CHAPTER 1 : NUMBER SYSTEM AND EQUATIONS

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CHAPTER 1:
NUMBER
LEARNING OUTCOMES
SYSTEM AND
EQUATIONS
1.1 Real Number At the end of this topic, students should be able to:
(a) define natural numbers(  ), whole numbers W  , integers(Z), prime
numbers, rational numbers Q  and irrational numbers( Q ).

(b) represent the relationship of number sets in a real number system

diagrammatically showing N  W  Z  Q and Q  Q  R .

(c) Represent open, closed and semi-open intervals and their

representations on the number line.

(d) Find union,  , and intersection,  , of two or more intervals with the
aid of number line.

1.2 Indices, Surds At the end of this topic, students should be able to:
and Logarithms
(a) Express the rules of indices.

(b) Explain the meaning of a surd and its conjugate.

(c) Perform algebraic operations on surds.

i. log a MN  log a M  log a N ;

M 
(d) State the laws of logarithms such as : ii. log a    log a M  log a N ;
N
iii. log a M N  N log a M .

logb M
(e) Change the base of logarithm using log a M  .
logb a

(f) Solve equations involving surds, indices and logarithms.

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 1.1 REAL NUMBERS

1. The real number system evolved over time by expanding the notion of what we mean by the
word “number.” At first, “number” meant something you could count, like how many cows a
farmer owns. These are called the natural numbers ( ), or sometimes the counting
numbers.
Definition Examples
Natural numbers ,    1,2,3...
- set of counting numbers.

Prime numbers
- the natural numbers that are greater Prime numbers = 2,3,5,7,...
than 1 and only can be divided by itself
and 1.

Whole numbers , W W= 0,1, 2,3,...

- the natural numbers together with the
number zero.

Integers , Z Z  ...  3,2,1,0,1,2,3...

- the set of positive integers, zero and negative
integers. Z  1, 2,3,...
Z  ..., 3, 2, 1

Rational number , Q
a 
Q   ; a, b  R, b  0
b  5
5  5.0
- any number that can be represented as 1
a ratio (quotient) 1
- can be expressed as terminating or  0.3333...  0.3
repeating decimals 3

Irrational number , Q
- set of numbers whose decimal
representations are neither terminating   3.141592654
nor repeating. 2  1.414213562
- cannot be expressed as a quotient

2
 p
2. All numbers of the form , where p, q Z but q  0 are called rational numbers.
q

The bottom of the fraction is called Rational numbers include what we

the denominator. usually call fractions

The top of the fraction is called the

numerator. Notice that the word “rational”
contains the word “ratio,” which
should remind you of fractions.

p
where q  0
q

RESTRICTION: All integers can also be thought of as

The denominator cannot be zero! rational numbers, with a denominator of 1:
(But the numerator can) 3
(3  )
1

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 3. When a rational number is written in the decimal form the digit(s) after the decimal point
repeats itself or terminates.

Example 1:
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3  3.1111111111…
 3.0000000… 9
1
309
3.123451234512345…  3.12121212…
99

Repeating decimal
3.1234123412341234… 3.1234567812345678…

OR

3.0 3.1
3.12
3.12345
Repeating decimal

3.1234 3.12345678

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Example 2 :

1
1  0.25
 0.5 4
2
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4.87559  0.725
40

Terminating Decimal
This means that all the previous sets of numbers (natural
numbers, whole numbers, and integers) are subsets of the
rational numbers.

4. Now it might seem as though the set of rational numbers would cover every possible case,
but that is not so. There are numbers that cannot be expressed as a fraction, and these

numbers are called irrational ( Q ) because they are not rational.

Example 3 :

a) 2 1.414213562. . .

b) e  2.718281828 . . .

c)   3.141592654 . . .

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 Irrational Numbers

1. Cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers.

2. As decimals they never repeat or

terminate

5. The Real Numbers = Rationals + Irrationals

When we put the irrational numbers together with the rational numbers, we finally have the
complete set of real numbers. Any number that represents an amount of something, such as a
weight, a volume, or the distance between two points, will always be a real number. The
following diagram illustrates the relationships of the sets that make up the real numbers.

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6. An Ordered Set
The real numbers have the property that they are ordered, which means that given any two
different numbers we can always say that one is greater or less than the other.

7. The Number Line

The ordered nature of the real numbers lets us arrange them along a line (imagine that the line
is made up of an infinite number of points all packed so closely together that they form a solid
line). The points are ordered so that points to the right are greater than points to the left:

The arrows on the end indicate that they keep going

forever in both directions.

Open ( empty circle)

Close ( dense circle)

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8. Interval notation and set notation
Example 4:
Interval
Type Set Notation Number line
Notation

Closed 6, 9

Open 6, 9

Open 5, 

Semi-open (6, 9]

Semi-open [6,9)

Semi-open (, 2]

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9. To simplify union,  and intersection,  of two or more intervals with the aid of
number line.
Example 5:
Question Solution

a)  ,  1   3,  

b) [6, 2)  0,  

c) [3, 5)  4, 7

d) (0,6]  [6,9)

e) [4, 7)  0, 7

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Example 6: Given A = (-6, 0], B = [-1, 11) and C = x: -5  x  5, x Z. By using real
number line, find the following:

a) A B b) A B c) A  B' d) AC
a) b)

c) d)

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 1.2 INDICES, SURDS AND LOGARITHMS

Express the rules of indices.

1.2.1 Indices

1. 2  2  2  2  2  2  2 6 ….base 2 and index is 6

2. The rules of indices:

1
p 1
0
b)
p n  c) p n  p m  p nm
a) pn

p 
m
 p
d)
n m
 p nm e)  pq  m
 p q m m
f) 
pm
 q   q m
 
q0

 p
2
g) p n  p m  p nm h) p  3 p 2 or
3 3
2

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Example 7: 2
 27  3
125 3
4
Evaluate a)   b)
 64 
a) b)

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Example 8: Simplify the following expressions:
2
24 x 2 y 4  1  x x3
 
2 x 4  x 2 y 1 
a) b)
x 3
a) b)

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Example 9: 2 1
n n
Simplify a) 4  8  16
n 3 4
b) 5n1 10 n  20 2n  23n
a)
b)

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Explain the meaning of a surd and its conjugate.

1.2.2 Surds

n
1. Any number of the form b (cannot be written as fraction of integers) is called a Surd i.e.

2, 3 6, 5 .

2. The properties of surd

a c  b c  c a  b
a a
a) a  b  ab b)  c)
b b

eg1: 2 3 6 2

2
eg1: 2 3  5 3  3  2  5
eg1: 3 3
eg2: 3 3  9 3 7 3

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Perform algebraic operations on surds.

Algebraic Operations involving surd ( , ,  ,  )

3. Adding like term (+):

Example 10:
Simplify a) 5 3  2 3 b) 5 3 2 2 4 3 3 2
a) b)

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4. Subtracting like term ( – ):
Example 11:
Simplify a) 5 5 4 5 b) 5 3  4 2  4 3  3 2
a) b)

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5. Multiplication with surd form (x):

Example 12: Expand

a) 
2 10  3  b)  2  3 2  5
c)  x  3 x  3 d) 2 3  3 2  3  5 2 
a) 
2 10  3  b)  
2 3 2 5 

c)  x 3  x 3  
d) 2 3  3 2  3 5 2 

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6. Rationalising operations (  ) . To rationalise the denominator, we
a. multiply the numerator and denominator by itself
b. multiply the numerator and denominator by its conjugate

 a  b  a  b 
 a   b
2 2

 a2  b

** Conjugate: The conjugate of a  b is a  b

The conjugate of 2  6 is 2 6

The conjugate of 5  3 is 5 3

The conjugate of  2  5 is 2  5

The conjugate of  4  6 is 4  6

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Example 13: 3 4
Rationalise a) b)
5 2
3 4
a) b)
5 2

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Example 14: 5 2 3
Rationalise a) b) c)
3 2 3 1 5 2
5 3
a) c)
3 2 5 2

2
b)
3 1

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Example 15:
1 1 4 2 3 3
Simplify a)  b) 1
3 1 3 1 5 2 3

1

1 4 2 3 3
a) b) 1
3 1 3 1 5 2 3

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State the laws of logarithms.

1.2.3 Logarithms

1. If ax  b , then log a b  x where a  0 and a  1.

2. Law of logarithms:

M 
log a MN  log a M  log a N …..(1) log a    log a M  log a N ….(2)
N

log a M P  P log a M ….(3) log a 1  0

log a a  1 a loga P  P

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Change the base of logarithm.
log b M
3. To change the base of logarithm using log a M 
log b a

Example 16:
Express the following in terms of log x , log y and log z
 xy   x   1 
a) log( xy 2 ) b) log  c) log  
 d) log 
 z   yz   xyz 
a) log( xy 2 )  xy 
b) log 
 z 

 x   1 
c) log  d) log 
  xyz 
 yz 

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Example 17: Given log 2 3  1.59 and log 2 5  2.32 , without the use of the calculator,
evaluate:

a) log 2 9 b) log 2 15 c) log 2 0.6 d) log 5 30

a) log 2 9 b) log 2 15

c. log 2 0.6 d. log 5 30

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Example 18: Evaluate the following logarithms without using table or calculator.

a) log 1 8 b) 
log 5 125 5  c) log 3 2 18
2

a) log 1 8 c) log 3 2 18
2


b) log 5 125 5 

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Example 19: Simplify
log b 32  35  2
a) b) log 9 3 c) log 10 70  2 log 10 5  log 10    log 10  
log b 2  45   45 
log b 32 b) log 9 3
a)
log b 2

 35   2
log 10 70  2 log 10 5  log 10    log 10  
c)  45   45 

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Solve equation involving surds, indices and logarithms.

4. Solving equations involving indices normally requires the changing of the equations to the
same base (2 terms).
Example 20: Solve the following equations

a) 3x  27 b) 3x1  81 c) 3x1  9x4

a) 3x  27 c) 3x 1  9x 4

b) 3x1  81

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5. Solving equations involving indices (3 terms).

 Let a x  A (basic)
 Substitute in the original equation…….. (quadratic equation)
 Solve the quadratic equation
 Find the original answer
 Conclusion

Example 21:
Solve the equation 32 x1  10(3 x )  3  0
 Let a x  A 3x  A

 Substitute in the original 32 x1  10(3 x )  3  0

equation……..quadratic
equation 3 x  3 x  31  10(3 x )  3  0
3 A2  10 A  3  0

 Solve the quadratic equation (3 A  1)( A  3)  0

1
A A3
3

 find the original answer

we know that:

1 A3
A
3
3x 
1 3x  3
3
3 x  31
3  31
x

x 1
x  1

The values of x are -1 or 1

 Conclusion

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Example 22:
Solve the equation 3(2 x )  2  2 x1

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Example 23:
Solve the equation 22 x  2 x  6  0

31
Example 24:
Solve 25 x 1  26 (5 x1 )

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6. Solving equations involving surds normally requires the need to square both sides of the
equations. Remember to check your answers.

7. To solve surds equation, we have to look if the equations have 1, 2 or 3 surds in the equation.

5x  1  1  x one two three

x  25  x  1 one two three

2 x  5  3  3x  2  x one two three

IF : ……

a. if there is only one surd, put it on one side

b. if there are 2 surds, move one to the other side

c. if there are 3 surds, make sure one of them is on one side

8 . Then, we have 5 steps to solve the equation.

STEP 1: square both sides of the equation and isolate any remaining surds

STEP 2: square the equation again to remove any remaining surds

STEP 3: solve the resulting equation

STEP 4: check your answer

STEP 5 : Conclusion

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Example 25 (a) Solve the following surd equations

a) 5x  1  1  x

Solution (a): 5x  1  1  x
only one surd, put it 5x  1  x  1
on one side

square both sides of

the equation and
 
5 x  1  x  1
2 2

isolate any remaining 5x  1  x 2  2 x  1

surds

square the equation

again to remove any -no more surd
remaining surds
solve the resulting 5x  1  x 2  2 x  1
equation
0  x2  7x
0  x ( x  7)
x0 x7

check your answer Refer 5x  1  1  x Refer 5x  1  1  x

when x  0 when x  7

LHS 5(0)  1  1 LHS 5(7)  1  1

 1 1  36  1
2 7
RHS 0 RHS 7
LHS  RHS LHS  RHS
x  0 ( NA) x7

Conclusion After checking, x7 is the only solution.

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Example 25 (b) Solve the following surd equations

b) x  25  x  1

Solution (b): x  25  x  1
2 surds, move one to the other side x  25  x  1
x  25  x  1

square both sides of the equation and

isolate any remaining surds
( x  25 ) 2  ( x  1) 2
x  25  x  2 x  1
24  2 x
12  x
square the equation again to remove any
remaining surds 12 2   x 2

solve the resulting equation 144  x

check your answer Refer x  25  x  1

when x  144

LHS 144  25  144

 169  12
 13  12  1
RHS 1
LHS  RHS
x  144
Conclusion
After checking, x  144

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Example 25 (c)
Solve the following surd equations (c) 2 x  5  3  3x  2  x

Solution (c): 2 x  5  3  3x  2  x
3 surds, make sure one of 2 x  5  3  3x  2  x
them is on one side
square both sides of the
equation and isolate any
 2
2 x  5  3  3x  2  x  2

remaining surds A  2x  5 A2  2x  5
Let B  3  3x B 2  3  3x
C  2 x C2  2  x
so
 A  B   C 
2 2

A2  2 AB  B 2  C 2 .........*

We know that
AB  2 x  5 3  3x  6 x  6 x 2  15  15 x
  6 x 2  9 x  15
into *
2 x  5  2  6 x 2  9 x  15  3  3x  2  x
2 x  3x  x  5  3  2  2  6 x 2  9 x  15
6  2  6 x 2  9 x  15
3   6 x 2  9 x  15
square the equation again to
remove any remaining surds 9  6 x 2  9 x  15
solve the resulting equation 6 x 2  9 x  15  9  0
6x2  9x  6  0 1
 x x  2
3(2 x  3 x  2)  0
2 2
(2 x  1)( x  2)  0
check your answer Refer Refer 2 x  5  3  3x  2  x
2 x  5  3  3x  2  x when x  2
when x 
1 LHS 1  9  2
2
RHS  42
LHS 6  1.5
LHS  RHS
 1.224744
x  2( NA)
RHS  1.5
1
LHS  RHS x 
2

36
Conclusion 1
After checking, x 
.
2
9. Solving equations involving logarithms normally requires the changing of the equations in

the form of logarithms with same base.

Check your
final answer

 same base
 different base

Example 26: Solve each of the following equations

a) 3x  6 b) log 10 x  log 10 3  1
a) 3x  6

b) log 10 x  log 10 3  1

37
Example 27: Solve each of the following equations

a) 2x  7
b) log 2 ( x 2  2)  1  log 2 ( x  5) … same base
Solution:
a) 2x  7

b) log 2 ( x 2  2)  1  log 2 ( x  5) … same base

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Example 28: Solve the equation

log 3 2  log 3 x  log 3 8  log 3 ( x  1) ………………same base

Solution:

39
Example 29 (a) Solve the equation

a) log 4 x  log x 4  2.5 ………….. Different base

Solution:
(a)

40
Example 29 (b) Solve the equation

b) 2 log x 3  log 3 ( x)  1 ………….. Different base

Solution:
b)

Take Note
That

# log e 4  ln 4 ## log e e  ln e  1 ### e ln x  x

41
Example 30 (a): Solve
a) ln(2 x  1)  1
Solution:

42
Example 30 (b): Solve

b) ln 2  2ln( x  2)  ln( x  17)

2

Solution:

43
Example 30 (c): Solve

c) 3x4 e2ln x  2 x  1
Solution:

||||||| END OF CHAPTER 1 : 2021/2022 ||||||||

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