MATHEMATICS

SIMPLIFIED
O’ level textbook

By
Admire Chatsakarira
Copyright©2017 by Admire Chatsakarira
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may
not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in Zimbabwe
First Printing, 2017
Mathstube Digital
www.adchakara.com
adchakara@gmail.com
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This ebook is updated with new content and links to some
videos every
Preface
Many students and candidates believe Mathematics is a difficult subject
and about 70% to 80% of the candidates do not make it every year in the
final. Although it is believed that many candidates fail because they
either don’t finish attempting the questions and might not have covered
expected content, I also think textbooks and teachers contribute
significantly to the success or failure of the students.
It is against this backdrop that I started developing simple, easy to
follow notes and video tutorials to help my online class in mathematics.
Since 2014, we have maintained at least 75% pass rate and I thought it
wise to develop our content further into an e-Textbook to make
everything simple to candidates.
In this e-Textbook, I will introduce some new methods we learnt from
other teachers and students during discussions and lessons. This e-book
is published both online and hardcopy to increase its reach.
The book helps teachers to scheme and plan their work for the class
since all the topics are arranged in order and only relevant principles are
thoroughly covered. It also acts as a complete guide to students learning
on their own with the help of our video lessons downloadable on Figtree
App (Available on Google play)
I hope you will enjoy using this e-textbook.
Admire Chatsakarira
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AND LEARN THROUGH
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Table Of Contents
1. Whole Numbers
Prime Factors; Square and Cube Roots; HCF; LCM; Number Patterns
2. Standard Form
Small numbers; Large numbers; Addition and Subtraction;
Multiplication; Division; Application
3. Number Bases
Expanding base ten; expanding other bases; converting from base ten;
converting to base ten; converting between other bases; addition and
subtraction
4. Surds
Expressing in Surd form; addition and subtraction; multiplication;
division
5. Conversions
Length; Area; Speed; Angles; Time; Density; Volume and Capacity;
Exchange rate
6. Estimations and Approximations
Rounding off numbers; significant figures; Estimating calculations;
Estimating Square Roots; Estimating multiples; Limits of accuracy;
Limits and Mensuration
7. Scale
Finding Scale; Map Distance; Actual Length; Map Area; Actual Area;
8. Coordinate Geometry
Length of a line; midpoint of a line; gradient of a line; equation
of a line; parallel lines; drawing straight line; sketches and
diagrams
9. Logarithms
Basics; Addition and Subtraction; Indices in Logarithms; finding log
value; evaluation of logarithms; Dealing with log values; algebra in
logarithms
10. Polygons
Sum of interior angles; interior angles of regular polygons;
interior angles of irregular polygons; sum of exterior angles;
number of sides; symmetry; algebraic concepts in polygons
11. Probability
Theoretical; addition; subtraction; multiplication; tree diagrams;
outcome tables
12. Consumer Arithmetic
Simple interest; percentages; ratio and mixtures; proportion;
mensuration and arithmetic
13. Vector (1)
Finding a vector; scalar and parallel vectors; vector arithmetic;
magnitude; displacement vectors; algebra and vectors
14. Sets
Listing elements; Venn Diagram; Shading Venn Diagram; Set values;
Algebra in Sets
15. Circle geometry
Basics; Cyclic Quadrilateral; tangents; similarity and
congruency;
16. Algebraic Manipulations
Positive and negative terms, Like and unlike terms, addition and
subtraction, multiplication and division; factorization; expansion;
fractions
17. Equations
Linear; quadratic; quadratic formula; completing the squares;
equations involving fractions; simultaneous equations
18. Variations
Direct; inverse; joint; partial
19. Algebraic Functions
Functional tables; plotting; drawing a curve; roots of the
equation, gradient of the curve; line of symmetry; drawing a
line; solving simultaneous equation graphs; translated curve;
area under a curve; interpreting a curve
20. Transformation
Drawing shapes; matrix of a shape; vertices of the image;
translation; reflection; rotation; enlargement; stretch; shear
21. Statistics
Ungrouped data; calculations on ungrouped data; frequency
table; estimated mean; frequency cumulative table; cumulative
frequency curve; frequency density table; histogram
22. Loci and constructions
Constructing 60˚ angle; right angle; bisecting angles; bisecting
lines; locus of points from a point; locus of points from a line;
constructing a circle given radius and diameter; circumcircle;
incicle
23. Substitutions and Functions
Substituting values; functions’ values; functions and equations

24. Linear Programming

Inequality signs; linear inequalities; simultaneous
inequalities; drawing and shading inequalities;
interpreting and finding inequalities; word problems;
linear programming; combinations
25. Exam tips
1. WHOLE NUMBERS
 1. PRIME PRODUCTS
In this section you are going to learn how to express numbers as
products of their prime factors. You started to learn this concept at
primary Level and for the sake of O level exams; I will only cover
important concepts.
Example
i) Express 576 as a product of its prime factors

Solution:
The factors must be prime numbers. Start with the smallest

2 576
2 288
2 144
2 72 576 = 2×2×2×2×2×2×3×3
2 36 then express as index numbers
2 18 = 26 × 32
3 9
3 3
1

ii) Express 168 as a product of its prime factors

2 168
2 84 168 = 2×2×2×3×7
2 42
3 21 = 23 × 3 × 7
7 7
1
Exercise 1(a)
1) Express the following as product of their prime factors
(a) 99 (b) 7 056 (c) 154 (d) 392
2. Write down all the factors of
(a) 18 (b) 99 (c) 294 (d) 784
 3. ROOTS
In this section you will learn how to find roots of numbers without using
a calculator. This is an important concept especially in paper 1 where
calculators are not allowed. I will look at how to find square roots and
cube roots.
The easiest way to find roots is to use pairs or sets of prime factors.
Examples
i) Find
(a) √
(b) √
Solution:
(a) First express the number as product of its prime factors
2 196
2 98 196 = 2 2 × 72
7 49 introduce square roots
7 7 √ =√
1 square root removes squares
= 2×7
√ = 14
 (b) Express as product of prime factors
2 1 000
2 500
2 250
5 125
5 25
5 5
1
1 000 = 2×2×2×5×5×5
1 000 = 2 3 × 53
Introduce a cube root
√ =√
Cube roots remove cubes
= 2×5
√ = 10

Exercise 1(b)

1) Find the √
2) Express the following as multiples of squares
(a) 225
(b) 441
(c) 2 916
3) Express as multiples of cubes
(a) 1 728
(b) 216
(c) 729
4) Find the
(a) √ (b) √ ` (c) √
 4. HIGHEST COMMON FACTORS
In this section you will learn how to find Highest Common factors. It is
the largest integer that is a factor to the numbers given
Follow these steps

 Express as prime products in index form

 Take the common factors with least index
 Multiply to find HCF
Example
i) Find the HCF of 18 and 30

Solution

2 18 2 30
3 9 3 15
3 3 5 5
1 1

18 = 2 × 3 2 30 = 2 × 3 × 5
Common factors with least indices are 2 and 3
HCF = 2 ×3
=6

ii) Find HCF of 90, 100 and 120

Solution:
 2 90 2 100 2 120
3 45 2 50 2 60
3 15 5 25 2 30
5 5 5 5 3 15
1 1 5 5
1

90 = 2 × 32 × 5
100 = 2 2 × 52

120 = 2 3 × 3 × 5
The common factors with least indices are 2and 5
HCF = 2×5
= 10

Exercise 1(c)
1) Find the Highest Common Factor of
(a) 168 and 140 (b) 198 and 90 (c) 108 and 324
2) Find two prime numbers between 30 and 40
3) Find the largest interger which is a factor of both
(a) 168 and 324
(b) 502 and 728
4) The numbers 294 and 784, written as the product of their prime
factors are
294 = 2 × 3 × 7 2 , 784 = 2 4 × 72, find HCF
 5. LOWEST COMMON MULTIPLES
Example
i) Find the LCM of 9 and 12

Solution:

3 9 2 12
3 3 2 6
1 3 3
1

9 = 32
12 = 22 × 3

LCM multiplies common factors with highest index and other

numbers which are not common.
LCM = 22 × 32
=4×9
= 36

ii) Find the LCM of 15, 60 and 75.

Solution:
3 15 2 60 3 75
5 5 2 30 5 25
1 3 15 5 5
5 5 1
1
15 = 3× 5
60 = 22 × 3 × 5
75 = 3 × 5 2

From the above you can see that common factors are 3 and 5,
the highest indices on common factors are 3 and 5 2
Therefore
LCM = 3 × 52 × 22
LCM includes all factors which are not common. In this case we
also multiply 2 2

Exercise 1(d)
1) Find the lowest common multiple of
(a) 154 and 49 (b) 108 and 360 (c) 6 and 12
2) The lowest common multiple of 6, 15 and x is 90. Find two
possible values of x which are odd numbers [camb]
3) Find the smallest possible integer value of n for which 99n is
a multiple of 24
4) Find the smallest positive integer k such that 360k is a cube
number
 6. NUMBER PATTERNS
This is one of the regular concepts in paper 1. To master this you must
understand the concept of series and sequences.
The first step is to identify common difference
Example
i) Write down the next two numbers in the sequence
27; 9; 3; 1; ; _; _;

Solution;
First consider the relationship of first three terms. 27 is divided
by 3 to give 9, and 9 is divided by 3 to give 3.
Therefore we can continue to divide all the terms by 3 to get the
next term
1st term 27 = 27
2nd term =9
3rd term =3

4th term =1

5th term =

6th term ÷ 3 =

7th term ÷ 3 =
 This means the next two terms are and

You can also use powers of 3 to find the answer

33;32; 31; 30; 3-1; 3-2; 3-3
Express them as fractions you will get the same result

ii) Write down the next term in the sequence -2; 1; 6; 13; 22;…

Solution:
Identify the difference between consecutive terms

-2; 1; 6; 13; 22;

1st diff 3 5 7 9

2nd diff 2 2 2

You can see that the 1 st difference of terms has a pattern or the
2nd difference is the same (i.e 2), we can continue with that
pattern to find the next two terms

-2; 1; 6; 13; 22; 33 46

1st diff 3 5 7 9 11 13

2nd diff 2 2 2 2 2
REVISION EXERCISE
1. A = {13, 24, 33, 37, 46, 54, 63, 67, 79, 81, 99}
From set A, list
(a) Prime numbers
(b) Even numbers
(c) Odd numbers
(d) Multiples of 3

2. Express the following as products of their prime factors

(a) 154
(b) 108
(c) 784

3. By first expressing as product of prime factors, find

(a) √
(b) √

4. Find HCF of
(a) 198 and 90
(b) 168 and 324
(c) 90, 120 and 180

5. Find LCM of
(a) 90, 100 and 120
(b) 32 and 40

6. Find the HCF and LCM of 3 2 × 53 × 7 and 2 3 × 33 × 72

7. Find the next two terms in the following sequences
(a) 3; 6; 10; 15; _; _
(b) 1; 5; 14; 30;_;_
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES
1A
1.a. 32 × 11 b. 24×32×72 c. 2 × 7×11 d. 23×72
2.a. 2,3,6,9,18 b. 3,9,11,33,99 c. 2,3,6,7,14,21,42,49,98,147,294

d. 2,4,8,14,16,28,49,56,98,112,196,392,784
1B
1. 28
2. a. 32×52 b. 32×72 c. 22×32×32×32
3. a. 23×23×33 b. 23×33 c. 33×33
4. a. 4 b. 18 c. 14
1C
1. a. 28 b. 18 c. 108
2. 31 and 37
3. a. 12 b. 2
2
4. 2×7 or 98
1D
1. a. 1 078 b. 1 080 c. 12
2. x=9
3. n=8
4. k = 25
REVISION EXERCISE
1. a. 13,37,67,79 b. 24,46,54 c. 13,33,37,63,67,79,81,99
d. 24,33,54,63,81,99
2. a. 2×7×11 b. 22×33 c. 24×72
3. a. 84 b. 32
4. a. 18 b. 12 c. 30
5. a. 1 800 b. 160
23×33×53×72 7a. 21;28 b. 55; 91
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2. STANDARD FORM
 1. SMALL NUMBERS
Small numbers, in this context, are numbers that are less than 1. We
must be able to express small numbers in Scientific Form (a.k.a.
Standard Form). In this section I will highlight how you can express
small numbers in standard form.
Small numbers in standard form
 Are decimal fractions
 are expressed in negative powers of 10
Tip: Count the number of zeros before standard form value. It represents
the negative power of 10 in standard form
i) Express 0, 003 in standard form.

Solution:
3 is our standard form value and we have three zeros before
standard form value.
= 3 × 10 -3

ii) Express 0,025 4 in standard form.

Solution:
Standard form value is 2,54 and we have two zeros before a
standard form value which represent a negative power of 10.
= 2, 54 × 10 -2

iii) Express 0,010 52 in standard form.

 Solution:
Standard form value is 1,052 and we have two zeros before
standard form value.
= 1,052 × 10 -2
Exercise 2(a)
1) Express 0,0032 in standard form
2) Express the following in ordinary form
(a) 2,17 × 10 -3
(b) 1,8 × 10 -7
(c) 4,521 × 10 -1
3) Express the following in standard form
(a) 0,003 87
(b) 0,92
4) Giving your answer in standard form, evaluate
(a) 3,25 × 10 4 × 10-6
(b) 0,000 005 2
(c) 0,000 530 6
 2. LARGE NUMBERS
Large numbers in standard form starts from 10.
They are

 expressed in the positive powers of 10

 number of figures after the first represent the positive power of 10
Example
i) Express 1 250 in standard form

Solution:
We have 4 figures and our power of 10 is (n – 1), where n
represents the number of figures. In this case n is 4 and the
power of 10 is 3
= 1,250 × 10 3
= 1,25 × 103

ii) Express 25 612 in standard form.

Solution:
We have 5 figure number and our standard form value is 2,561
2. This means 10 must be raised to the power 4, because they
are ten thousands.

= 2,561 2× 10 4

iii) Express 12,5 × 10 2 in standard form.

 Solution:
12,5 is not in standard form since the value must be less than 10
but 1 or greater. Let’s first express 12,5 in standard form and
then multiply by 10 2

= (1,25 ×10 1) × 102

= 1,25 × 10 3

Exercise 2(b)

1) Express the following in standard form

(a) 754,96
(b) 15 840
(c) 100 500
(d) 609,4
2) Express the following in ordinary form
(a) 7,6 × 10 3
(b) 2,17 × 10 2
(c) 1,345 × 10 2
(d) 6,78 × 10 4
3) A terameter is 10 12, write down 2,5 terameters in ordinary form
 3. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
We can also add or subtract numbers in standard form.
To add or subtract numbers in standard form

 Express to ordinary form

 Add or subtract
 Express in standard form
Addition
i) Evaluate (4,5 ×10 4) + (2,6 × 10 3), giving your answer in
standard form .
Solution:
= (4,5 × 10 000) + (2,6 × 1 000)
= 45 000 + 2 600
= 47 600
Express in standard form
= 4,76 × 10 4

ii) (3,4 × 10 -2) + (3,7 × 10 -3)

Solution:
= (3,4 × 0, 01) + (3,7× 0,001)
= 0,034 + 0,003 7
= 0,0377
= 3,77 × 10 -2

Subtraction

iii) (2,3 × 10 -1) – (4,6 × 10 -2)

Solution :

= (2,3 × 0,1) – (4,6 × 0,01)

= 0,23 – 0,046
= 0,184
= 1,84 × 10 -1

iv) (2,6 × 10 3) – (7,6 × 10 2)

Solution:
= (2,6 × 1 000) – (7,6 × 100)
= 2 600 – 760
= 1 840
= 1,84 × 10 3

Exercise 2(c)

1) Given that M = 3,6 × 10 2 and N = 8 × 10 -1 find in standard form,

the value of
(a) M + N
(b) M – N
2) Write in Standard form
(a) (2 × 103) – (8 × 10 2)
(b) (3,5 × 10-5) – (2,4 × 10 4)
(c) 6,45 × 10 3 + 250
3) Giving your answer in standard form, evaluate
(a) 0,0789 + 0,152
(b) 20 400 – 8 000
(c) 150 + 0,98
 4. MULTIPLICATION

We can also multiply numbers in standard form. We can apply the laws
of indices and separate numbers from the powers of 10.

To summarize the process

 Multiply numbers separately from powers of 10

 Express product of numbers in standard form
 Multiply by powers of 10

Examples

i) (3,4 × 10 -3) × (4,2 × 10 2) in standard form.

Solution:

= 3,4 × 4,2 × 10-3 × 102

= 14,28 × 10 -3+2
= (14,28) × 10 -1
Express 14,28 in standard form
= (1,428 × 10 1) × 10-1
= 1,428 × 10 -1+1
= 1,428 × 10 0

ii) It is given that m = 8 × 107 and n = 4 × 10 -3. Find mn in standard

form
Solution:
= (8 × 10 7) × (4 × 10 -3)
= (8 × 4) × (10 7 × 10-3 )
= (32) × 10 7+(-3)
= (3,2 × 10 1) × 104
 = 3,2 × 10 1+4
= 3,2 × 10 5
Exercise 2(d)
1) Write down 160,5 × 10 2 × 10-4 in ordinary form
2) Evaluate, giving your answer in standard form
(a) (2,5 × 103) × (3,4 × 10 0)
(b) (4 × 105) × (5 × 10 2)
3) It is given that m = 2,1 × 107 and n = 3 ×10 4, giving your answer in
standard form , calculate
(a) m + n
(b) n2 + m
 5. DIVISION

When dividing numbers in standard form, separate numbers from

powers of 10.

 Divide numbers separately

 Express in standard form

Example

i) It is given that m = 2,1 × 107 and n = 3 × 10 4.

Express m ÷ n in standard form

Solution:
=

= (0,7) × 107-4
= (7 × 10 -1) × 103
= 7 × 10 -1+3
= 7 × 10 2

ii) (3,2 × 10 11) ÷ (8 × 10 -4)

Solution:
=

=
 = (0,4) × 1011-(-4)
= (4 × 10 -1) × 1015
= 4 × 10 -1+15
= 4 × 1014

Exercise 2e)
1) Given that m = 4 × 106 and, n = 2,4 × 10 -3, evaluate
(a)

(b)
2) Divide the following, giving your answer in standard form
(a) 15 500 by 500
(b) 4 200 by 0,03
(c) (4 × 106) ÷
 6. APPLICATION

In this section, we will use all principles we learnt in previous sections.

Also note that principles from other topics can be applicable

Examples

i) The virus that causes common cold is 5 × 10 -7m long. Giving

your answer in standard form, find the total length of 12 000
such viruses.

Solution;
= (5 × 10 -7) × 12 000
= 5 × 12 000 × 10 -7
= 60 000 × 10 -7
= (6 × 10 4) × 10-7
= 6 × 10 4+ (-7)
= 6 × 10 -3

ii) Giving your answer in standard, find 25% of 3,168 × 10 -4

Solution:
= × 3,168 × 10 -4
= 0,792 × 10 -4
= (7,92 × 10 -1) × 10-4
= 7,92 × 10 -1+-4
= 7,92 × 10 -5
Exercise 2(f)
1) The speed of a light is given as 3,5 × 10 5 km/s, writing each
answer in standard form, calculate
(a) The distance, in km that the light travels in one minute
(b) The time in seconds that light takes to travel 150 km
2) The population of a country is 3,2 × 10 6. There are 8 × 10 5
children
(a) What fraction of the whole population are children?
Giving your answer in its simplest form
(b) Find the number of adults. Give your answer in
standard form
3) An atom of helium has a mass of 6,8 × 10 -27 kilograms
(a) Express this mass in grams. Giving your answer in
standard form
(b) A room contains 9× 10 22 atoms of helium. Find the
mass of helium in a room. Give your answer in grams
as a normal decimal number
ANSWERS TO EXERCISE
2A
1. 3,2×10-3
2. a. 0,002 17 b. 0,000 000 18 c. 0,452 1
3. a. 3,87×10-3 b. 9,2×10-1
4. a. 3,25×10-2 b. 5,2×10-6 c. 5,306×10-4
2B
1. a. 7,5496×102 b. 1,584 × 104 c. 1,005×105 d. 6,094×102
2. a. 7 600 b. 217 c. 134,5 d. 67 800
12
3. 2,5×10 = 2 500 000 000 000
2C
1. a. 3,608×102 b. 3,592×102
2. a. 1,2×103 b. 2,4 104 c. 6,7×103
3. a. 2,309×10-1 b. 1,24×104 c. 1,5098×102
2D
1. 1,605
2. a. 8,5×103 b. 2×108
3. a. 2,103×107 b. 9,21×108
2E
1. a. 6×10-10 b. 1,44×10-12
2. a. 3,1×10 b. 1,4×105 c. 1,6×10
2F
1. a. 2,1×107 b. 4,29 seconds
2. a. b. 2,4×106
3. a. 6,8×10-24 b. 6,12×10-4
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3. NUMBER BASES
 1. EXPANDING BASE TEN NUMBERS
Structure of an Index Number

xa Power
base
Place Values
We will consider the place value under base 10 (Denary System)

1 2 3 4

Tens
(101 )
Hundreds
2 Units
Thousands 10
100
103

Each number is pronounced or multiplied by the value of the place or the

powers of the base. In other words, place values represents powers of the
base
Examples:
i) Expand the following numbers in base ten
(a) 2 584
(b) 100 249
(c) 0,045
Solution:
3 2 10 Powers of the base
(a) 2 584
2 584 = (2 × 10 3) + (5 × 10 2) + (8 × 10 1) + (4 × 10 0)
543 210
(b) 100 249 = (1 × 10 5) + (0 × 10 4) + (0 × 10 3) + (2 × 10 2) +
 (4 × 101) + (9 × 10 0)

0 -1 -2 -3

(c) 0,045 = (0 × 10 0) + (0 × 10 -1) + (4 × 10 -2) + (5 × 10 -3)

NB: A base has negative powers after the comma
You can be required to write down a number in Base ten when given
multiples of powers of 10.
Example;
ii) Write down 2 × 10 5 + 1 × 10 3 + 6 × 102 in base ten

Solution:
= (2 × 100 000) + (1 × 1 000) + (6× 100)
= 200 000 + 1 000 + 600
= 201 600 ten
Exercise 3(a)

1) Expand the following numbers in base ten

(a) 10 214
(b) 1 278
(c) 240
2) Express the following as numbers in base ten
(a) (3 ×106) + (2 × 10 4) + 4
(b) (2 × 103) + (1 × 10 1) + (4 × 10 0)
 2. EXPANDING OTHER BASES
In this section we are going to look at how to expand numbers in bases
other than base ten. The result will be a number in base ten
Example:
i) 3 121four
3 121four = (3 × 43) + (1× 42) + (2× 41) + (1 × 40)

ii) Expand 647 eight

= (6 × 8 2) + (4 × 81) + (7× 80)
You can also be required to express index numbers to ordinary form
iii) Express 2 5 + 24 + 22 + 1 as a number in base ten

Solution:
= 32 + 16 + 4 + 1
= 53ten
Exercise 3b)
1) Express 44 5 as a number in base ten
2) Express 2 4 + 23 + 2 as number in base ten
3) Express the following as numbers in base ten
(a) 1 0012
(b) 278
(c) 1345
 3. CONVERTING FROM BASE TEN
To convert numbers from base ten to other bases we use the division
method.
Example:
i) Convert 15 ten to base five

Solution:
5 15
5 3 r 0
0 r 3

= 30five
NB: We only take remainders writing down upwards

ii) Convert 129 ten to base two

Solution
2 129
2 64 r 1
2 32 r 0
2 16 r 0
2 8 r 0
2 4 r 0
2 2 r 0
2 1 r 0
0 r 1

= 1 000 001 two

Exercise 3c)
1) Express
(a) 27 to a number in base five
(b) 428 to a number in base six
(c) 2110 to a number in base two
 4. CONVERTING TO BASE TEN
In this section you will learn how to convert numbers in other bases to
base ten. Use the expansion method as highlighted in the 2 nd section of
this topic.
Example
i) Express 12 five as a number in base ten

Solution:
We can use one of the two methods to convert the number to
base ten

Method 1: expansion
12five = (1 × 51) + (2 × 5 0)
=5+2
= 7ten

Method 2
12five = 1 2
×5
5 + 2 = 7ten

ii) 324five to base ten

Solution:

324five = (3 × 52) + (2 × 5 1) + (4× 50)

= (3 × 25) + (2 × 5) + (4 × 1)
= 75 + 10 + 4
 = 89ten

Method 2:
324five = 3 2 4
×5
15 + 2 = 17
×5
85 + 4 = 89 ten
Exercise 3d)
Express the following as numbers in base ten
(a) 1 0112
(b) 100 010 2
(c) 3456
(d) 1 2213
(e) 789
 5. CONVERTING TO OTHER BASES
In this section you will learn how to convert numbers from one base to
another. For example, you can be tested to convert a number in base 5 to
base 2.
To make everything simple
 Convert to base ten
 Convert to required base
Converting from base five to base two

BASE BASE
BASE
TEN TWO
FIVE

Example
i) Convert 64 eight to base five

Solution:
First expand to base ten
64eight = (6 × 81) + (4 × 8 0)
= 48 + 4
= 52ten
Then convert to base five
5 52
5 10 r 2
5 2 r 0
0 r 2 = 202five
Exercise 3e)
1) Write down the largest four digits numbers in base 8
2) Convert 111 8 to a number in base 2
3) Express 44 5 as a number in base two
4) 53 + 4 as a number in base 5
5) Convert 134 5 to a number in base two
 6. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
We can also add numbers in bases other than ten. You learnt this from
primary when you were to add days and weeks, hours and minutes.
You can

 Add or subtract directly using a base

 First convert to base ten and then add or subtract
Example
i) 4325 + 4145, giving your answer in base five

Solution:
By first converting to base ten
4325 4×52 + 3×51 + 2×50 117
+ 4145 4×52 + 1×51 + 4×50 + 109
1 4015 226ten
Convert to base five
5 226
5 45 r 1
5 9 r 0
5 1 r 4
0 r 1

ii) 3415 – 235 in base five

Solution:
341five 3×52 + 4×5 1 + 1×50 96ten
23five 2×51 + 3×5 0 -13ten
313five 83ten
Exercise 3f)
1) Subtract 32 5 from 415, giving your answer in base 5
2) 2345 + 1425, giving your answer in base 5
3) Find X such that X5 + 445 = 4035
4) 41n + 231n + 140n = 432 n
5) Write 53 + 5 as number in base five
6) 1 1012 + 1012 – 1112, giving your answer in base two
7) Evaluate 211 3 + 1023 , giving your answer in base 3
Back To Table Of Contents
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES
3A
1. a. 1×104 + 2×102 + 1×10 + 4×100 b. 1×103+2×102+7×10+8×100
c. 2×102 + 4×10
2. a. 3 020 004 b. 2 014
3B
1. 24
2. 26ten
3. a. 9 b. 23 c. 44

3C
1. a. 102five b. 1 552six c. 10 101two
3D
a. 11ten b. 34ten c. 137ten d. 52ten e. 71ten
3E
1. 7;6;5;4
2. 1 001 001two
3. 11 000two
4. 1 004five
5. 101 100two
3F
1. 4five
2. 431five
3. 304five
4. n=5
5. 1 010five
6. 1 011two
7. 1 020three
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4 SURDS
 1. SURD FORM
In this section you are going to learn how to express square roots
numbers in surd form.
The tip is to find a combination of a perfect square. Perfect squares are
1; 4; 9; 16; 25; 36; 49; 64; 81; 100; 121;….
They are found by squaring numbers e.g. 1 2; 22; 32; ….
Example;

i) Express √ in the form a√

Solution:
From the list of perfect squares above, you can see that 25 can
be divided into 50 to give two. Lets first write the combination
under a square root
=√
Then separate the roots
=√ √
Write down the root of 25
= 5 ×√
= 5√

ii) Express √ in surd form.

Solution:
100 is the largest perfect square that can be divided into 500
 =√
=√ ×√
= 10×√
= 10√
Exercise 4a)
Express the following in surd form

(a) √
(b) √
(c) √
(d) √
(e) √
 2. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
You can also be required to add or subtract numbers in surd form.
First express all numbers in lowest or similar surd form and then
introduce an algebraic term
Example:

i) Simplify √ √

Solution:
Express √ in surd form

=√ +√
=√ + √
Let √ be x
= x + 2x
= 3x
Then, replace x with √

= 3√

ii) 2√ + 3√ -√ in the form a√

Solution:
Expressing in lowest term of surd form

=2 √ + √ -√
= 2(5√ ) + 3(5√ ) - 4√
 = 10√ + 15√ - 4√
Let √ be y
= 10y + 15y – 4y
= 21y
Replace y with √
= 21√

Exercise 4b)

Evaluate the following

(a) √ +√
(b) √ –√
(c) 5√ + √ - 2√
(d) y + 3√ = 5√ , find y
 3. MULTIPLICATION OF SURDS

Numbers in surd form can also be multiplied.

Multiply numbers separately from roots

Example

i) √ ×√

Solution
If multiplying roots, multiply numbers under square roots
=√
=√

ii) 3√ ×5√

Solution:
= (3×5) (√ ×√ )
= (15)(2)
= 30

iii) 5√ × 3√
Solution:
= (5×3)( √ ×√ )
= (15)( √ )
Now, express √ in surd form
= 15(√ )
= 15 (2√ )
= 30√
Exercise 4c)
Evaluate

(a) 2√ × 3√
(b) 5√ × √
(c) 5√ × 2√
(d) a√ × 3√
 4. DIVISION
Numbers in surd form can also be divided
Example;
√
i) Simplify
√

Solution:
Remove root from the denominator by multiplying by √ on
both the denominator and the numerator

√ √
=
√ √

√
=
√

√
=
√

√
=

√
=

Exercise 4d)
Simplify
√ √ √
(b) (c) Back To Table Of Contents
√ √ √
ANSWERS
4A

a. 2√ b. 6√ c. 20√ d. 8√ e. 7√
4B

a. 3√ b. √ c. 6√ d. 2√

4C

a. 6√ b. 15√ c. 10x d. 6ab

4D
√
a. b. 4 c.
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