Some Common Formulas

Formula Use
Area of a circle.
A = r2
r is the radius
Circumference of a circle.
C=2 r
r is the radius
Area of a rectangle.
A = LW
L is length, W is width
Perimeter of a rectangle.
P = 2L + 2W
L is length, W is width
1 Area of a triangle.
A = BH
2 B is base length, H is height
Pythagoean theorem for a right triangle.
a2 + b2 = c2 a, b lengths of legs
c length of hypotenuse
Simple interest.
A is interest earned,
A = Prt P is the principal,
r is the interest rate (decimal),
t is time
Compound interest.
A is interest earned,
r nt P is principal,
A = P(1 + )
n r is interest rate (decimal),
n is number of times interest is paid per year,
t is time in years
Rates.
A = Rt
A is amount, R is rate, t is time
Distance and speed.
d = vt
d is distance, v is speed, t is time
Temperature conversion.
5
C = (F - 32) F is degrees Fahrenheit
9
C is degrees Centigrade

Distance Formula

The distance formula gives the distance, d, between 2 given points (x1,
y1) and (x2, y2).

Distance is always non-negative.

Midpoint Formula
The midpoint formula gives an ordered pair that is the point halfway
between 2 given points (x1, y1) and(x2, y2).

Slope-Intercept and Point-Slope

Forms of a Linear Equation

Slope

Slope refers to the slant of a line.

The formula for slope is

Some other renditions of the formula for slope are

A horizontal line has slope of 0.

A vertical line has undefined slope.

Slope-Intercept Form of a Linear Equation

The form: y = mx + b
where

 m is the slope
 the point (0, b) is the y-intercept

Use when:

 given the slope and y-intercept (plug them in).

Any equation of a non-vertical line can be put in slope-intercept form.

 Vertical lines have the form x = a.

Point-Slope Form of a Linear Equation

The form: y - y1 = m(x - x1)
where

 m is the slope
 the point (x1, y1) is a specified point on the line.

Use when:

 given two points

 1. calculate the slope, m, between the two points
2. plug m and either point into the formula
 given the slope and a point (plug them in).

Parallel and Perpendicular

Lines with the same slope are parallel.

 y = 2x - 1
 y = 2x + 3
 m=m=2
 The red and blue lines are parallel.

Lines with the product of their slopes equal to -1

are perpendicular.

 y = -0.5x + 1
 m·m = -1
 m·m = -1
 The red and blue lines are both
perpendicular to the purple line.

To determine if two lines are parallel, perpendicular, or neither:

1. Determine the slope of each line.

2. The lines are parallel if the slopes are equal.
3. The lines are perpendicular if the product of the slopes is -1.
4. Otherwise, the lines are neither parallel nor perpendicular.

Graphing from Slope-Intercept Form

1. Read the slope m and y-intecept (0, b) from the equation.

2. Plot the y-intecept (0, b).
3. Write the slope as a rational number, m = c/d.
4. Starting at the y-intercept, move c units vertically and then d units horizontally,
and plot a point there.
o c > 0 means up and c < 0 means down.
o d > 0 means right and d < 0 means left.
5. Draw a straight line through the two points.

Graphing from Point-Slope Form

1. Read the slope m and point (x1, y1) from the equation.
2. Plot the point (x1, y1).
3. Write the slope as a rational number, m = c/d.
4. Starting at the point (x1, y1), move c units vertically and then d units horizontally,
and plot a point there.
o c > 0 means up and c < 0 means down.
o d > 0 means right and d < 0 means left.
5. Draw a straight line through the two points.

Source: http://www.math.wsu.edu/kentler/Fall97_101/nojs/Chapter3/section3.html
Sample Problem:

I. Multiple Choice: Solve the following problems correctly. Write only the letter of your answer
in the test booklet provided. Write (e) if the answer is not found in the choices.

1. Let , , , and Which of

the following is true?

a. b. c. d.

2. __________ are two or more sets having at least one common element.

a. Equivalent sets b. Intersection of sets c. Joint sets d. Power sets

3. Which of the following algebraic expressions is not a polynomial?

a. b. 5 c. d.

4. What polynomial must be added to the difference of and to

have a sum of

a. b. c. d.

5. The simplest form of =_______________ .

a. b. c. d.

6. What is the 4th term in the binomial expansion of

a. b. c. d.

7. What is the factor of ?

a. c.

b. d.

8. What property of real numbers is used in the expression .

a. Reflexive Property of equality c. Existence of multiplicative identity element

b. Commutative Property for Multiplication d. Existence of Additive Identity element

9. A set of numbers that can be expressed as a quotient of two integers.

a. irrational numbers c. complex numbers

b. natural numbers d. rational numbers

10. Which of the following relations is a function?

a. b. c. d.
11. What is the inverse of ?

a. c.

b. d.

12. is equal to ____________.

a. b. c. d.

13. ______________.

a. b. c. d.

14. ________________.

a. -108 b. 108 c. 40 d. -40

15. ________________.

a. 1 b. c. 0 d.

16. Reduce to lowest term.

a. b. c. d.

17. Simplify

a. b. c. d. –

18. What is the value of

a. 1 b. c. d.

19. Simplify .

a. 2r b. 16r c. d.

20. What is the simplest form of ?

 a. b. c. d.

21. The expression , n > 1 is called ___________.

a. radical b. radicand c. index d. square root

22. Which of the following is not a consistent system?

a. b. c. d.

23. What is the solution set of the system

a. b. c. d.

24. The graph of is called _____________.

a. hyperbola b. line c. parabola d. circle

In numbers 25-29, find the solution set of the following.

25.

a. b. c. d.

26.

a. b. c. d.

27. – .

a. b. c. d.

28. .

a. b. c. d.

29.

a. b. c. d.

30. It is the set of all points between a and b.

a. open interval (a, b) c. half-open interval on the right [a,b)

b. half-open interval on the left (a, b] d. closed interval [a,b]

II. SOLVING: Solve the problems completely. Show your solutions.

Find the solution set of the following.

1.

2.

Prove that .

Verbal Problems

1. From the peak of a mountain whose altitude is 1200 ft, the angles of depression
of two objects on the opposite sides of a river are How wide is the
river?

2. A seaport bears from a sea vessel which is 5 nautical miles from it.
The sea vessel then sails 7 nautical miles west. Find the displacement from the new
location of the sea vessel to the port.
1. Given

D=

Find the following whenever possible:

2. Find the solution set of the following.

a. d.

b. e. Use Cramer’s rule:

c. Algebraically and Graphically

3. Find and graph the solution set of the following inequalities.

a.

b.

4. Graph the function and its inverse. Find the range and domain of each function.
Verbal Problems

1. At what rate must motorist A travel to overtake motorist B who is traveling at a rate of 20
mi/hr slower if A starts two hours after B and wishes to overtake B in 4 hours?

2. Ruby is 4 times as old as Jean. Ten years from now, Ruby will be twice as old as Jean. How
old are they?

3. Gay can eat a small bucket of fries in 8 minutes while Marie can eat the same amount of fries
in just 4 minutes. Gay ate a small bucket of fries for 2 minutes and she shared it with Marie and
then they ate the remaining fries together. In how many minutes will they finish eating the small
bucket of fries?

4. Three times the tens digit of a certain two-digit number is two more than four times the units
digit. The difference between the given number and the number obtained by reversing the digit is
two less than twice the sum of the digits. Find the number.