Elementary Algebra, 5th Edition

Alan S. Tussy, R. David Gustafson

Copyright 2013
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Elementary Algebra 5th Edition by Alan S. Tussy/R. David Gustafson

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
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Overview

The main focus of ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA, 5e, is to address the fundamental needs of today's developmental math students. Offering a uniquely modern, balanced program, ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA, 5e, integrates conceptual understanding with traditional skill and practice reinforced through visual and interactive practice in Enhanced WebAssign, available exclusively from Cengage Learning. By helping students understand the language of algebra and the "why" behind problem solving through instructional approaches and worked examples, they are better equipped to succeed at the "how." Practice is essential in making these connections and it is emphasized in ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA, 5e, with additional practice problems both in the text and Enhanced WebAssign. Give your students confidence by showing them how Algebra is not just about the x…it's also about the WHY.

Meet the Authors

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Alan S. Tussy

Alan Tussy received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Redlands and a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from California State University, Los Angeles. He has taught across a variety of course and curriculum areas from pre-algebra to differential equations at Arcadia High School and Citrus Community College in Glendora, CA. He has authored best-selling paperback and hardcover developmental mathematic series now in their 6th editions published by Cengage. An extraordinary author, he is dedicated to his students' success and is a relentlessly meticulous and creative visionary who maintains a keen focus on the greatest challenges students of today face in mathematics. He is a well-received conference speaker and has recently focused on mentoring and counseling the next generation of mathematics instructors.

R. David Gustafson

R. David Gustafson is professor emeritus of mathematics at Rock Valley College in Illinois and has also taught extensively at Rockford College and Beloit College. In addition to this best-selling college algebra resource with Jeffrey Hughes, he has co-authored Gustafson/Karr/Massey's BEGINNING ALGEBRA; INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA; BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA; BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA: A COMBINED APPROACH; and the Tussy/Gustafson and Tussy/Gustafson/Koenig Developmental Mathematics series. His numerous professional honors include Rock Valley Teacher of the Year and Rockford's Outstanding Educator of the Year. He has been very active in the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) as a Midwest vice president. He has also served as president of IMACC, AMATYC's Illinois affiliate. Professor Gustafson earned a master of arts from Rockford College in Illinois as well as a master of science from Northern Illinois University.

What's New

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DIGITAL CONTENT UPDATE 2020: Instructors and students benefit from WebAssign content updates without having to transition to a new edition, including new problem types such as Concept Checks, Learn Its, College Success Modules, an increased number of problems and more.
New! "Are You Ready?" problems start each section to review crucial prerequisite skills that students need to have mastered in order to be successful with the new topics of that section. "Are You Ready?" questions also are available in Enhanced WebAssign providing you with the opportunity to assign short quizzes to test your students' knowledge before class.
New! "Look Alikes" feature builds students' problem recognition skills. This feature requires students to distinguish between similar looking problem types and then select the correct strategy to solve the problem. Encountering such situations in the homework assignments will better prepare students for quizzes and tests. A broad selection of "Look Alikes" problems are available in Enhanced WebAssign for you to assign.
Over 80% more "Try It Yourself" problems were added to the Fifth Edition based on instructors and reviewers requests for additional problem recognition practice. These problem types are thoroughly mixed, giving students an opportunity to practice decision making and strategy selection as they would when taking a test or quiz. Easily assign a variety of "Try It Yourself" problems through Enhanced WebAssign to offer your students strategy selection practice.
Six-Step Problem Solving Strategy. To better delineate the thought process students use as they solve application problems, the new edition includes a new second step (Assign a variable to represent an unknown value in the problem) in what was formerly a five-step process. The six steps of the problem solving strategy are: Analyze the problem, Assign a variable, Form an equation, Solve the equation, State the conclusion, and Check the result.
New to this edition, from the comprehensive Study Sets in each section all the Vocabulary problems, a wide selection of Try It Yourself and Guided Practice problems, and at least one Challenge Problem per section are available on Enhanced WebAssign.

Features

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Worked examples with Strategy and Why explanation help students gain a deeper understanding of the algebraic concepts because they understand why a particular approach was taken. Detailed author notes throughout the worked example guide students along a step-by-step process. At the end of each worked example, a "Self Check" problem offers immediate practice and feedback on the students' understanding and "Now Try" links to similar problems in the Guided Practice section of the Study Sets.
Study Sets found in each section are designed for students to methodically build their knowledge of the section concepts, from basic recall to increasingly complex problem solving, through reading, writing, and thinking mathematically. Each Study Set includes the following exercises: Vocabulary, Concepts, Notation, Guided Practice, Try It Yourself, Applications, Writing, Review, and Challenge Problems. All the Vocabulary problems, a wide selection of Try It Yourself and Guided Practice problems, and at least one Challenge Problem per section are available on Enhanced WebAssign.
Reading the Language of Algebra. Students often have difficulty reading the mathematical notation of algebra. To provide students assistance, notes, such as "Read as ..." statements, appear throughout the text to explain how to read newly introduced notation.
The Language of Algebra boxes draw connections between mathematical terms and everyday references to reinforce the language of algebra thread that runs throughout the text.
Cumulative Reviews follow the end-of-chapter material and test students' skills before moving on to the next chapter. Each problem is linked to the associated section for easy reference.
Using Your Calculator is an optional feature designed for instructors who wish to use calculators as part of the instruction in this course. This feature introduces keystrokes and shows how scientific and graphing calculators can be used to solve problems.
Valuable Teaching Tools. Teaching Tips have been placed at strategic places in the margins to offer instructional suggestions that can be employed during classroom presentations. In addition, each worked example has an accompanying Teaching Example that instructors can use as part of a classroom lecture.

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1. AN INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA.
Introducing the Language of Algebra. Fractions. The Real Numbers. Adding Real Numbers; Properties of Addition. Subtracting Real Numbers. Multiplying and Dividing Real Numbers; Multiplication and Division Properties. Exponents and Order of Operations. Algebraic Expressions. Simplifying Algebraic Expressions Using Properties of Real Numbers. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project.
2. EQUATIONS, INEQUALITIES, AND PROBLEM SOLVING.
Solving Equations Using Properties of Equality. More about Solving Equations. Applications of Percent. Formulas. Problem Solving. More about Problem Solving. Solving Inequalities. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project.
3. GRAPHING LINEAR EQUATIONS AND INEQUALITIES IN TWO VARIABLES; FUNCTIONS.
Graphing Using the Rectangular Coordinate System. Graphing Linear Equations. Intercepts. Slope and Rate of Change. Slope-Intercept Form. Point-Slope Form. Graphing Linear Inequalities. An Introduction to Functions. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
4. SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS AND INEQUALITIES.
Solving Systems of Equations by Graphing. Solving Systems of Equations by Substitution. Solving Systems of Equations by Elimination (Addition). Problem Solving Using Systems of Equations. Solving Systems of Linear Inequalities. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
5. EXPONENTS AND POLYNOMIALS.
Rules for Exponents. Zero and Negative Exponents. Scientific Notation. Polynomials. Adding and Subtracting Polynomials. Multiplying Polynomials. Special Products. Dividing Polynomials. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
6. FACTORING AND QUADRATIC EQUATIONS.
The Greatest Common Factor; Factoring by Grouping. Factoring Trinomials of the Form x2 + bx + c. Factoring Trinomials of the Form ax2 + bx + c . Factoring Perfect-Square Trinomials and the Difference of Two Squares. Factoring the Sum and Difference of Two Cubes. A Factoring Strategy. Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring. Applications of Quadratic Equations. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
7. RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS AND EQUATIONS.
Simplifying Rational Expressions. Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions. Adding and Subtracting with Like Denominators; Least Common Denominators. Adding and Subtracting with Unlike Denominators. Simplifying Complex Fractions. Solving Rational Equations. Problem Solving Using Rational Equations. Proportions and Similar Triangles. Variation. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
8. RADICAL EXPRESSIONS AND EQUATIONS.
An Introduction to Square Roots. Simplifying Square Roots. Adding and Subtracting Radical Expressions. Multiplying and Dividing Radical Expressions. Solving Radical Equations. Higher-Order Roots and Rational Exponents. Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
9. QUADRATIC EQUATIONS.
Solving Quadratic Equations: The Square Root Property. Solving Quadratic Equations: Completing the Square. Solving Quadratic Equations: The Quadratic Formula. Complex Numbers (Available online at www.cengage.com/math/tussy). Graphing Quadratic Equations (Available online at www.cengage.com/math/tussy). Chapter Summary and Review. Chapter Test. Group Project. Cumulative Review.
Appendix 1: Statistics.
Appendix 2: Roots and Powers.
Appendix 3: Answers to Selected Exercises.
Index.