Dr. Abd-Allah Nassr, Dr. Abdelmonem Hamdan, Dr.Mohamed Shehata and Mr. Hisam Eltaweel.

General Mathematics (101 Math)

R-1 Algebra and Real Numbers "The set of real numbers"

1. Natural numbers: N  1, 2,3, 4,5,.................
(a ) Even numbers: E={2,4,6,............}={x : x  2n, n  N }
(b) Odd numbers: O  {1, 3, 5,...........}  {x : x  2n  1, n  N }
2. Integers: Z  {............., 3, 2, 1,0,1, 2,3,...............}
*Positive Integers: Z   {1, 2,3, 4,...............}
* Negative Integers: Z  {1, 2, 3,...........}
Z  Z   {0}  Z 
p
3. Rational numbers: Q  {x : x  , p, q  Z and q  0}
q
Examples:  3 , 0 , 1 .2 ,
 3 1
, ,  2 .2 2 2
7 3

4. Irrational numbers: I  {x : x  Q} . Examples: 2,  , 3 5,....

5. Real numbers: Rational numbers and Irrational numbers. R  Q  I
We show that: N  Z  Q  R .
Any element x belong to set R it written as x  R , and any element x not
belong to set R it written as x  R . The empty set denoted by   { } and it is
subset from any set.
Example: Indicate the symbol , ,  and  :
(1) 2......{1,2,3,5} (2) {4}......{2,4,6}
(3) {6}......{1,3,5} (4) 2......{1,3,5}
(5) E  O......N (6) O  E......N
(7) {2,4,6}  {1,3,5}......N (8) ......{1,3,5}
Solution: in the lecture.

Addition and Multiplication of Real Numbers:

DEFINITION 1: Addition and Multiplication of Rationals

a c
For rational numbers and , where a, b, c, and d are integers and b  0, d  0 :
b d
a c a.d  b.c 2 4 2  5  3  4 10  12 22
1- Addition:   ;    
b d bd 3 5 35 15 15
a c a.c
2- Multiplication: .  ; 2 4
 
24

8
b d b.d 3 5 35 15

101 math. Page 1

 Dr. Abd-Allah Nassr, Dr. Abdelmonem Hamdan, Dr.Mohamed Shehata and Mr. Hisam Eltaweel. General Mathematics (101 Math)

(division by 0 excluded).
1- Addition and multiplication of rational numbers are commutative;

a c c a a c c a
   and    .
b d d b b d d b

2- Addition and multiplication of rational numbers is also associative;

 a c  e a  c e   a c  e c  a e 
       and       .
b d  f b  d f  b d  f d b f 

3- Furthermore, the operations of addition and multiplication are related in that multiplication distributes
over addition:
a  c e  a c a e
       L e ft d is trib u tiv e la w 
b  d f  b d b f

 c e  a a c a e
        R ig h t d is trib u tiv e l a w 
d f  b b d b f
4- The rational number 0 is an additive identity and the rational number 1 is a multiplicative identity.
5- Every rational number r has an additive inverse, denoted r ; the sum of a number and its additive
inverse is 0.
6- Every nonzero rational number r has a multiplicative inverse, denoted r  1 ; The product of a
number and its multiplicative inverse is 1.
EXAMPLE 1: Perform the indicated operations:
1 6 8 5 1 9 1
 17  
( A)  ( B)  (C )   ( D)  6  
3 5 3 4  9   2
SOLUTIONS: See textbook (page 4, 5).

BASIC PROPERTIES OF THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS:

Let R be the set of real numbers, and let x, y, and z be arbitrary elements of R

Property Addition Properties Multiplication Properties

1-Closure x  y is a unique element in R x y is a unique element in R

2- Commutative x y  yx x y  yx

3-Associative
 x  y  z  x   y  z  x  y  z  x  y  z
4- Identity 0 is the additive identity: x00 x  x 1 is the multiplicative identity: x 1  1  x  x
5- Inverse x R has an additive inverse x : 1
 x  R , x  0 has an multiplicative inverse x 1  :
x
x  ( x)  ( x)  x  0.
x  x1  x 1  x  1.
Combined Property x  ( y  z)  x  y  x  z (Left distrbutive law)
Distributive:
( x  y)  z  x  z  y  z (Right distrbutive law)

101 math. Page 2

Dr. Abd-Allah Nassr, Dr. Abdelmonem Hamdan, Dr.Mohamed Shehata and Mr. Hisam Eltaweel. General Mathematics (101 Math)

Example: Choose the correct answer:

4
(1) The additive inverse of is ……..
5
5 5 4 4
(a) (b)  (c) (d) 
4 4 5 5
4
(2) The multiplicative inverse of is ……..
5
5 5 4 4
(a) (b)  (c) (d) 
4 4 5 5
 3 
(3)    ........   0 .
 2 
2 3 3 2
(a) (b)  (c) (d) 
3 2 2 3
 3 
(4 )    ........   1.
 2 
2 3 3 2
(a) (b)  (c) (d) 
3 2 2 3
Solution: (In the lecture).
Notice that:
1- The sum of a number and its additive inverse is o.
2- The product of a number and its multiplicative inverse is 1.

Example 2: Which real number property justifies the indicated statement?

(A)  7 x  y  7  xy 
(B) a  b  c    b  c  a
(C)  2 x  3 y   5 y  2 x   3 y  5 y 
(D)  x  y  a  b    x  y  a   x  y  b
(D) If a  b  0, then b   a.
Solution: (see text book page 6).

Subtraction and Division of Real Numbers:

DEFINITION 2:  a, b  R ,
1- Subtraction: a  b  a  (b).

2- Division: a  b  a  b 1, b  0.
Notice that: “Division by o is never allowed”.
Discuss: Show that the subtraction and the division are not commutative and associative
(give examples).

101 math. Page 3

Dr. Abd-Allah Nassr, Dr. Abdelmonem Hamdan, Dr.Mohamed Shehata and Mr. Hisam Eltaweel. General Mathematics (101 Math)

THEOREM 1: “Properties of Negative”  a, b  R ,

(1)  (a)  a (2) (a)  b  (ab)  a  (b)  ab
(3) (a)(b)  ab (4) (1)a  a
a a a a a a a
(5)   ,b0 (6)    , b  0.
b b b b b b b

THEOREM 2: “Zero Properties”  a, b  R ,

(1) a  0  0  a  0
(2) a  b  0 iff a  0 or b  0 or both.

0 b 0
Notice that: If b  0, then  0  b 1  0. But and are undefined.
b 0 0
THEOREM 3 “Fraction Properties”
 a, b, c, d , k  R, (division by o excluded)
a c k a a
(1)  iff a  d  b  c (2) 
b d k b b
a c a c a c a d
(3)   (4)   
b d bd b d b c
a c ac a c ad  bc
(5)   (6)  
b b b b d bd
Examples on Theorem 3: (In the lecture).

Example 3: (see text book page 8).

101 math. Page 4

Dr. Abd-Allah Nassr, Dr. Abdelmonem Hamdan, Dr.Mohamed Shehata and Mr. Hisam Eltaweel. General Mathematics (101 Math)

1- Perform the indicated operations, if defined. If the result is not an integer, express it
a
in the form , where a and b are integers.
b

4 9  3  5 4  6
(a)  (b)        (c )   3  
9 4  5  3 7  2
(d )100  0 (e) 0  0 ( f ) 0   9  8
1 1
 1  (h)  (0  5)  20 3 5
( g ) 0  100   (i )   
 100  4 8

2- Indicate true (T) or false (F),

(1) a  b  b  a ( ) (2) a  b  b  a ( )

(3)a  b  b  a ( ) (4) a  b  b  a ( )

(5)  a  b   c  a   b  c  ( ) (6)  a  b   c  a   b  c  ( )

(7)  a  b   c  a   b  c  ( ) (8)  a  b   c  a   b  c  ( )

( )
(9)  31  3 .

101 math. Page 5