Core 1: Algebraic Skills Part 1

Key facts

· Every student must realise that mastering key algebraic skills is essential to success in Mathematics.

· Many of the later skills and topics require a solid understanding of the topics covered in this section.

· It is therefore advisable to study the following topics carefully and in detail and in the order presented.

· Practising the examination style questions will be of extreme benefit as the examinations approach

Contents

1) Collecting like terms

2) Expanding brackets

3) Factorising (easier)

4) Factorising (Harder)

5) Solving linear equations

6) Solving quadratic equations

In each section, there are two columns to the tables. Column one shows the algebra, column two shows the thought process and things to consider.

Collecting like terms

	Just one letter Combine the coefficients Work out the bracket
	Still just one letter Write down the correct sign Work out the bracket
	Two letters! Combine for x and y separately Work out both brackets
	Three letters (or more...) Look at each separately Work out all brackets
	Different looking terms Observe the same process All you have to do is add or subtract Then work it all out. Easy!

Expanding brackets

	The 5 means multiply both terms in the bracket by 5
	Multiply both terms by 7 Remember that 7 multiplied by -2 is -14
	Multiply both terms by 8