Purpose

We strive to support all students in graduating, confident and prepared. One service that we provide to help
students get unstuck is access to high-quality solutions and explanations to textbook questions. Students may
use these solutions to improve their understanding of a concept, refine their approach to solving a problem, or to
confirm that their work is correct.

Our textbook solutions do not simply provide an answer to a question. Rather, they foster deeper learning by
providing rich explanations, quality graphics, how-to videos, and step-by-step solutions to supplement students'
learning. The treatment levels for different solutions can vary, but every solution should include a quality
explanation to support meaningful learning.
 Copyright and Plagiarism

We are a platform for students and educators to share and access course-specific study resources with the intent
to help students study efficiently and learn deeply while upholding academic integrity. We respect intellectual
property rights of others, so it is important that every textbook solution be free from copyright infringement or
plagiarism. Consequently, solutions must follow the following guidelines:

Definition

According to the US Copyright Office, copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects original works of
authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer
software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it
may protect the way these things are expressed.
Copyright grants the author of a work exclusive rights to copying, distributing, preparing derivative works based on
a work and performing or displaying the work publicly. It ensures that authors are the sole benefactors of their work.
Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own.
Guidelines

• While you should have access to the textbook for which you are creating solutions as a reference:
• Never copy and paste textbook questions into your solutions or onto your workstation.
• Do not rephrase or paraphrase any part of the textbook question into your answer.
• Do not include any content in your solutions that is not your original work.
•Do not include proper nouns, hypothetical situations, or fictitious data presented in the textbook in any part
of the solution. This includes specific names of people, places, or fictitious entities. If references to proper
nouns, hypothetical situations, or fictitious data is necessary to include in the solution in order to convey the
intended meaning, abbreviations or placeholders should be used instead.

• Example 1: If the question stem includes proper nouns such as "Pauline and Greg are debating the
cause of inflation..." the solution can reference "Individual P" for Pauline and "Individual G" for Greg.
• Example 2: If the question stem includes specific places, such as New York and Switzerland, the
solution can reference "NY Location" for New York and "Country S" for Switzerland.
• Example 3: If the question includes a fictitious data set, the solution can reference the "first data
point" or the "second coordinate pair."
• Example 4: If the question includes a fact such as the function x = 2y, this is considered a fact and
can be included in the solution as is.
•You should attempt to adopt the methodology presented in a textbook for solving specific types of problems
and the specific terminology used in a textbook; however, you should never present text, images, or data
from another source as your own.
•You may incorporate factual information such as dates, formulas, and equations in your answers.
•You should never access any existing third-party solutions guides to answer textbook questions. This
includes online resources, physical solution manuals, and any solutions in the textbook itself.
Zero Tolerance Policy
Any author found to have violated these guidelines will be immediately removed from the textbook solutions
project.
 Authoring High-Quality Solutions

What makes a high-quality solution? While solutions for different question types across different disciplines will
vary in terms of specific content, the intent will remain the same. A high-quality solution must always be:

• 100% accurate
• free from grammatical errors and typos
• instructive in nature by providing explanations, summaries, breakdowns, links, and/or step-by-step work
• concise and to the point*

*Students have expressed that long solutions do not always equate with quality solutions. Formatting a
solution as a series of steps, as a list of bullet points, or in a clear diagram is often preferred over lengthy
blocks of text.
 Solution Components
This page provides detailed instructions for the different components used when authoring solutions.
Answer | Sample Response | Explanation | Step-by-step | Hints | Links | Question Parts
Answer
The answer component consists of the final answer for the question. The answer can take the form of:

• a letter designator or multiple letter designators

o one letter designator for MCQ

o one or more letter designators for MS

o one letter designator for TCQ

• text

o single words or phrases for FIB, TCQ, MAT, and SA

o 1 or more sentences for SA

• a number

o a numeric solution to a calculation for CALC

o a date or numeric response that does not require a calculation for SA

o an assigned grouping or ordering for CL and ORD

• an image for DRW
• a graph developed in JSXGraph for GR
• a Google sheets table created from a template for
LDGR

Sample Response
When a question is open ended and more than one correct response is possible, the solution will include a sample response
component in place of an answer component. The sample repsonse can take the form of:

• text or number

o for some SA and CALC questions

o for all ES questions

• image or graph

o for some DRW and GR questions where the image or graph response can vary
 Explanation and Wrong Explanation
The explanation component consists of the explanation for the correct answer option or solution. The
explanation can take the form of:
• text
• step-by-step
• image
The wrong explanation component is similar in composition to the explanation component, but it provides an
explanation for the incorrect options.
The following are key features of a quality explanation and wrong explanation:
• supports a student's understanding of the overall concept being assessed (avoids superficial explanations)
• is specific and concise
• uses precise subject matter terminology
• is 100% accurate
• is clear of grammar and mechanical issues
• targets the appropriate audience in terms of student-friendly language and appropriate content
• is original work in the SME’s own words
• does not cue the correct response (for incorrect answer option explanations)
 Step-by-step
The step-by-step component is most often used within the explanation section in a solution. A step-by-step provides
a clear breakdown or instructions directing students how to solve the problem to arrive at the answer. The step-by-
step component is used most often in CALC, GR, LDGR, and DRW solutions, but is not limited to these question
types.
The following are key features of a quality step-by-step explanation:
• steps should be broken down into logical chunks that the student would be able to understand even if they
struggle to understand the entire problem
• steps should focus on including conceptual-level steps and not separate steps for each simplification of a math
formula
• the first step should outline the conceptual approach to solving the problem (and will serve as the first hint a
student receives)
• each step should include a brief description of what's occurring in that step in the left column and the actual
computation ("work") for the step in the right column
• content provided in the left column will consist primarily of text since it will be a description of what is occurring in
the step. The description of the step should explain why this is the logical next step in the process and any
pertinent information (vocabulary terms, basic formulas, etc.) that is required to show the work in that step.
• content provided in the right column will consist of a mix of formulas (formatted as KaTeX) and text. Any formulas
needed to solve the step should be shown both as a reference and with the variables for the problem plugged in.
• the explanation should not exceed eight steps total for any solution (to prevent exceeding eight steps, several
steps may need to be grouped together in a logical way)
 Hints
Hints are available to students when presented with the interactive version of a question (i.e., where they can
attempt to answer the question before seeing the solution). They are intended to help get a student unstuck or
unblocked.
One or more hints will be included for most solutions, with the exception of a few question types (see below). Hints
are generally authored at the overall question level (not for a specific answer option or explanation), but exceptions
might arise where a hint is warranted for part of the question (see guidelines on authoring hints for MAT and ORD
question types below). The following categories will be applied to authoring hints:
• One hint: TCQ (TF) and SA
• 1–4 hints: MCQ, MS, FIB, ORD, MAT, and CL
• No support for hints: DRW, LDGR, and ES
• Step-by-step templates will automatically be used as hints: CALC, DRW, LDGR, GR, and any question type
that includes a step-by-step
Important: if a step-by-step template is not included in the solution for CALC and GR solutions, 1–4 hints should be
authored per the normal process.
Hints should help guide a student in determining the correct response, but should never overtly cue the correct
response.
Hints can take the form of:
• suggesting an approach to reasoning through the problem
• suggesting a first step to solving the problem
• reminding the student about a critical concept, rule, or skill that would aid in solving the problem
• suggesting an approach to eliminating certain answer options
• providing key prerequisite knowledge, such as a definition or formula
The following guidelines should be followed when authoring hints.
• Format hints as complete sentences and limit the hint to two full sentences in length.
• Hints should not contain unnecessary language (e.g., “Recall that...,” “Remember that…” “Consider…”).
Concise and to the point is preferred.
• A hint can be specific to question parts when necessary, but a reference to the targeted part should be
included at the beginning of the hint (e.g., "When calculating part (a), the components of the atom's
nucleus should be included in the calculation. ").
• When adding two or more hints, order hints so each subsequent hint gets progressively more leading in
terms of the information it provides and how close it gets the student to determining the correct
response.
• Do not add superfluous hints (i.e., if a single hint will suffice, it's acceptable to provide one hint only for
MCQ, MS, FIB, ORD, and MAT in some cases).
• If it is not possible to author a helpful hint for a question, a note should be left to this effect for the
reviewer.
Specific Guidelines per Question Type
• MAT: A hint can be provided for specific pairs or for groups of words. In general, authors can choose to author
hints for the words they believe students will struggle with the most.
• ORD: When possible, the first hint will point students toward the correct first response or choice in the order.

Question Parts
Questions that are divided into explicit parts should be authored per the following guidelines:
• Content in a previous part can be referenced as needed.
• A single hint per part should be authored as long as the question type for that part supports hints.
• External links should still target the question concept level.

Including Tables in Solutions

Simple tables can be included in solutions as needed. The table will be created in Google docs and
later ingested into the Authoring Tool. The following is an example of a simple table:
 Content Considerations
The following guidelines should be followed when considering if a simple table should be included in a
solution.
• Copying the format of an existing table shown in a textbook is potentially infringing on the rights of
the publisher. For questions that prompt the student to fill out a table (where blank cells are shown in
the table), the solution should not be provided in table form. Instead, the solution should be provided
in paragraph or list form, and the exact headings from the table found in the textbook should not be
included in the solution.
 • Authors may elect to include a simple table in the following situations:

o the question prompts the student to develop a new table for their solution (not reproduce a table that is already provided in the textbook with blank cells to fill in)

o a table serves to organize the information in a more logical manner than text alone

o a table facilitates a comparison between two or more things with respect to several categories

• Please note that tables should have as few empty or ‘not applicable’ cells as possible. Tables work best when there are a large number of categories in which the two
concepts/topics can be compared.

• Tables do not take the place of quality explanations and should be used sparingly.

A simple table should not be used in place of a ledger. Questions that require a ledger as part of the solution
should follow the ledger instructions here. This applies to both LDGR questions and any other question type that
requires a ledger as part of the solution. These solutions should utilize the Google sheets templates and include
a link to Google sheets in their solutions. Table Formatting
The following style formatting is supported for tables.

• At the overall table level:

o Column headers will automatically be styled as bold and centered.

o For subsequent rows, shading will be applied to alternating rows (zebra shading).

o Titles (above the table) and captions will not be supported.

• Within cells:

o Styling available through the normal toolbar is available to style content within cells, including bolding, italics, centering, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and
KaTeX.

o Merged cells are supported.

 Graphs
We will use JSXGraph to create graphs for our solutions. JSXGraph is a very powerful graphing tool that uses
Javascript to render SVG graphs.
Point | Line | Functiongraph | Custom Elements

To add a graph to your solution, set the “data-type” of your element to “graph”. Within your “graph” element,
surround the graph definition with <script> tags. Within these tags, we will use Javascript to define the graph. The
following functions may be used in order to build a graph:
• board.create(type, [function]) - creates a graph. The first argument is the type of graph, the second is the
function to graph. There is a good Javascript math reference here to help you build your functions. See the list
below for an explanation of the different graph types and their uses.
• board.setBoundingBox(box) - set the bounding box (max and min values for the x and y axes). Defined as [x1,
y1, x2, y2]. The bounding box should be set to allow the student to focus on the most important part of the
graph.
Graphs can be included within step-by-step portions of solutions or integrated into explanations. They are not
limited to GR question types only.
Point

Point - Draws a point on the graphing board.

board.create(‘point’,[x, y]);

Example: board.create('point', [2, 2]);

Points can be created and assigned to a variable using the keyword “var”. Assigning a point to a variable allows for
increased flexibility when utilizing that point in more than one instance, such as using two points to draw a line.
Example: var p1=board.create('point', [2, 2]);
Individual points assigned to a board default to utilization of the uppercase English alphabet, beginning with the
letter A and proceeding through the alphabet as needed. However, points can be named using the name attribute
that is encased in curly brackets { } and appended to the end of the parameter list: {name: ‘name’}.
Example: board.create("point", [2, 2], {name: '1A'});
Color Specifications.
Example: board.create("point", [2, 2], {name: '1A', strokeColor: '#3eabc9'});
Example college algebra question:
Plot the following points on a graph: A= (1, 0), B= (2, 2), C = (3.5, 4.5)
Line - Draws a line on the graphing board.
Arrow - Draws an arrow on the graphing board. Arrow follows all rules that lines do. The arrow head will point towards the second point.

Lines can be constructed from two or more points on a graphing board. Lines can be drawn with no points visible, one point visible or multiple visible points. Lines are solid
by default.

Lines have additional supported options:

• Lines can begin at the first point by using the option straightFirst:false

• Lines can end at the second point by using the option straightLast:false

• Lines can be created as dashed by using the option dash:2

o Dashes can be smaller if dash:1 is used.

o Dash options should only be a 1 or 2.

Colors

Example: board.create("line", [[-1,8], [5,-2]], {strokeColor: '#3eabc9'});

Examples:

Two points assigned to variables p1 (4.5, 2.0) and p2 (1.0, 2.0):

var p1 = board.create('point', [4.5, 2.0]);
var p2 = board.create('point', [1.0, 2.0]);

A line can be created from points 1 and 2 where both points are visible:
var 12 = board.create(‘line’, [p1, p2]);

A line can be constructed with point 1 being visible and the second point being invisible:
var l1 = board.create('line', [p1, [1.0, 1.0]]);
A line can be drawn with two invisible points:
var l1 = board.create('line', [[0, 0], [1.0, 2.0]]);

A line can be drawn beginning at the first point and ending at the end point and be a dashed line:
board.create("line", [[-4, 2], [-4,-3]], {straightFirst:false, straightLast: false, dash:2});

An arrow can be drawn beginning at point [-4, 2] and ending at [-4,-3] with the arrow head pointing towards the
second point, [-4,-3]:
board.create("arrow", [[-4, 2], [-4,-3]], {straightFirst:false, straightLast: false});

Example college algebra question:

Draw a line on a graph that connects points (0, -1) and (3, 4)

Functiongraph

functiongraph - Graphs the line defined by your function.

There is a good Javascript math reference here to help
you build your functions.
Example: board.create('functiongraph', [function(x){ return x*x }]);
Example question:
Graph the following function: f(x) = x*x
A function graph accepts intervals by adding a minimum and maximum after the expression to be graphed. In the
example below, the expression being graphed is x*x, and the minimum is -2 and the maximum is 2.

Example: board.create("functiongraph", [function(x){ return x*x}, -2, 2]);

Custom Element

Creating Custom Elements With the Graph Generator

The Graph Generator custom element(s) field accepts one or more JSXgraph element creation strings. This field is
utilized to add custom element(s) to a graph or to experiment with constructing JSXgraph strings. While the Graph
Generator point, line and graph function expression fields provide basic functionality, the custom element(s) field
allows a user to utilize attributes that customize and style points, lines and function graphs.
Using the Mockup Tool to Visualize Full JSXgraph Scripts
The Mockup Tool can be utilized to test full JSXgraph script visualizations. To visualize a script (that is enclosed
in the <script> </script> tags), include the following shell html:
Style Guide
Guiding Principles | Tone and Audience | General Style & Spelling Rules
Discipline Specific Rules: STEM Rules | Social Science Rules | Business & Accounting Rules

Guiding Principles
Solutions should be concise, informative, and not overly technical. Keep in mind that students are looking for clear, to-the-point solutions that help them better understand the
concept being addressed by a specific textbook question.

• Writing should be succinct and clear. Use bulleted lists, numbered lists, or short paragraphs (no more than 3 to 4 sentences) whenever possible. Avoid large blocks of
text and avoid overly complex sentences.

o Paragraph breaks can be used to separate content when there is no intro sentence and no specific number or hierarchy.

o Bullets are used when there is an intro sentence and the list is unnumbered.

o Numbered lists are used when the question asks for a specific number of ideas/concepts or hierarchical answer whether or not there is an intro sentence.

• Examples should be clear, straightforward, and accessible. Examples should enhance a student's understanding of the solution while avoiding overly technical or bloated
language.

• Avoid delving too deeply into teaching a concept in a solution. Instead, include a link to a video that provides a review of a term or concept would strengthen the solution.

• Each solution should be considered a standalone answer and references to other solutions, specific pages or content in a textbook, or other questions cannot be
included.

• The use of bolding and italics can be used for emphasis, but should be used sparingly. Never bold an entire sentence for emphasis. Never use all caps or quotation
marks for emphasis.

• A spell checking tool or applications should be used before submitting solutions.

 Tone and Audience
Writing should be appropriately leveled for college freshmen and sophomores. Write engagingly, but maintain an
academic feel. Students should feel like the solution is authoritative, but not dense.
• Do not use 1st or 2nd person.
• Avoid using a casual or conversational tone. Avoid personification and editorializing.
• Avoid the use of unclear references (for example, starting a sentence with "Here" or "This" in reference to a paragrap
or sentence above).
• Avoid including rhetorical questions.

General Style & Spelling Rules

Style: Defer to Chicago Manual of Style (17th Edition) for most cases, but there are specific cases where we do not
follow CMoS.
Spelling: Use Merriam-Webster online. Citations: Use MLA 8
American vs. British spelling: Americanize British spellings (use mold instead of mould, cozy instead of cosy, etc.) with
two exceptions. Stet a British spelling in the title of the work (Odour of Chrysanthemums) and for a major character
(Time Traveller).
Ampersands (&) and other symbols: Do not use if the word can be spelled out for impropved clarity
Commas in numbers: Use commas in all numbers of 4 digits or more (excluding dates)
“due to”: avoid, use because East, West, North, South, Central: initial capped when referring to a specific geographical
region; lowercase when referring to general direction, e.g., Eastern
Europe, Central Europe; the wind came from the west, she traveled north, he writes western novels
dialogue: not dialog
ellipses: three dots with no spaces and a space between first and last word and dots: Ellipses are formed … like this.
e-mail: per Merriam-Webster
em-dash: shift option hyphen (—); do not use two hyphens
en-dash: option hyphen; use for date spans 1875–1930
Internet: initial cap
mid: hyphenate, e.g. mid-1980s
“more than”: preferred use is “over”
Numbers: Per Chicago Manual of Style 9.3, spell out only single-digit numbers (zero through nine) and use numerals
for all others. For book parts and chapters, globally use Arabic numerals, never spelled-out numbers or Roman
numerals, regardless of the author’s style: Part 1, Chapter 1 (not Part One, Chapter One or Part I, Chapter 1).
Exceptions: Roman numerals for parts of plays in Infographics.
• Follow the exceptions listed in Chicago Manual of Style Chapter 9, in particular 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, and 9.8.
of course and obviously: avoid both. (A point might not be obvious to a student.) Delete or phrase as “because.”
Party: initial cap only when referring to a specific party, such as the Communist or Socialist Party or when capped in
the book, e.g., 1984
Percent: Use the word “percent” in nontechnical contexts; in scientific and statistical copy, use the symbol %.
Poetry: For quoted poetry or lines in iambic pentameter (like much of Shakespeare), include a slash / to
show the line break and leave spaces around the slash per CMoS (e.g., O ... that the Everlasting had not
fix'd / His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!)
Possessive: (check with Chicago for irregular words and special cases, but below is a brief review)
• Singular nouns: add an apostrophe and an s, e.g., the horse’s mouth, a bass’s stripes
• Plural nouns: those ending in an s, add an apostrophe only, e.g., puppies’ paws
• Proper Nouns: do not include if possible copyright issue (see Copyright page); if not a copyright issue,
same as regular nouns, including names ending in s, x, or z, in both singular and plural forms, as well
as letters and numbers, e.g., Dickens’s novels
premier vs. premiere: use premier to mean “first in importance” (a premier authority on Shakespeare) or
first in time (a premier voyage). Use premiere to mean a first performance or exhibition (the play had its
premiere on February 9, 1952.)
Quotation marks: always use straight quotation marks; use for short story titles.
Quotes: Avoid putting opening and closing quotation marks and periods in italics or boldface. Examples:
when you have the title of a work, and it's italic, if it comes right next to a quotation mark or the end of a
sentence, you don't put the punctuation in ital. Example: Salinger said, "Catcher in the Rye is super!"
In the above, you would want to make sure that the first quotation mark was not ital. Similar for closing
quotation marks or terminal punctuation in a sentence. e.g., I really loved Catch-22.
quotes in isolation: Avoid quotations as stand-alone sentences. Make them a part of running text, e.g. “As
Candide observes after his punishment, ‘quote.’”
"recent": Avoid "in recent decades," "in recent times," etc., and other "volatile" wordings. This can't totally be
eliminated, but try to avoid when you can. For example, instead of referring to "recent research," state the
year the research was conducted.
science fiction: never hyphenated
sentence length: Aim to keep the lengths of your sentences under about 25 words. Avoid sentences with
multiple clauses, and use semicolons sparingly as they tend to add to sentence length.
serial comma: always use
short introductory clauses: Avoid using commas when meaning is clear; never after “In 1981”. See here
so-called: hyphenate
Socialist: initial cap for a party member or party name, lowercase for general use
spacing after punctuation: one space only
symbols: lowercase in running text (the symbol of the crushed rose)
themes: lowercase in running text (the theme of deception and cruelty)
they: use as singular and plural pronoun
Titles: Put book titles in italics. Put short story titles in quotation marks.
United States: spell out as a noun; U.S. as an adjective; never U.S.A. or USA; United States's as a
possessive NOT United States'
versus. vs.: spell out versus; use vs. in images
World War I/World War II: Only use WWI and WWII in graphics; spell out in text

STEM Terms & Spellings

cis and trans: cis and trans should be in italic when part of a chemical name or when specifying "cis configuration" or
"trans configuration"
Crossing-over: Don’t use cross over, use crossing-over in Biology
disorders: Use DSM-5 names for disorders over Merriam-Webster. e.g., "attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder"
fight-or-flight response: use hyphens
Haploid/Diploid: italicize “n”: 1n and 2n.
loiasis: not "loaiasis"
T cell, B cell, etc.: Follow Merriam-Webster. No hyphen.
Mathematical theorems, laws, properties, etc. – Capitalization Use lowercase, but uppercase proper nouns or
descriptors based on proper nouns. See CMOS 8.1 and 8.79. Examples below:

• In running text:
Pythagorean theorem
addition property of equality
• In titles/headers, H1, H2, etc. (use headline style):
Derivations of the Pythagorean Theorem
Using the Addition Property of Equality
Social Sciences Terms & Spellings

Slave vs. enslaved: We prefer "enslaved," though there may be instances in which referring to "slaves" as a group is
contextually OK for flow.
Continental Army/Navy: Please capitalize as these are the formal names of the militaries established by the
Continental Congress. Do not lowercase “army” or “navy” here even though Chicago specifically lists as an example
"Continental navy".
Ten Percent Plan: Keep open (no hyphen) for both the noun and adjectival form per CMOS. Use an en-dash only for
ranges, e.g. 30–40 percent.
Business and Accounting Terms & Spellings

breakeven/break-even/break even: Use “breakeven” (no space) if concept used as a noun; “break-even”
(hyphenated) if concept used as an adjective; “break even” (with space) if used as a verb.
cents: Instead of writing out the word “cents,” use a dollar sign and decimals. For example, write “$0.49” instead of
“49 cents.”
company names: Refer to the companies as "Company A" or "Company D" instead of including proper nouns
less/minus: Replace “less” with “minus.” Example: “Shareholders’ equity is the value left to owners after debts and
obligations have been accounted for, or the business’s total assets minus its total liabilities.” (not “less its total
liabilities”)
T account: no hyphen should be used
work in process: on first use, this term should appear as "work in process (WIP)"; do not use hyphens or quotation
marks for this term; subsequent usages after the first usage can be abbreviated to WIP or spelled out as work in
process