Chapter 1
Assembling Your Tools: Number Systems
IN THIS CHAPTER
Identifying the different types of numbers
Placing numbers on a number line
Becoming familiar with the vocabulary
Recognizing the operations of algebra
You’ve undoubtedly heard the word algebra on many occasions, and you know that it has something to do with mathematics. Perhaps you remember that algebra has enough stuff in it to require taking two separate high school algebra classes — Algebra I and Algebra II. But what exactly is algebra? What is it really used for?
This book answers these questions and more, providing the straight scoop on some of the contributions to algebra’s development, what it’s good for, how algebra is used, and what tools you need to make it happen. In this chapter, you find some of the basics necessary to make it easier to find your way through the different topics in this book.
In a nutshell, algebra is a way of generalizing arithmetic. Through the use of variables (letters representing numbers) and formulas or equations involving those variables, you solve problems. The problems may be ...
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