What math should you know before you start

your undergraduate studies at BME?

Review for prospective students

Equations, systems of equations, inequalities,

sequences, word problems

Equations and inequalities that are linear or can be transformed to linear

You should know how to solve linear equations and inequalities both numerically and
graphically.
Sample problems:
1
For what values of x  is it true that 1  0?
x

2x  2
For what values of x  does the inequality  1 hold?
x 1

Equations and inequalities that are quadratic or can be transformed to quadratic

You should know the following:

Quadratic equation ax2  bx  c  0, (a  0)

Discriminant D  b2  4ac

b  b2  4ac
Solution formula x1,2 
2a

Binomial factor form a( x  x1 )( x  x2 )  0

Vieta’s formulas (relationship between roots and b c

x1  x2   , x1  x2 
coefficients) a a
The above formulas can be used to factor quadratic polynomials and to determine their
roots. Furthermore, you should know how to complete the square in a quadratic.
Sample problems:
What is the product of the roots of the quadratic equation 2 x2  8x  5  0 ?

What is the minimum of p( x)  4 x2  4 x  3 ?

By appropriately changing the variables, the above formulas are applicable to equations
that can be transformed to quadratic.
Some examples:

Solve the equation 102 x  4 10x  21 . (The appropriate choice: y  10 x )

4
For what values of x  will the inequality x   0 hold?
x

Exponential and logarithmic equations and inequalities

To solve such problems, you should know the definition of logarithms and exponentials,
as well as the identities shown in the Algebra summary. Here are some sample problems.
Solve the following equations/inequalities:

102 x  4 10 x  21

log 4 (log3 (log 2 x))  0

log10 ( x2  1)  1

log5 (2  3x)  0

Equations and inequalities containing absolute values and roots

To solve such problems, you should know the definition of absolute value (see Algebra
summary. It is also very important that the function x takes only positive arguments,
and furthermore that x 2  x . (So for negative values of x, x 2  x , but x 2   x in-
stead.) Here are two sample problems.
Solve the following inequalities:
5 x  2  0

2  1 x  0

Trigonometric equations
Here are some simple equations, the likes of which you should be able to solve.
Solve the following equations considering the constraints given for x.
cos x  0 for x 

for x  0, 2 
x 1
sin 
2 2

sin 2 x  cos2 x  1 for x 

Linear systems of equations with two or three unknowns

Sample problems:
x  y  z  11
Solve the following system of
x  y  z  5
equations:
x 9 z  9
For what values of parameter m
will the solutions of the following 3x  y  0
system of equations fulfill mx  y  1
x  y  5?

Arithmetic and geometric sequences

You should know the basic concepts and properties (increasing, decreasing, bounded) of
sequences. You should know the formula for the n th term as well as the formula for the
sum of the first n terms by heart. As a special case for arithmetic sequences, you also
should know the formula for the sum of the first n positive integers.

Arithmetic sequence

nth term an  a1  (n  1)d

an1  an1
an 
2
n
a a n(n  1)
The sum of the first n terms sn   ak  1 n n  a1  d
k 1 2 2
The sum of the first n positive n(n  1)
1  2  3  ...  n 
integers (a1  1, d  1) 2

Sample problems:

The eighth term in an arithmetic sequence is 10, the fifteenth is 3. What is the
sum of the first fifteen terms?

What is the sum of the first 30 positive integers?

Geometric sequence

nth term an  a1  q n1

an 2  an1  an1
 n
qn 1
The sum of the first n terms sn   ak  a1 , ha q  1
k 1 q 1

Sample problems:

The third term in a geometric sequence is 1 4 , the sixth term is 2. What is the
product of the fourth and fifth terms?

Geometric series
A geometric series is the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence. If the quo-
tient q of a geometric sequence fulfills q  1 , the infinite sum of its terms re-
mains finite.

a
a1  a1  q  a1  q 2  ...  a1  q k  1 if q  1
k 0 1 q

Word problems
Word problems are also on the menu.
Sample problems:
The perimeter of a rectangle is 68 cm, its diameter is 26 cm long. What is its area
in cm2?

Optical filters are placed one behind the other. The first filter absorbs 30%, the
second absorbs 50% and the third absorbs 20% of the energy of incoming light.
What is the total percentage of energy absorbed by the three filters?