the answer to part (a), student
times were generally faster than teacher times. (b) The table below shows the three sets of
summaries already used for these data. (The
Activity 16 ‘Estimate’ column refers to the estimated values in
(a) (i) There are no missing data. the solution to Activity 14(a).)

(ii) There do not appear to be any numbers given

Estimate Mean Median
to spurious levels of precision in the sense of too
many decimal places. Teacher times (s) 30 31.8 31
(iii) All the data values lie between 0 and 100. Student times (s) 25 23.4 24

(iv) You might or might not think of labelling As you can see, all three teacher averages are fairly
some values as outliers (e.g. the single-figure values similar, as are the three student averages.
for ‘Possible’ stand out . . . but there are several of
them). All told, the data seem to be pretty ‘clean’.

217
Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 20 Activity 23
(a) In increasing order, the data become: (a) For Dataset A, mean = 6 and median = 6.
23 25 58 60 60 60 For Dataset B, mean = 18.9 (to 1 d.p.) and
60 80 100 100 160 200 median = 6.
The median is the mean of the 6th and 7th values (b) Dataset A is perfectly symmetrical – i.e. the
in the ordered list, i.e. (60 + 60)/2 = 60. As these values are not bunched together on one side or the
estimates are millions, the median estimate is other but are located in a way that is evenly
therefore 60 million. balanced around the middle value of 6. Where
Alternatively, in decreasing order, the data values datasets are highly symmetrical, the values of the
(in millions) are: mean and the median are very similar, so it really
doesn’t matter which you choose.
200 160 100 100 80 60
60 60 60 58 25 23 With Dataset B, the outlier 99 has a big impact on
the value of the mean, but has no effect on the
The two middle values are still 60 and 60, so again value of the median. There is no easy answer to
the median estimate is 60 million. which is the better choice of summary value in this
(b) The median is the mean of the 15th and case, as it all depends on the context from which
16th values in the ordered list, namely the numbers were taken. If you feel that the 99 is
(30 + 35)/2 = 32.5. a freak value and should effectively be disregarded,
then choose the median. However, if the 99 is
Activity 21 important and needs to be recognised in the
(a) The mean is summary, then choose the mean.
(51 + 60 + 60 + · · · + 99)/30 = 78.5. (c) Several advantages of the mean and the
median are listed below, in no particular order.
(b) The median is the mean of the 15th and
Please note that what seem to be advantages to
16th values in the ordered dataset, namely
some people might seem to be disadvantages to
(75 + 76)/2 = 75.5.
others! Also, you are not expected to have thought
(c) The mean is larger than the median for this of all the pros and cons listed here.
dataset.
Possible advantages of the mean:
Activity 22 • The mean, or average, is familiar to most
(a) Means and medians of students’ people and widely used.
values for ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’ • There is often a button on a simple scientific
calculator for calculating the mean, but not
Summary ‘Possible’ ‘Probable’ one for calculating the median.
scores scores
• The mean includes every value in its
Mean 38.6 78.5 calculation. (This, in particular, may or may
Median 32.5 75.5 not be an advantage!)

(These values have been rounded to 1 d.p.) Possible advantages of the median:

(b) There are two pairs of summary values here, • When there is an odd number of values in the
each of which gives a direct answer to the question dataset, the median is one of the values from
posed. the dataset and so can be thought of as being a
‘representative’ of the complete dataset.
Means: the ‘Possible’ mean of 38.6 is well below
• Following on from the point above, you might
the ‘Probable’ mean of 78.5.
think that the median is a more intuitive
Medians: the ‘Possible’ median of 32.5 is well summary (see also the way Activity 14 was
below the ‘Probable’ median of 75.5. approached).
Further comments on this activity can be found in • With reference to small datasets, the median is
the text following the activity. easier to calculate in your head than is the
mean.

218
 Solutions and comments on Activities

• As you saw in part (a) of this activity, an The standard deviation is the square root of the
important property of the median is that it variance:
isn’t affected by outliers: even if, say, the √
15.5 = 3.9 (to 1 d.p.).
largest value in a dataset is made very much
larger than the other values in the dataset, the (b) Mean = (2 + 3 + 5 + 6 + 9)/5 = 5.
median, being the ‘middle value’, doesn’t The deviations are found by subtracting the mean
change. from each data value in turn, giving −3, −2, 0, 1, 4.
• You can identify the median item even in
The squared deviations are 9, 4, 0, 1, 16.
situations where there are no actual figures.
For example, if you want to choose a soldier of The variance is the mean of these squared
average height, simply ask all the soldiers deviations:
under consideration to line up in order of size (9 + 4 + 0 + 1 + 16)/5 = 30/5 = 6.
and choose the one in the middle.
The standard deviation is the square root of the
Activity 24 variance:
√
(a) min = £210, max = £1260, so 6 = 2.4 (to 1 d.p.).
range = £1260 − £210 = £1050.
Activity 27
(b) The max value (£1260) is clearly very far out
of line with the rest of the data. (It is likely that (a) Range, IQR and SD of students’
this figure represents the weekly earnings of the values for ‘Possible’ and ‘Probable’
owner.) In fact, most of the values are bunched Summary ‘Possible’ ‘Probable’
between £200 and £400, so for this particular scores scores
dataset, the range does not give a useful impression
of the spread of the main part of the data. Range 97 48
IQR 30 20
Activity 25 SD 27.1 11.9
(a) The median is the 8th value when placed in (b) There are three pairs of summary values here,
order, i.e. £315. each of which gives a direct answer to the question
Q1 is the median of the bottom half of the data posed.
(excluding the median data value), i.e. the median Ranges: the ‘Possible’ range of 97 is much wider
of than the ‘Probable’ range of 48.
210 280 280 280 285 290 305
IQRs: the ‘Possible’ interquartile range of 30 is
So Q1 = £280.
much wider than the ‘Probable’ interquartile range
Q3 is the median of the upper half of the data of 20.
(excluding the median data value), i.e. the median
SDs: the ‘Possible’ standard deviation of 27.1 is
of
much wider than the ‘Probable’ standard deviation
325 340 360 370 370 480 1260
of 11.9.
So Q3 = £370.
So, in general, the spread of estimates for the
(b) Interquartile range = £370 − £280 = £90. ‘Possible’ data is considerably wider than that for
the ‘Probable’ data. What this suggests is that, if
Activity 26
this sample is typical, when people use the word
(a) Mean = (1 + 2 + 6 + 11)/4 = 20/4 = 5. ‘possible’, it is difficult to know what sort of level
The deviations are found by subtracting the mean of likelihood they are referring to since numerical
from each data value in turn, giving −4, −3, 1, 6. estimates for defining this word are so widely
spread.
The squared deviations are 16, 9, 1, 36.
The variance is the mean of these squared
deviations:
(16 + 9 + 1 + 36)/4 = 62/4 = 15.5.

219
Unit 4 Statistical summaries

Activity 28 Activity 30
(a) The fifth number is 10. This will also raise the Comments on this activity are included in the text.
value of the median from 5 to 6.
Activity 31
(b) Change the 7 to 9. The min and max values
are unchanged, so the range remains at 7. The (a) For the Scales A, the mean (in g) is
upper quartile, Q3, increases from 8.5 to 9.5, (102 + 101 + 102 + 100 + 100)/5 = 505/5 = 101.
which increases the interquartile range to 6 The range is 102 g − 100 g = 2 g.
(i.e. 9.5 − 3.5).
For the Scales B, the mean (in g) is
(c) Changing the 6s as described should have the (98 + 100 + 99 + 99 + 103)/5 = 499/5 = 99.8.
effect of increasing the value of the standard
The range is 103 g − 98 g = 5 g.
deviation. The reason is that 6 happens to be
equal to the value of the sample mean, so the two (b) The mean weight from Scales B (99.8 g) is
data items 6 each have a deviation of zero. closer to the true weight of 100g than the mean
Changing the 6s as described to any other values weight from Scales A (101 g), so the Scales B are
will produce non-zero deviations for these data more accurate.
values (without changing the mean), which will The range of the weights from Scales A (2 g) is
increase the value of the standard deviation. smaller than the range of the weights from
Scales B (5 g), so the Scales A are more precise.
Activity 29
At first glance, you can see that there don’t seem
to be any outliers or examples of spurious
precision. A closer look might suggest that the
‘free fall’ values seem to be slightly lower and less
widely spread than the ‘pendulum’ data.

220
 Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission
to reproduce material in this book.

Unit 1
c The Science Museum of Brussels, www.wikipedia.org;
Figure 1 &
c The Italian Post Office; Figure 24 &
Figure 2 & c Bloomsbury Publishing;
Figure 30(a): Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Switzerland,
Prof. Ewald R. Weibel; Figure 30(b): Romanesco broccoli
www.wikipedia.org; Figure 30(c): Leaf of fern, www.wikipedia.org;
Figure 31: Full tiling dragon and Full tiling dragon 2, www.wikipedia.org;
Figure 32 &c The French Post Office.

Unit 2
Cartoon on page 66 & c CartoonStock Ltd; Cartoon on page 67
&c CartoonStock Ltd; Figure 4: Department for Transport; Cartoon on
page 78 &c CartoonStock Ltd; Highway Code extract and Figure 6 on
page 80: Crown copyright material reproduced under Class Licence
Number C01W0000065 with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and
c Sidney Harris.
the Queen’s Printer for Scotland; Cartoon on page 98 &

Unit 3
Figure 2: Marin Mersenne, www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk; Figure 6:
C.F. Gauss, www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk; Cartoon on page 130
c R. Munroe, xkcd.com; Figure 15 &
& c Oddmusic 1999-2008; Figure 20
c Photos by Tom Hustler (Getty Images).
&

Unit 4
Figure 1 &c University of Kentucky; Figure 3: Forest path
www.seacology.org/project photos/large/INDON87.htm (accessed
23/9/08); Figure 4: These photos of a magnified sheet of paper were taken
on a Zeiss Supra 55VP Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope
(FEGSEM), courtesy of Interfaculty Electron Microscope Suite,
Open University.

221
 Index

INDEX
absolute comparison 39 distance 69
accuracy 213 stopping 80
algorithm 76 divisibility 122
approximately equal 20 divisor 122
aspect ratio 163 double inequality 106
of a photograph 164
assignments, when to start them 52 ellipsis 24
assumptions 75 encryption 125
average 193, 196 equivalent fractions 33
average speed 72 Eratosthenes 125
Erdös, Paul 120
backache dataset 184 estimate 25
base number 131 Euler, Leonhard 126, 170
Benford’s law 138 even number 44
BIDMAS 13 experimental error 212
billion 132 exponent 13, 131
binary data 185
factorisation 127
calculator mistakes 26–27 prime 128
calculator use 14–15 factors 122
cancelling a fraction 34 finding 122
checking answers 25 pair 122
checking data 188 tree 126
cleaning data 188 Fermat, Pierre de 170
common denominator 138 Fermat’s Christmas Theorem 170
common factor 124 folding paper 49, 50
common multiple 121 formula 88, 89
comparing 177, 191, 193 conventions 94
comparison, relative vs. absolute 39 fourth root 151
complex number 151 fractal 50
composite number 126 fractional index 157
compound units 72 fractions 33–34
conjecture 46 adding and subtracting 138–140
continuous data 185, 186 cancelling 34
conversion graph 84 equivalent 33
cube of a number 131 improper 35
cube root 151 lowest terms 34
mixed number 35
data 77, 183 multiplying and dividing 140
checking and cleaning 188 of quantities 35
continuous 185, 186 proper 35
discrete 185 simplest form 34
paired 191 top-heavy 35
primary 183 fundamental theorem of arithmetic 128
scanning 185, 195, 200
googol 132
secondary 183
graph 84
single 191
greatest common divisor (GCD) 124
dataset 183
decimal Heighway dragon 50
recurring 137 help, getting 11
terminating 137 highest common factor (HCF) 124
decimal places 19 finding 130
denominator 33 Highway Code 80
Descartes, René 132, 151 horizontal coordinate 85
deviation 205
difference between two numbers 14 iCMA questions 53
digit 18 improper fraction 35
Dijkstra, Edsger 78 indices 13, 131
discrete data 185 fractional 157

222
 Index

irrational 158 prime 124

laws of 159 product 14
negative 144 quotient 14
notation 131 rational 136
zero 144 real 150
inequality 104 root 151
notation 103 rounding 18–25
reversing 104 square 45
infinite 50 sum 14
integer 28, 120, 185 numerator 33
positive 44
interquartile range (IQR) 202, 209 odd number 45
interval 105 origin 85
IQR see interquartile range outlier 189, 201
irrational index 158
irrational number 150 paired data 191
paper folding 49, 50
laws of indices 159 paper sizes 166
limit 103 PCAI cycle 180
location 193, 199 percentages 37–44
lower quartile (Q1) 202, 204 converting to a quantity 40
lowest common multiple (LCM) 121 converting to fraction or decimal 37
finding 130 for comparison 38
lowest terms 34 increase and decrease 40
power 13, 131
map scale 69 precision 187, 213
mathematical model 66, 76 prefix for unit 15
mathematical modelling 181 primary data 183
mathematics prime factorisation 128
reading 109 prime number 124
writing 54, 57 Mersenne 126
maximum value 200 problem-solving strategies 108
mean 91, 196 product of two numbers 14
median 196, 197 progress, reviewing 52, 58
Mersenne, Marin 126 proper fraction 35
Mersenne prime 126 pure mathematics 44
minimum value 200
missing data 188 Q1 see lower quartile
mixed number 35 Q3 see upper quartile
model 66, 76 quartiles 202, 204
modelling cycle 78, 79 quotient of two numbers 14
multiples of natural numbers 121
range 200, 209
Naismith’s rule 91 ratio 159
natural number 44, 120 as a single number 162
negative index 144 rational number 136
negative number 28–32 reading mathematics 109
adding and subtracting 29–30 real line 150
multiplying and dividing 30–31 real number 150
substituting into a formula 97 reciprocal 142
number line 28, 150 recurring decimal 137
numbers relationship 178
base 131 relative comparison 39
complex 151 result 48
difference 14 reversing an inequality 104
even 44 root mean squared deviation 205
in the media 43 root of a number 151
irrational 150 rounding a number 18–25
mixed 35 rounding error 24
natural 44, 120 route planner 67, 76
negative 28–32
odd 45 satisfying an inequality 105

223
 Index

scale factor 69, 165 sum of two numbers 14

scanning data 185, 195, 200 summarising 177, 191, 193
scientific notation 145, 148 summary measures 193, 200
SD see standard deviation surds 153
secondary data 183 simplifying 153–156
seeking a relationship 178
self-similarity 50 terminating decimal 137
SI units 15 themes of MU123 8
significant figures 20 theorem 48
simplest form 34 TMA questions 54, 58
of a fraction 34 top-heavy fraction 35
of a ratio 160 trillion 132
simplifying surds 156 two-sample dataset 191
single data 191 types of statistical question 177
speed 72
average 72 units 15–18, 72
spread 200, 207 compound 72
spurious precision 189 converting 16–18
square number 45 metric vs. imperial 15
square of a number 131 prefix 15
square root 150, 151 upper quartile (Q3) 202, 204
standard deviation (SD) 205, 209
standard form 145 variable 89
statistical investigation 180 variance 205
statistical modelling 181 vertical coordinate 85
statistical questions 181 video aspect ratio 166
statistics 176
stopping distance 80 writing formulas 94
strict inequality 104 writing mathematics 54, 57
subject 89
substituting values into a formula 89 zero index 144

224