Mary Jane Sterling - Algebra I All-in-One For Dummies

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“ What is algebra?” “Is it really that important in the study of other math courses?” “Where did it come from?” And my favorite question from students: “What do I need this for?”

Algebra is really the basis of most courses that you take in high school and college. You can’t do anything in calculus without a good algebra background. And there’s lots of algebra in geometry. You even need algebra in computer science! Algebra was created, modified, and continues to be tweaked so that ideas and procedures can be shared by everyone. With all people speaking the same “language,” there are fewer misinterpretations.

Algebra, or al-jabr in Arabic, means “a reunion of broken pieces.” How appropriate!

This book covers just about everything you’d ever want to know about basic algebra. And it provides opportunities for further discoveries. You’ll find explanations, examples, practice opportunities, and problems to test your comprehension. This book starts with basic operations and terminology, gives you information on simplifying and organizing expressions, runs through equation-solving, introduces applications, and goes visual with the graphing. When finished, you should:

Be familiar with notation and terminology.

Have confidence in finding the correct answer.

Look forward to more challenges with Algebra II and other courses.

Each new topic provides:

Example problems with answers and solutions.

Practice problems with answers and solutions.

Each chapter provides:

A test with problems representing the topics covered.

Solutions to the test problems.

Online quizzes are also available for even more practice and confidence-building.

This book also has a few conventions to keep in mind:

New terms introduced in a chapter, as well as variables, are in italics.

Keywords in lists and numbered steps are in boldface.

Any websites appear in monofont.

The final answers to problems appear in bold. Then the explanation follows.

You are reading this book to learn more about algebra, so I'm assuming that you have some of the other basic math skills coming in: familiarity with fractions and their operations, comfort with handling decimals and the operations involved, some experience with integers (signed whole numbers) and how they operate, and some graphing knowledge — how to place points on a graphing plane. If you don’t have as much knowledge as you’d like related to some items mentioned, you might want to refer to some resources such as Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies or Pre-Algebra Essentials For Dummies.

I am also assuming that you’re as excited about mathematics as I am. Oh, okay, you don’t have to be that excited. But you’re interested and eager and anxious to increase your mathematical abilities. That’s the main thing you need.

You’ll see the following five icons throughout the book:

Each example is an algebra question based on the discussion and explanation, followed by a solution. Work through these examples, and then refer to them to help you solve the practice problems that follow them as well as the quiz questions at the end of the chapter.

This icon points out important information that you need to focus on. Make sure you understand this information fully before moving on. You can skim through these icons when reading a chapter to make sure you remember the highlights.

Tips are hints that can help speed you along when answering a question. See whether you find them useful when working on practice problems.

This icon flags common mistakes that students make if they’re not careful. Take note and proceed with caution!

When you see this icon, it’s time to put on your thinking cap and work out a few practice problems on your own. The answers and detailed solutions are available so you can feel confident about your progress.

In addition to what you’re reading right now, this book comes with a Cheat Sheet that provides quick access to some formulas and rules and processes that are frequently used. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Algebra I All In One For Dummies Cheat Sheetin the Search box.

You’ll also have access to online quizzes related to each chapter. These quizzes provide a whole new set of problems for practice and confidence-building. To access the quizzes, follow these simple steps:

1 Register your book or ebook at Dummies.com to get your PIN. Go to www.dummies.com/go/getaccess .

2 Select your product from the drop-down list on that page.

3 Follow the prompts to validate your product, and then check your email for a confirmation message that includes your PIN and instructions for logging in.

If you do not receive this email within two hours, please check your spam folder before contacting us through our Technical Support website at http://support.wiley.com or by phone at 877-762-2974.

Now you’re ready to go! You can come back to the practice material as often as you want — simply log on with the username and password you created during your initial login. No need to enter the access code a second time.

Your registration is good for one year from the day you activate your PIN.

This book is organized so that you can safely move from whichever chapter you choose to start with and in whatever order you like. You can strengthen skills you feel less confident in or work on those that need some attention.