BASIC IDENTITIES IN ALGEBRA

Distributive Law

a(b + c) = ab + ac

Commutative Law

a+b=b+a

Associative Law

(a + b) + c = a + (b + c)

Difference of Squares

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

Sum of Cubes

a^3 + b^3 = (a + b)(a^2 - ab + b^2)

Difference of Cubes

a^3 - b^3 = (a - b)(a^2 + ab + b^2)

POLYNOMIALS

Quadratic Roots

If a quadratic equation is written as:

ax^2 + bx + c = 0

then its roots x are given by:

-b ± SQRT(b2 - 4ac)
x = --------------------------
2a

SURFACE AREA IN GEOMETRY

Surface Area of a Cube

SA = 6x^2

where: SA is the surface area and x is the side of the cube

Surface Area of a Cuboid

SA = 2(xy+yz+zx)

where: x, y and z are the adjacent three sides of the cuboid

Surface Area of a Sphere

SA = 4 pi r^2

where: r is the radius of the sphere and pi = 3.14

Surface Area of a Cone

SA = pi x r x L

where: r is the radius of the cone and L is the slant height of the cone and pi =3.14

Total Surface Area of a Cone (including the area of the base)

SA = (pi x r x L) + pi x r^2

where: r is the radius of the cone and L is the slant height of the cone and pi =3.14

PROPERTIES OF TRIANGLES

Pythagorus Theorem

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Where:
c is the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle and a and b are two sides containg the right
angle.

Cosine Law

c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab (Cos C)

This formula is applicable to any tirangle. Here a, b and c are the three sides of the triangle
and A, B and C are the angle opposite to these sides respectively

similarly

a^2 = b^2 + c^2 - 2bc (Cos A)

and

b^2 = c^2 + a^2 - 2ca (Cos B)

Note: This is a general law and if you make any of the angles equal to 90 degrees it gives
the Pythagorus Theorom as Cos of 90 degrees = 0

Sine Law

(Sin A)/a = (Sin B)/b = (Sin C)/c

This formula is applicable to any tirangle. Here a, b and c are the three sides of the triangle
and A, B and C are the angle opposite to these sides respectively

Mean,Median,Mode and Range

Mean
To find the mean of a group of numbers we find their average

example: A group of numbers 1,3,8,6,8

mean = (1+3+6+8+8)/5 = 4.8

Median
To find the median of a group of numbers we arrange the numbers in increasing order and
look for the number in the middle.

example: A group of numbers 1,3,8,6,8

re-arrange: 1,3,6,8,8

6 being in the middle is the median.

Mode
To find the mode we look for the number which appears for the most number of times in a
group of numbers.

example: A group of numbers 1,3,8,6,8

8 is the number which appears twice, which is more than the other numbers in the list
hence it is the mode.

Range
To find the range we find the difference between the largest number and the smallest
number in the group.

example: A group of numbers 1,3,8,6,8

8 is the largest and 1 the smallest number

hence range is 8 - 1 = 7