Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies book cover

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies

Author:
Mark Zegarelli
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Overview

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293637) was previously published as Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781118791981). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.


Tips for simplifying tricky basic math and pre-algebra operations

Whether you're a student preparing to take algebra or a parent who wants or needs to brush up on basic math, this fun, friendly guide has the tools you need to get in gear. From positive, negative, and whole numbers to fractions, decimals, and percents, you'll build necessary math skills to tackle more advanced topics, such as imaginary numbers, variables, and algebraic equations.

  • Explanations and practical examples that mirror today's teaching methods
  • Relevant cultural vernacular and references
  • Standard For Dummiesmaterials that match the current standard and design

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies takes the intimidation out of tricky operations and helps you get ready for algebra!

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293637) was previously published as Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781118791981). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.


Tips for simplifying tricky basic math and pre-algebra operations

Whether you're a student preparing to take algebra or a parent who wants or needs to brush up on basic math, this fun, friendly guide has the tools you need to get in gear.

From positive, negative, and whole numbers to fractions, decimals, and percents, you'll build necessary math skills to tackle more advanced topics, such as imaginary numbers, variables, and algebraic equations.

  • Explanations and practical examples that mirror today's teaching methods
  • Relevant cultural vernacular and references
  • Standard For Dummiesmaterials that match the current standard and design

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies takes the intimidation out of tricky operations and helps you get ready for algebra!

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies Cheat Sheet

A little understanding can go a long way toward helping master math. Some math concepts may seem complicated at first, but after you work with them for a little bit, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. You'll find easy-to-understand explanations and clear examples in these articles that cover basic math concepts — like order of operations; the commutative, associative, and distributive properties; radicals, exponents, and absolute values — that you may remember (or not) from your early math and pre-algebra classes. You'll also find handy and easy-to-understand conversion guides for converting between metric and English units and between fractions, percents, and decimals.

About The Author

Mark Zegarelli is an instructor and math and test prep tutor in New Jersey. He is the author of Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies, SAT Math For Dummies, ACT Math For Dummies, Logic For Dummies, and Calculus II For Dummies. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and learning foreign languages.

Articles From The Book

62 results

Basic Math Articles

Important Operations that Make Math Problems Easier

The Big Four math operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division — let you combine numbers and perform calculations. Certain operations possess properties that enable you to manipulate the numbers in the problem, which comes in handy, especially when you get into higher math like algebra. The important properties you need to know are the commutative property, the associative property, and the distributive property. Understanding what an inverse operation is is also helpful.

Inverse operations

Inverse operations are pairs of operations that you can work "backward" to cancel each other out. Two pairs of the Big Four operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division —are inverses of each other:

  • Addition and subtraction are inverse operations of each other. When you start with any value, then add a number to it and subtract the same number from the result, the value you started with remains unchanged. For example:

    2 + 3 = 5 so 5 – 3 = 2
    7 – 1 = 6 so 6 + 1 = 7

  • Multiplication and division are inverse operations of each other. When you start with any value, then multiply it by a number and divide the result by the same number (except zero), the value you started with remains unchanged. For example:

    3 × 4 = 12 so 12 ÷ 4 = 3
    10 ÷ 2 = 5 so 5 × 2 = 10

The commutative property

An operation is commutative when you apply it to a pair of numbers either forwards or backwards and expect the same result. The two Big Four that are commutative are addition and subtraction. Addition is commutative because, for example, 3 + 5 is the same as 5 + 3. In other words
3 + 5 = 5 + 3
Multiplication is commutative because 2 × 7 is the same as 7 × 2. In other words
2 × 7 = 7 × 2

The associative property

An operation is associative when you can apply it, using parentheses, in different groupings of numbers and still expect the same result. The two Big Four operations that are associative are addition and multiplication. Addition is associative because, for example, the problem (2 + 4) + 7 produces the same result as does the problem 2 + (4 + 7). In other words,
(2 + 4) + 7 = 2 + (4 + 7)
No matter which pair of numbers you add together first, the answer is the same: 13. Multiplication is associative because, for example, the problem 3 × (4 × 5) produces the same result as the problem (3 × 4) × 5. In other words,
3 × (4 × 5) = (3 × 4) × 5
Again, no matter which pair of numbers you multiply first, both problems yield the same answer: 60.

The distributive property

The distributive property connects the operations of multiplication and addition. When multiplication is described as "distributive over addition," you can split a multiplication problem into two smaller problems and then add the results. For example, suppose you want to multiply 27 × 6. You know that 27 equals 20 + 7, so you can do this multiplication in two steps:

  1. First multiply 20 × 6; then multiply 7 × 6.

    20 × 6 = 1207 × 6 = 42

  2. Then add the results.

    120 + 42 = 162

Therefore, 27 × 6 = 162.

Basic Math Articles

Conversion Guide for Fractions, Decimals, and Percents

Fractions, decimals, and percents are the three most common ways to give a mathematical description of parts of a whole object. Fractions are common in baking and carpentry when you're using English measurement units (such as cups, gallons, feet, and inches). Decimals are used with dollars and cents, the metric system, and in scientific notation. Percents are used in business when figuring profit and interest rates, as well as in statistics. Use the following table as a handy guide when you need to make basic conversions among the three.

Basic Math Articles

Converting Metric Units to English Units

The English system of measurements is most commonly used in the United States. In contrast, the metric system is used throughout most of the rest of the world. Converting measurements between the English and metric systems is a common everyday reason to know math. This article gives you some precise metric-to-English conversions, as well as some easy-to-remember conversions that are good enough for most situations.

Here's an easy temperature conversion to remember: 16°C = 61°F.

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