Precalculus Prerequisites
There are many mathematical prerequisites to this course. I will be mentioning some of these topics in class during lecture, but I will in general not be taking time to explain them in detail. During the first week of classes, you should read the prerequisites section of the textbook, and make notes on any topic which you do not understand. Come and talk to me, or the class TA, or your peers about any topic which is unclear.
If you had difficulty with the prerequisites, then basic algebra may be a more appropriate math class for you to begin in. Come talk to me if you are experiencing difficulty with prerequisites.
As you do homework, you may need to refer back to this chapter periodically. As time progresses, you should be referring to this prerequisites section less and less.
For your reference, here is a list of the important prerequisites discussed in the text, and the page number they are on:
- Order of Real Numbers, Page 4
- Bounded Intervals of Real Numbers, Page 5
- Unbounded Intervals of Real Numbers, Page 5
- Properties of Algebra, Page 7
- Properties of Additive Inverse, Page 7
- Properties of Exponents, Page 8
- Absolute Value of a Real Number, Page 15
- Pythagorean Theorem, Page 16
- Distance Formula, Page 16
- Standard Form Equation of a Circle, Page 18
- Properties of Equality, Page 24
- Operations for Equivalent Equations, Page 25
- Properties of Inequalities, Page 27
- Point-Slope Form of an Equation of a Line, Page 32
- Slope-Intercept Form of an Equation of a Line, Page 33
- Forms of Equations of Lines, Page 34
- Parallel and Perpendicular Lines, Page 35
- Solving Quadratic Equations Algebraically, Page 47
- Solving Absolute Value Inequalities, Page 59