Algebra Definitions: Part 8

This is Math Made Easy's 8th instalment of important Algebra terms.





positive integers:  The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on.

positive number:  A number paired with a point on the positive side of a number line.

positive side:  On a horizontal number line, the side to the right of the origin.

power of a number:  The product when a number is multiplied by itself a given number of times; 4 x 4 x 4, or 43 , is the third power of 4.

prime factorization:  Expressing a positive integer as a product of primes.

prime number (prime): (185) An integer greater than 1 that has no positive integral factor other than itself and 1.

prime polynomial:  An irreducible polynomial with integral coefficiants whose greatest monomial factor is 1.

principal square root:  The positive square root of a positive number.

probability:  The branch of mathematics that deals with the possibility that an event will happen.

probability of an event:The ratio of the number of outcomes favoring the event to the total number of outcomes.

proof:  Logical reasoning that uses given facts, definitions, properties, and previously proved theorems to show that a theorem is true.

proportion:  An equation that states that two ratios are equal.

Pythagorean Theorem:  In any right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs. (The converse is also true.)

quadrant:  One of the four regions into which the coordinate axes separate the plane.

quadratic direct variation:  A function defined by an equation of the form y = kx2, where k is a nonzero constant.

quadratic equation: A polynomial equation whose term of highest degree is quadratic.

quadratic formula:  The solutions of a quadratic equation in the form ax2 + bx + c =0 and b2 � 4ac has to be greater than or equal to 0.

quadratic function:  A function defined by f(x) = ax2 + bx + c ( a cannot equal 0).

quadratic polynomial:  A trinomial whose term of greatest degree is quadratic.

quadratic term:  A term of degree two.

radical:  An expression in the form the square root of a.

radical equation:  An equation containing a radical with a variable in the radicand.

radical sign:  The symbol for square root.

radicand:  The symbol written beneath a radical sign.

random experiment:  An activity whose outcome cannot be predicted when the activity is repeated under essentially the same conditions.

range of a frequency distribution:  The difference between the highest and lowest values.

rate: A ratio that compares the amounts of two different kinds of measurements, for example, meters per second.

ratio:  The ratio of one number to another is the quotient when the first number is divided by the second number (not zero).

rational expression:  An expression for a rational number.

rational number: A real number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.

rationalizing the denominator:  The process of eliminating a radical from the denominator of a fraction.

ray:  The part of a line that consists of a point A and all points of the line on one side of A.

real number:  Any number that is either positive, negative, or zero.

reciprocals:  Two numbers whose product is 1; also called multiplicative inverses.

relation:  Any set of ordered pairs. The set of first coordinates of the ordered pairs is the domain of the relation; the set of second coordinates is the range.


right angle:  An angle with measure 90 degrees.

right triangle:  A triangle having one right angle.


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