APPENDIX B

Mathematics Review

ALGEBRA
Exponents

Quadratic Equation
The roots of the quadratic equation
ax2 + bx + c = 0
are given by
-b ± Vb 2 - 4ac
x = 20

If bZ < 4ac, the roots are not real.

Straight Line
The equation of a straight line is
y=mx+b
where b is the intercept on the y axis and m is the slope given by
yz - Yl
m=

Simultaneous Equations
Suppose we are asked to obtain the solution of the following two equations:
3x + 4y = 2 (i)
5x - 2y = 12 (ii)
In one approach, we first solve for x in (i),
2 - 4y
x =-3-

and substitute this into (ii):

5(2 - 4y) _ 2y = 12
3
Thus y = -1. Using this in either (i) or (ii) yields x = 2.
In the second approach, we eliminate one variable as follows. Multiply (ii) by
2 and add it to (i). This yields 13x = 26, which means x = 2 as before.
A4 APPENDIX B MATHEMATICS REVIEW

Logarithms
If
x = aY
then
y = loga x
The quantity y is the logarithm of x to the base a. In common logarithms
a = 10 and is written as 10glOx or simply log x. In natural logarithms a = e =
2.71828 . . . , and is written logex or In x. (Note that In e = 1.)
log (AB) = log A + log B; 10g(A/B) = log A - log B

10g(A") = n log A

GEOMETRY
!
Triangle: Area = base x height, A = ! bh
-+-----+---,----t--% Circle: Circumference: C = 27T r
Area: A = 7T y2
Sphere: Surface area: A = 47T y2
4
Volume: V = 3" 7Tr3
FIGURE A.
The equation of a circle of radius R whose center is at the origin is
(Circle)
The equation of the ellipse in Fig. A, is
x2 y2
(Ellipse) a2 + b 2 = 1

FIGURE B. where 2a is the length of the major axis and 2b is the length of the minor axis.

TRIGONOMETRY
Using the right-angled triangle in Fig. B, the definitions of the basic trigonometric
functions are
sin 0 = opposite = 1
csc 0 = ---:---0
hypotenuse c' sm
cos 0 = adjacent =!!.. sec 0 =
1
--0
hypotenuse c' cos
tan 0 = = 1
adjacent b' cot 0 = tan 0

According to the Pythagorean theorem c2 = a2 + b 2, thus cos 20 + sin 20 = 1.

Using Fig. C, we can state the following two relationships:
FIGURE C.
Law of cosines CZ = A2 + B2 - 2 AB cos 'Y
sin a sin {3 sin 'Y
Law of sines
ABC
 APPENDIX B MATHEMATICS REVIEW AS

Some Trigonometric Identities

sin20 + cos 20 = 1 sec 20 = 1 + tan20
sin 20 = 2 sin 0 cos 0 cos 20 = cos 20 - sin20
= 2 cos 20 - 1
= 1 - 2 sin20

2 tan 0 - cos 20
tan 20 = 1 - tan20; tan 0 = 1 + cos 20

sin (A ± B) = sin A cos B ± cos A sin B

cos (A ± B) = cos A cos B +: sin A sin B
. . . (A ± B) (A +: B)
sm A ± sm B = 2 sm 2 cos 2
(A + B) (A - B)
cos A + cos B = 2 cos 2 cos 2
. (A + B) . (B - A)
cos A - cos B = 2 sm 2 sm 2

sin A cos B = [sin(A - B) + sin(A + B)]

sin A sin B = [cos(A - B) - cos(A + B)]

1
cos A cos B = "2 [cos(A - B) + cos(A + B)]

SERIES EXPANSIONS
n n(n - 1) n 2 2
(a + b)n = an + -l! an-1b + 2!
a - b + . .. (Binomial)
n(n - 1)
(l + x)n = 1 + nx + 2! x2 + . .. (Binomial)

x2 x3
eX=l+x+-+-+·
2! 3!
x 2 x 3
In(l ± x) = ±x - "2 ± "3 - . .. Ixl < 1

. x3 x 5
sm x = x - - +- - .
3! 5!
x 2 xl
cos X = 1- - +- - . x in radians
2! 4!
x3 2x5
tan x =x +- +-
3 15
+ . .. Ixl < 1T/2