Nociones Preliminares

Addition and Subtraction

Distributive Property

a(b+c)=ab+aca(b + c) = ab + ac

Multiplication

Sign Rules

(+)(+)=(+)(+)\cdot(+) = (+)

()(+)=()(-)\cdot(+) = (-)

(+)()=()(+)\cdot(-) = (-)

()()=(+)(-)\cdot(-) = (+)

Associative Property

a(bc)=(ab)ca \cdot (b \cdot c) = (a \cdot b) \cdot c

title: Exponent Properties  
$$a^{m} \cdot a^{n} = a^{m+n}$$  
$$(a \cdot b)^{n} = a^{n} \cdot b^{n}$$  
$$(a^m)^n = a^{m \cdot n}$$  
$$(a^{\alpha} \cdot b^{\beta})^n = a^{\alpha n} \cdot b^{\beta n}$$  

Notable Identities

(a±b)2=a2±2ab+b2(a \pm b)^2 = a^2 \pm 2ab + b^2

(a+b)(ab)=a2b2(a+b)(a-b) = a^2 - b^2

(x+a)(x+b)=x2+(a+b)x+ab(x+a)(x+b) = x^2 + (a+b)x + ab

Division

Sign Rules

(+)(+)=(+)\frac{(+)}{(+)} = (+)

()(+)=()\frac{(-)}{(+)} = (-)

(+)()=()\frac{(+)}{(-)} = (-)

()()=(+)\frac{(-)}{(-)} = (+)

title: Exponent Properties  
$$\frac{a^{m}}{a^{n}} = a^{m-n} \quad (a \neq 0)$$  
$$\left( \frac{a}{b} \right)^n = \frac{a^n}{b^n} \quad (b \neq 0)$$  
$$\left( \frac{a^\alpha}{b^\beta} \right)^n = \frac{a^{\alpha n}}{b^{\beta n}} \quad (b \neq 0)$$  

Fundamental Theorems

Reciprocals (Negative Exponents)

an=1ana0a^{-n} = \frac{1}{a^n} \quad \text{; } a \neq 0

0n0^{-n} is undefined for n>0n > 0.

Distributive Property over Division

a+bc=ac+bc(c0)\frac{a + b}{c} = \frac{a}{c} + \frac{b}{c} \quad (c \neq 0)

title: Operations with Fractions  
**Condition:** $y, z, w, k \neq 0$  
$$\frac{x}{y} = x \left( \frac{1}{y} \right)$$  
$$\left( \frac{x}{y} \right) \left( \frac{w}{k} \right) = \frac{xw}{yk}$$  
$$\frac{xy}{wx} = \frac{y}{w}$$  
$$\frac{x}{y} + \frac{z}{y} = \frac{x + z}{y}$$  
$$\frac{x}{y} + \frac{w}{z} = \frac{xz + yw}{yz}$$  
$$\frac{x}{y} \div \frac{w}{z} = \frac{xz}{yw}$$  
$$x + \frac{y}{w} = \frac{xw + y}{w}$$  

Important Notes

title: Key Restriction  
Division by zero is **undefined**. All denominators must be $\neq 0$.  

Useful Equivalences

ab=ab=ab-\frac{a}{b} = \frac{-a}{b} = \frac{a}{-b}

a+bc+xy=a+bcy+xy=a+bycy+x(cy+x0)a+\frac{b}{c+\dfrac{x}{y}}=a+\frac{b}{\dfrac{cy+x}{y}}=a+\frac{by}{cy+x} \quad (cy + x \neq 0)

Mathematical Symbols

Concept Symbol Concept Symbol Concept Symbol
plus + greater than >> there exists at least one \exists
minus - less than << there exists exactly one !\exists!
multiplication \cdot greater than or equal to \geq does not exist \nexists
division ÷\div less than or equal to \leq therefore \rightarrow
equal = belongs to \in if and only if \leftrightarrow
not equal \neq does not belong to \notin negation \sim
identical \equiv subset or equal \subseteq conjunction “and” \land
not identical ≢\not\equiv proper subset \subset disjunction “or” \lor
approximately \approx not a subset ⊄\not\subset set of natural numbers N\mathbb{N}
infinity \infty empty set \varnothing set of integers Z\mathbb{Z}
positive infinity ++\infty open interval (a,b)(a,b) (a,b)(a,b) set of rational numbers Q\mathbb{Q}
negative infinity -\infty closed interval [a,b][a,b] [a,b][a,b] set of irrational numbers I\mathbb{I}
union \cup half-open interval [a,b)[a,b) [a,b)[a,b) set of real numbers R\mathbb{R}
intersection \cap real number line (,)(-\infty, \infty) set of complex numbers C\mathbb{C}
therefore \therefore summation \sum factorial n!n!
because \because product \prod absolute value of xx x\lvert x \rvert
parallel \parallel square root \sqrt{} floor function (greatest integer ≤ xx) x\lfloor x \rfloor
not parallel \nparallel power aba^b percent %\%
such that \mid for all \forall multiple of xx x˙\dot{x}