# Algebra Index

Algebra is the branch of mathematics that uses symbols to represent unknown quantities and numbers.

## Notation

Function | Notation

In mathematics f(x) represents the notation of a function that takes in a number x and returns a number as output.

Absolute Value | Notation

The notation for taking the absolute value is two vertical lines on either side of the expression being evaluated.

Factorial | Notation

The exclamation mark is used to represent the factorial of a number in mathematics. A factorial is a unary operator.

Exponent | Notation

In mathematics superscript text is used to indicate the exponent of some number.

Logarithm | Notation

Logarithms are often abreviated as "log" followed by a subscript number representing the base and the number that the logarithm is being applied to.

Square Root | Notation

The radical symbol by itself is used to denote taking the square root of a number.

Product | Notation

The capital Greek letter Pi is used to represent the product operator in mathematics. The operator has three parts: an initial value, an end value, and the expression being evaluated.

A radical is used to represent fractional exponents. By itself it is used to represent the square root of an expression, but it also is used to represent higher roots as well.

Slope | Notation

Slope is denoted as the change in y over the change in x. The capital greek letter delta (Δ) is used to represent the change in a variable.

Summation | Notation

The capital Greek letter Sigma is used to represent the summation operator in mathematics.

Variable | Notation

A variable is a letter or symbol that represents a value that either changes or is unknown.

## Formulas

Slope | Formula

The slope formula gives the slope of a line. Slope is defined as the change in y over the change in x. Another way of thinking about slope is the rise over run.

## Operators

Summation | Operator

The capital letter Sigma Σ represents the summation operation in mathematics, often called sum for short. A sum has three parts: an initial value, an end value, and the expression being summed. The summation starts at the initial value and iterates, adding one to the value for each iteration, stopping when the value reaches the end value.

Exponentiation | Operator

The exponentiation operator is a binary operator. The base is an expression or number that is being raised to some exponent. The exponent expression is denoted using superscript text.

Factorial | Operator

The factorial operator is represented using the exclamation mark. The operator is unary, meaning that it only operates on one expression. The operator is useful when calculating combinations and permutations.

Logarithm | Operator

Taking the logarithm of an number is the inverse operation of exponentiation. The subscript number is the base of the logarithm and the expression is the operand.

Product | Operator

The product operator multiplies the expression starting at an initial value, incrementing by one for each sub-expression, and ending at the end value.

The radical operator returns the n-th root of the provided expression. The radical operator is an alternative way of writing a fractional exponent.

## Concepts

Chebyshev Extrema | Concept

Chebyshev are the roots to a special series of polynomial equations.

Equality | Concept

In math equality is an assertion that the left expression and the right expression are equivalent.

Equation of Circle | Concept

The standard form of a circle is given by the radius and center point of the circle.

Equation of Line | Concept

The equation of a line can be expressed in the form of y is equal to ax plus b.

Equation of Parabola | Concept

The shape of a parabola is formed by the quadratic equation which is a polynomial equation of degree two.

General Equation of Circle | Concept

The standard form of the equation of a circle is given in terms of its radius and center point.

Properties of Exponents | Concept

There are six properties of the exponent operator: the zero property, identity property, negative property, product property, quotient property, and the power property.

Properties of Logarithms | Concept

The general form of the quadratic equation describes all possible equations of the second degree. The shape formed by the quadratic equation is called a parabola.

Reciprocal | Concept

The reciprocal of a number is given by one divided by the number. When the number and its reciprocal are multiplied together the result should be one.

## Examples

A Plus B Squared | Example

This example dmemonstrates how the general form of a plus b squared can be interpretted geometrically.

Absolute Value of Number | Example

To find the absolute value of a number you can calculate the number's distance from zero on the number line.

Approximate Square Root of Two With Recursive Formula | Example

To approximate the square root of two you can use algebra to derive a recursive formula to come up with an arbitrarily precise number.

Derive Distance Between Two Points Formula | Example

To derive the formula for the distance between two points in two dimensions you can use the properties of the right triangle and Pythagorean's theorem to solve for the length of the hypotenuse.

Derive Law of Sines | Example

To derive the equation for the law of sines, observe the shared perpendicular line by two angles. The third angle can be included by repeating the process.

To derive the quadratic formula, start with the general form of the quadratic equation set equal to zero and solve for the variable x.

Distance Between Two Points 2D | Example

The distance between two points, in two dimensions, is given by solving pythagorean's theorem for the length the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the two points.

Factorial of Number | Example

To calculate the factorial of a number multiply all of the numbers in the range from one to the number together.

Line Through Two Points | Example

To find the equation of a line given two points first calculate the slope of the line and then the y-intercept.

Midpoint of Line | Example

To find the midpoint between two points, average the two points x coordinate together to get the midpoint's x coordinate, then average the two points y coordinate together to get the midpoints y coordinate.

Point Where Two Lines Intersect | Example

To find the point where two lines intersect set the equations equal together and solve for the x-coordinate. Then substitute the solved for coordinate back into one of the equations to get the y-coordinate.

Examples of using the quadratic formula. The quadratic formula is a general way to find the solution to quadratic equation set to zero. This can be visualized in a graph as the points where the parabola crosses the x-axis.

Slope of Line | Example

The slope of a line is given by the change of y divided by the change in x.

Sum of Counting Numbers | Example

To calculate the summation of the counting numbers 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n the sequence can be visualized geometrically and solved for by finding the area of the shape formed.

Sum of Square Numbers | Example

The summation of the square numbers: one-squared, two-squared, three-squared, up to n-squared is classic problem in mathematics.

Summation | Example

Examples of the summation operator.