LVI MATHS ACTION PLAN – WORKSHEET A1

ALGEBRA

1. Without using a calculator, rationalise the denominators and simplify as fully as possible:

3 5 7 4  20
(a) (b) (c)
2 3 3 7 7  45

5 3
2. Simplify 
6 3 5 3

3. Factorise as fully as possible:

9 2
(a) 6 x2  7 x  3 (b) p  4q 2 (c) x4  2 x2  1
16

4. Solve the equations, giving your answer to 2 decimal places if necessary:

4
(a) x2  15x  4 (b) x  2  (c) x4  13x2  36  0
x

5. Find the values of x for which 6 x2  17 x  10  0

6. (a) Write 2 x2  4 x  7 in the form a( x  b)2  c , where a, b and c are integers to be found.

(b) Hence or otherwise find the minimum value of 2 x2  4 x  7

7. Solve the simultaneous equations

x  12 y  5
x  2 xy  5  0
2

8. f( x)  x3  9 x 2  11x  21
g( x)  x3  ax 2  13x  10

(a) Show that ( x  1) is a factor of f( x) , and hence factorise f( x) completely.

(b) Given that ( x  1) is also a factor of g( x) , find the value of a.

(c) Show that ( x  1) is also a factor of f( x)  g( x)

9. f( x)  kx 2  2 x  3

(a) In the case when k  2 , solve the equation f( x)  0 .

(b) Find the range of values of k for which the equation f( x)  0 has no real solutions.

10. (a) Prove that, for any consecutive integers m and n, n2  m2 is odd.

(b) Give a counter-example to disprove the statement: “ 2n  1 is a prime number for all
positive integers n”.

(c) Prove that 3n  1 is even for all integers n such that 1  n  4 .