Part I

Set It Up, Solve It, Graph It

In this part . . .

A major goal of pre-calculus is to bring the big ideas of algebra to the surface and sharpen the skills most needed for calculus. This part pulls together and expands on those algebra concepts. Perhaps most importantly, it identifies the most common mistakes students make in algebra so you can conquer those before moving on to higher-level concepts.

The chapters in Part I move through a review of working with real numbers, including the ever-elusive radicals. From there, we review functions — from how to graph them by transforming their parent graphs to how to perform operations on them. Then we move on to polynomials and review how to solve polynomials using common techniques, including factoring, completing the square, and the quadratic formula. We also explain how to graph complex polynomial and rational functions. Lastly, we show you how to deal with exponential and logarithmic functions.