Mathematical and Programming Ability

Quick Revision Notes

Functions and Operations

In mathematics, a function is a relation that uniquely assigns a single output for each input
element. Functions are fundamental in both algebra and calculus for describing and
managing variable relationships.

● Basic Functions: Consider linear functions, quadratic functions, polynomial

functions, and trigonometric functions. Each type serves different purposes:

○ Linear Function f(x)=mx+b where mmm is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

○ Quadratic Function f(x)=a𝑥 2 +bx+c characterized by its parabolic shape.

○ Polynomial Function f(x)=𝑎𝑛 𝑥 𝑛 +. . . . +𝑎1 𝑥 + 𝑎0 involving terms of varying

degrees.

○ Trigonometric Functions like sin⁡(x), cos⁡(x), and tan⁡(x) which are

fundamental in modeling periodic phenomena.

● Function Composition: Combining two functions into a single function by applying

one function to the results of another. If f(x)=x+1 and g(x)=𝑥 2 , then the composition
f(g(x)) is calculated as follows:
f(g(x)) = f(𝑥 2 ) = 𝑥 2 +1
This demonstrates how the output of g(x), which is 𝑥 2 , becomes the input for f(x).

Derivatives and Integrals

Calculus revolves around the concepts of derivatives and integrals, which are essential for
understanding changes and accumulations.

● Derivatives: Measure how a function's output changes as its input changes. The
derivative of a function at a point quantifies the instant rate of change at that point.

○ Example: For f(x)=𝑥 2 , the derivative f′(x) is 2x. This tells us that for each unit
increase in x, the value of f(x) increases by 2x.

○ Product Rule: If h(x)=u(x)v(x), then h′(x)=u′(x)v(x)+u(x)v′(x).

 ○ Chain Rule: Used when dealing with compositions of functions, such as
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑢
f(g(x)). If y=f(u) and u=g(x), then 𝑑𝑥 = 𝑑𝑢 × 𝑑𝑥 .
● Integrals: Represent the accumulation of quantities, such as areas under curves.

○ Definite Integral: Gives the area under the curve of a function between two
𝑏
points. If f(x) is defined from a to b, the integral is written as ∫𝑎 𝑓(𝑥) 𝑑𝑥.

○ Indefinite Integral: Represents a family of functions whose derivative is the

original function, often written with an added constant C (the constant of
integration).

Limits and Continuity

● Limits: Fundamental to the calculation of derivatives and integrals, limits describe
the behavior of a function as its argument approaches a particular value or infinity.

𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝑥)
○ Example: The limit of as x approaches 0 is 1, crucial for understanding
𝑥
small angle approximations in trigonometry.

● Continuity: A function is continuous at a point if there is no interruption in its graph

at that point. Formally, f is continuous at x=a if:
𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑥→𝑎
This concept is essential in ensuring that functions behave predictably without
sudden jumps or breaks.

Percentages

Percentages are used to express how one quantity relates to another as a fraction of 100.
They are crucial in financial calculations, data analysis, and everyday transactions. Here’s a
detailed look at their applications:

● Calculating Discounts: When a discount is applied, the price of an item is reduced

by a certain percentage. For instance, if a product costs Rs. 100 and a 10% discount
is applied, the discount amount is 10% of Rs. 100, which is Rs. 10. Therefore, the
discounted price becomes Rs. 100 - Rs. 10 = Rs. 90.

● Calculating Taxes: Sales tax is a percentage added to the original price of goods and
services. Continuing from the previous example, if a 10% tax is then applied to the
 discounted price of Rs. 90, the tax amount would be 10% of Rs. 90, or Rs. 9. Thus,
the final price after tax would be Rs. 90 + Rs. 9 = Rs. 99.

● Combined Calculations: Understanding how to combine percentages is essential, as

in the case where both discounts and taxes are applied. It is important to note that
the order of these operations can affect the final price. Normally, discounts are
applied first, followed by the application of taxes on the reduced price.

Area Calculation
Calculating the area is essential in various practical fields such as construction, interior
design, and land assessment. Here’s how to perform basic area calculations:

● Rectangular Areas: The area of a rectangle is calculated as length multiplied by

width. For example, if a room measures 12 feet by 20 feet, its area is 240 square
feet.

● Example Problem: Tile Fitting: To determine how many tiles are needed to cover a
floor, divide the total area of the floor by the area of one tile. Ensure that all
measurements are in the same unit.

● Unit Conversions: Often, it’s necessary to convert units for accurate calculations. In
tiling, measurements might be given in inches, requiring conversion to feet (12
inches = 1 foot) or meters, depending on the standard unit of measure in your
region.

Practical Problems in Arithmetic

● BMI Calculation: Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated as weight in kilograms
divided by the square of height in meters. This formula helps to assess whether a
person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.

● Exchange Rates: When dealing with international currencies, understanding how to

apply percentage-based exchange rates is critical for converting one currency to
another accurately.

● Interest Rates: In finance, calculating interest rates involves understanding simple

and compound interest formulas. Simple interest is calculated on the principal
 amount alone, whereas compound interest is calculated on the principal amount
plus any interest earned.

Probability

Basics of Probability

Probability is a branch of mathematics that measures the likelihood of events occurring. It

is fundamental in fields like statistics, finance, science, and engineering. Here's a deeper
dive into the basic concepts:

● Probability of an Event: The likelihood of an event E occurring is calculated as the

ratio of the number of favorable outcomes to the total number of outcomes. The
formula is expressed as:
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
P(E) = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
1
For example, the probability of rolling a six on a standard die is 6 because there is
only one face with ‘six’ and a total of six possible outcomes.

● Sample Space: The set of all possible outcomes of a probabilistic experiment. For a
coin toss, the sample space is {Heads, Tails}.

● Event: A subset of the sample space. An event can include one outcome, multiple
outcomes, or no outcomes at all (the empty set, which has a probability of 0).

Independent Events

When the outcome of one event does not affect the outcome of another, the events are
considered independent. Here’s how probabilities are calculated for independent events:

● Probability of Independent Events: The probability of multiple independent events

all occurring is the product of their individual probabilities. For instance, the
probability of flipping a coin three times and getting exactly one head can be
calculated by considering the number of ways to achieve this outcome and the
probability of each sequence:

○ The sequences for exactly one head in three tosses are: H T T, T H T, T T H.

1 1 1
○ Each sequence has a probability of (2)1 (2)2 = 8.
 1 3
○ Since there are three such sequences, the total probability is 3 × 8 = 8.

Calculating Compound Probabilities

● Addition Rule: Used to determine the probability of either of two mutually

exclusive events occurring. It states that:
P(A or B) = P(A)+P(B)−P(A and B)
If A and B are mutually exclusive (cannot happen at the same time), then:
P(A or B) = P(A)+P(B)

● Conditional Probability: The probability of an event occurring given that another

event has already occurred is calculated using:
𝑃(𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵)
P(A∣B) = 𝑃(𝐵)
This formula is essential in fields such as medical testing, where it might be used to
calculate the likelihood of having a disease given a positive test result.

Combinatorics
● Permutations and Combinations: These are used to calculate the probability of
events where order matters (permutations) and where it does not (combinations).
For instance, choosing 4 students out of 6 to sit on a bench can be calculated using
combinations since the order in which they sit does not matter.

● Examples:
6!
○ Choosing Students: C(6,4) = = 15 ways.
4!(6−4)!

○ Sitting Arrangements: The number of ways to arrange 4 students in 4 seats is

a permutation: P(4,4) = 4! = 24.

Combination without Replacement

 ○ Probability of drawing two black balls without replacement, from a box with
n black and r red balls:

𝑛 𝑛−1
×
𝑛+𝑟 𝑛+𝑟 −1

Linear Algebra
Vectors and Dot Product

Linear algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with vectors, matrices, and linear
transformations. It is essential in various fields such as engineering, physics, computer
science, and data science. In this section, we'll focus on vectors and one of the
fundamental operations associated with them, the dot product.

Introduction to Vectors

A vector is a mathematical object that has magnitude and direction. Vectors can be used
to represent physical quantities such as force, velocity, and displacement. Here are the
basics:

● Vector Representation: Vectors are often represented in coordinate form as v =

(𝑣1 , 𝑣2 , . . . , 𝑣𝑛 ), where 𝑣1 , 𝑣2 , . . . , 𝑣𝑛 are the components of the vector in an n-
dimensional space.

● Magnitude of a Vector: The length or magnitude of a vector v is calculated as:

V = √𝑣12 + 𝑣22 +. . . +𝑣𝑛2

● Direction: The direction of a vector describes the angle it makes with a reference
direction (like the positive x-axis in a plane).

Dot Product (Scalar Product)

The dot product is a way of multiplying vectors together to obtain a scalar (a single
number). It is defined as follows:

● Definition: For two vectors a and b, both in 𝑅 𝑛 , their dot product is given by:
a.b=𝑎1 𝑏1 + 𝑎2 𝑏2 +. . . . +𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑛
 ● Geometric Interpretation: The dot product of a and b can also be expressed as:
a.b=Magnitude (a) * Magnitude (b) * cos⁡(θ)
where θ is the angle between a and b. This formula shows that the dot product is
proportional to the cosine of the angle between the two vectors, providing a
measure of how "aligned" two vectors are.

Understanding Means: Arithmetic, Geometric, and Harmonic

The concept of "means" provides a way to summarize or represent central tendencies in a

set of numbers. There are several types of means, with the most common being the
arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and harmonic mean. Each has its applications
depending on the nature of the data and the specific analytical needs.

Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean, commonly known as the average, is the most widely used measure
of central tendency. It is calculated by adding up all the numbers in a dataset and then
dividing by the count of numbers.

● Formula:
1
Arithmetic Mean(AM) = 𝑛 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
where 𝑥𝑖 represents each value in the dataset, and 𝑛 is the number of values.

● Example: If the test scores for a class are 70, 75, 80, 85, and 90, the arithmetic
mean is:
70+75+80+85+90
= 80
5
This tells us that the average score is 80.

Geometric Mean

The geometric mean is another type of average where you multiply all the numbers
together and then take a root of the product based on the number of values. This mean is
particularly useful when dealing with ratios and percentages because it represents the
central tendency of multiplicative sets of numbers.
 ● Formula:
1
Geometric Mean(GM) = (∏𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 )𝑛
where 𝑥𝑖 are the values in the dataset, and 𝑛 is the number of values.

● Application: It is used in finance to calculate average rates of return over time, in

biology to measure the growth rates of populations, and in environmental science
to average ratios like concentrations of substances.

● Example: For investment returns of 5%, 15%, and 10% over three years, the
geometric mean would be:
1
(1.05 × 1.15 × 1.10)3 ≈ 1.097 or 9.7%
This indicates an average annual return of 9.7%.

Harmonic Mean

The harmonic mean is used when the data is defined in terms of ratios, particularly speeds
or densities, and is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocals of the data
points.

● Formula:
𝑛
Harmonic Mean(HM) = 1
∑𝑛
𝑖−1 𝑥𝑖

where 𝑥𝑖 are the values, and 𝑛 is the number of values.

● Application: Commonly used in finance and economics when averaging multiples

like the price-earnings ratio, or in physics and engineering when dealing with rates
and ratios such as speeds or densities.

● Example: If a person travels 30 km at 60 km/h and 30 km at 40 km/h, the

harmonic mean speed is:
2
1 1 ≈ 48 km/h
+
60 40
This indicates that the average speed over the total distance is about 48 km/h.
Programming

Variables and Data Types

Variables are placeholders used in programming to store data that can vary during the
execution of a program. Different data types allow variables to store different kinds of
information. Here's a quick overview:

● Integers (int): Whole numbers without a fractional component. Used for counts,
indexes, and other discrete quantities.
● Floating-point numbers (float): Numbers that include a decimal point. They are
crucial for representing real numbers in calculations involving precision.
● Strings (str): Sequences of characters used for storing text. They can be
manipulated through operations like concatenation, slicing, and transformation.
● Boolean (bool): Represents truth values, typically denoted by the keywords True
and False. Booleans are often used in control flow to decide which blocks of code
to execute.
● Complex: A number that has a real and an imaginary part, represented as a + bj,
where a is the real part and b is the imaginary part multiplied by the imaginary unit
j.

Examples of variable declarations:

number = 42 # Integer

temperature = 98.6 # Floating-point number

name = "Alice" # String

is_valid = True # Boolean

complex_num = 3 + 4j # Complex number

Control Structures

Control structures govern the flow of a program and direct how blocks of code are
executed based on conditions or iterations.

○ Conditional Statements: Use if, elif, and else to perform different actions
based on conditions.

if temperature > 100:

 print("High temperature")

else:

print("Normal temperature")

Loops:

○ For Loops: Iterate over a sequence (like a list or a range). Ideal for situations
where the number of iterations is known before the loop begins.

for i in range(1, 5): # Will iterate over 1, 2, 3, 4

sum += i

○ While Loops: Continue to execute as long as a condition is true. Useful when

the number of iterations is not known before the loop begins.

while x > 0:

x /= 2 # Keep dividing x by 2 until it is 0

Algorithms

An algorithm is a finite sequence of well-defined instructions, typically used to solve a

class of problems or to perform a computation.

○ Example: Finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two numbers using
the Euclidean algorithm.

def gcd(a, b):

while b != 0:
 a, b = b, a % b

return a

● Properties of Algorithms:

○ Correctness: The algorithm must produce the correct output for any valid
input.

○ Efficiency: Measures how fast the algorithm runs and how much memory it
uses.

○ Readability: The clarity with which the algorithm is written, impacting

maintainability and understandability.

Common Programming Concepts

○ Functions: Encapsulate a task; they take input, process it, and return an
output.

def square(number):

return number * number

○ Recursion: A function calls itself to solve smaller instances of the same

problem.

def factorial(n):

if n == 1:

return 1

else:

return n * factorial(n - 1)