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Using a calculator effectively

This page gives references to relevant pre-university mathematics for students who are going to be studying an introductory maths course at Swedish university level A. There is a lot of material here, and doing it all is at least 4 weeks of study. It is important to note that you are not formally required to study any of the material here, but everything here is relevant to you, so we recommended that you use this page to brush up on topics on which you are rusty or insecure.

The references are to the Mathtutor website which was created by a group of teachers, mathematicians and new media producers from the Universities of Leeds, Loughborough and Coventry in England in an attempt to bridge the gap between school and university studies in mathematics. The material is very good and it is free for you to use it.

Most important

The essential basics with which first-year students traditionally have the biggest problems, if they have not done mathematics for some time, are the following:

In the 'Working with numbers'-section: rules of artihmetic and working with expressions involving square roots.

In the 'Basic algebra'-section: working with powers, removing brackets, solving quadratic equations and simplyfying fractions where the numerator and denominator involve unknowns.

Many students are unaware that they have problems with these core topics, so I advise that everybody has a look at these.

Working with numbers

Click here for the Mathtutor website revising arithmetic

The front page of the site contains a list of topics. When you click on a topic you get a page with a short description of the topic and links to the material available for revising the topic. You can access a revision sheet by clicking on 'Text'-button, for most topics there is also a video tutorial, but they are often quite long, so use them only if you remember nothing about the topic. There is also a self-marking online diagnostic test for each topic to help you assess whether you have understood the topic. All the topics in arithmetic covered by the Mathtutor website are important for you. They are:

Fractions: Basic ideas
Keywords: What is a fraction? Equivalent fractions, the numerator (sv: täljar), the denominator (sv: nämnar).

Fractions: adding and subtracting
Keywords: How to add and subtract mixed fractions by finding a common denominator and turning them into improper fractions.

Fractions: multiplying and dividing
Keywords: How to multiply fractions, and how to divide fractions by turning the second fraction upside down.

Decimals
Keywords: The decimals corresponding to a fraction. Rounding to given numbers of decimal places or significant figures. Irrational numbers.

Percentages
Keywords: How to carry out calculations involving percentages. The use of the percentage button on your calculator.

Ratios

Rules of arithmetic
Keywords: Evaluating expressions with mixed arithmetic operations. Order of precedence of arithmetic operations. Brackets. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with negative numbers.

Surds and other roots
Keywords: Powers (sv: potenser). Roots (sv: rötter). Rational/irrational numbers. How to simplify expressions involving roots.

Using a calculator effectively

It is important to be able to use a computer or pocket calculator to do correct arithmetic. Many basic calculators need help to give the right answer to a numerical calculation. Try to evaluate the expression

3 + 2 × 4
on your calculator. The answer should be 11. Did the calculator tell you the result was 20? If so, it is because your calculator has not been programmed to know that multiplication takes precedence over addition. You have to help it!

Similarly, try to work out
-2⁴
on your calculator. The answer should be -16. Did the calculator tell you the result was 16? If so, it is because it wrongly has interpreted your input as (-2)⁴.

You need to be aware of which arithmetic operations have precedence (The order of precedence is BODMAS: Brackets, pOwers, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction), and you need to know how to get the right result out of your calculator.

Click here for a quiz testing correct basic use of a calculator.
To revise how to use a calculator: read the 'Revision Bite'-factsheet on the quiz page, then do the quiz.

One more tip: When working with angles, make sure you have set your calculator to use radians if you are measuring angles in radians. On most calculators the default is that angles are measured in degrees, but in calculus for example, we generally measure angles in radians.

Basic Algebra

Click here for the Mathtutor website revising algebraic skills

The front page of the site contains a list of topics. When you click on a topic you get a page with a short description of the topic and links to the material available for revising the topic. You can access a revision sheet by clicking on 'Text'-button, for most topics there is also a video tutorial, but they are often quite long, so use them only if you remember nothing about the topic. There is also a self-marking online diagnostic test for each topic to help you assess whether you have understood the topic. The topics important for you in basic algebra covered by the Mathtutor website are:

Mathematical language
Keywords: Mathematical symbols, variables, the Greek alphabet.

Powers or indices
Keywords: Powers or indices (sv: potenser) and the rules of arithmetic for expressions involving them.

Substitution and formulae(sections 1, 2 and 3 of the summary text only)
Keywords: The formula for the area of a circle and volume of a sphere. How to substitute values into a formula. Using the formulas to find the area/volume of a given circle/sphere.

Expanding and removing brackets
Keywords: How to remove brackets from expressions, multiplying brackets together, dealing with nested brackets.

Factorising quadratics
Keywords: Multiplying two brackets, factorising quadratics, dealing with quadratics where the coefficient of x² is not 1. Quadratics where the constant term is zero. The formula for the the difference of two squares (sv: konjugatregeln).

Transposition of formulae
Keywords: How to rearrange expressions/equations into a different, but equivalent form.

Linear equations in one variable
Keywords: Examples of linear equations and how to solve them. In any equation there is an unknown quantity, x say, that we are trying to find. In a linear equation this unknown quantity will appear only as a multiple of x, and not as a more complicated function of x such as e.g. x², x³ or sin(x).

Completing the square
Keywords: A method for rewriting a quadratic expressions which can be used to solve quadratic equations (sv: andragradsekvationer) without using the 'standard' formula. This method is not usually taught in Swedish high schhols, but it will be covered in MA055G and MA056G, so you can read this note with benefit.

Quadratic equations
Keywords: Solving quadratic equations of the form ax² + bx + c = 0 by factorisation and by using a formula. It is also shown how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square, a method which is really useful for solving quadratic equations with complex coefficients.

Simultaneous linear equations
Keywords: How to solve two (linear) equations in two unknowns.

Solving inequalities
Keywords: Methods for solving inequalities in one unknown.

Cubic equations
Keywords: Cubic equations (sv: tredjegradsekvationer) have either one (real) root, or three (real) roots.

Simplifying fractions
Keywords: How to simplify fractions where the numerator and denominator involve variables.

Polynomial division
Keywords: How to divide two polynomials.

Partial fractions
Keywords: This method is not usually taught in Swedish high schhols, but it will be covered Översiktskursen later this year, so you can read this note with benefit.

Functions

Click here for the Mathtutor website revising the basics about functions

The front page of the site contains a list of topics. When you click on a topic you get a page with a short description of the topic and links to the material available for revising the topic. You can access a revision sheet by clicking on 'Text'-button, for most topics there is also a video tutorial, but they are often quite long, so use them only if you remember nothing about the topic. There is also a self-marking online diagnostic test for each topic to help you assess whether you have understood the topic. Your course contains the basics about functions, but we are covering the basics only briefly, so you may find it useful to consult some of the material from MathTutor, especially if you feel you need a reminder of what a function is.

Introduction to functions
Keywords: What is a function? Plotting the graph of a function. When is a function valid? Domain (sv: definitionsmängd) of a function. Range (sv: värdemängd) of a function.

Linear Functions
Keywords: What is a linear function? How to recognise a linear function, how to find the slope (sv: lutning) and the y-intercept of its graph.

Polynomial Functions
Keywords: What is a polynomial function? Graphs of polynomial functions.

Exponential and logarithm functions

Trigonometric functions

Composition of functions

Inverse functions

Trigonometry

Click here for the Mathtutor website revising trigonometry

The front page of the site contains a list of topics. When you click on a topic you get a page with a short description of the topic and links to the material available for revising the topic. You can access a revision sheet by clicking on 'Text'-button, for most topics there is also a video tutorial, but they are often quite long, so use them only if you remember nothing about the topic. There is also a self-marking online diagnostic test for each topic to help you assess whether you have understood the topic. Your course contains a block on trigonometry, but the coverage is quite brief, so you may find it useful to consult some of the material from MathTutor, especially if you have not read Mathematics D in the Swedish high school.