Fundamentals in ALGEBRA

Laws of exponents
1. 𝑥 𝑚 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑚+𝑛
𝑥𝑚
2. = 𝑥 𝑚−𝑛
𝑥𝑛
3. 𝑥𝑚 𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑚𝑛
𝑛
4. 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥𝑛𝑦𝑛
𝑚 1Τ 𝑚Τ
5. 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑛

𝑥 𝑛 𝑥𝑛
6. 𝑦
= 𝑦𝑛
1 −𝑛
7. = 𝑥
𝑥𝑛
𝑥 𝑚
8. 𝑥 𝑚 𝑦 −𝑛 = 𝑦 𝑛
Laws of radicals
1. 𝑎𝑏 = 𝑎 𝑏
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
2. 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥 𝑦

𝑛
𝑛 𝑥 𝑥
3. = 𝑛 𝑦
𝑦

𝑚Τ 𝑛 𝑛 𝑚
4. 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑥𝑚 = 𝑥
𝑚 𝑛 𝑚𝑛
5. 𝑥= 𝑥
properties of logarithm
Common Logarithm or Briggsian Logarithm
1. log 𝑥𝑦 = log 𝑥 + log 𝑦
𝑥
2. log = log 𝑥 − log 𝑦
𝑦
3. log 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑥
4. log 𝑎 𝑁 = 𝑥 → 𝑁 = 𝑎 𝑥
log 𝑎 1
5. log 𝑏 𝑎 = =
log 𝑏 log𝑎 𝑏
properties of logarithm
Natural Logarithm or Napierean Logarithm
1. l𝑛 𝑥𝑦 = l𝑛 𝑥 + l𝑛 𝑦
𝑥
2. l𝑛 = l𝑛 𝑥 − l𝑛 𝑦
𝑦
3. l𝑛 𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑥
4. ln 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑛 ln 𝑥
5. 𝑒 ln 𝑥 = 𝑥
6. ln 𝑥 = log 𝑒 𝑥
Quadratic equations
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 → 𝐴𝑥 2 + 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐶 = 0
−𝐵 ± 𝐵2 − 4𝐴𝐶
𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 → 𝑥 =
2𝐴
𝐵
𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 → 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 = −
𝐴
𝐶
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 → 𝑥1 𝑥2 =
𝐴
Discriminant: 𝐵 2 − 4𝐴𝐶
 When 𝐵2 = 4𝐴𝐶 the roots are equal
 When 𝐵2 > 4𝐴𝐶 the roots are real and unequal
 When 𝐵2 < 4𝐴𝐶 the roots are imaginary
Practice Problems:
1. Find three numbers such that the second number is 3 more
than twice the first number, and the third number is four
times the first number. The sum of the three numbers is
164.
2. Leozil was helping his friend Jonathan study for an algebra
exam. Leozil told Jonathan that his three latest calculus
quiz scores are three consecutive even integers whose sum
is 264. Help Jonathan find the scores.
3. If a certain number is subtracted from the numerator and
added to the denominator of 9/19, the new fraction is
equivalent to 1/3. Find the number.
Practice Problems:
4. The sum of the reciprocals of two consecutive integers is
75/56. Find the two integers.
5. Find the value of x if log 2 𝑥 = 3.
6. Solve for x from the equation 2𝑥+1 = 32𝑥−5 .
7. From the equation log 𝑥 − 1 + log 𝑥 + 1 = 2log(𝑥 + 2) ,
find the value of x.
8. Find the value of x from the equation 7 = 4𝑒 −3𝑥 .