Variable

A letter that represents a number.

4x

x is the variable.

Product

The solution to a multipulcation problem.

Quotient

The answer to a division problem.

Dividend

The number to be divided.

Ex: 6 divided by 3

6 is the dividend.

Divisor

The number being used to divide another number.

Ex: 6 divided by 3

3 is the divisor

Factor

Facor a number by writing it as two or more numbers to be multiplied. 21 can be factored as 7x3.

Prime Number

A natural number greater than 1 that has only itself and 1 as its factors.

In other words, it can't be divided by anything other than 1 and still get an answer of a whole number.

(Ex: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19...)

Composite Number

A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number.

Prime Factorization

To express a composite number as the product of prime numbers.

Ex. 45 = 3 x 3 x 5

45 is a composite number. 3 and 5 are prime numbers.

Reciprocal

A reciprocal is a flipped fraction. 1/10 and 10/1 are reciprocals of each other.

Natural numbers

Numbers used for counting. 1, 2, 3, ....

Whole Numbers

0 and natural numbers (counting numbers)

0, 1, 2, 3,...

Integers

Negatives and whole numbers

..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2,...

Rational Numbers

All numbers that can be expressed a/b with b not equal to 0. These can also be expressed as terminating or repeating decimals.

(a/b is intended to be written like a fraction but I don't know how to do that on the computer.)

Irrational Numbers

Numbers whose decimal representations are neither terminating nor repeating, such as pi or the square root of 2.

Absolute Value

The distance from 0 on a number line, written as a number with | | around it. This is always a positive number.

|-5| = 5

Additive Inverses

Numbers that differs only in sign, such as 3 and -3.

Also known as opposites

Terms

The terms of an algebraic expression are those separated by addition.

7x + 3

The terms are 7x and 3.

Coefficient

The numerical part of a term.

7x

7 is the coefficient.

Constant Term

The part of the term that is just a number.

7x + 3

Three is the constant term.

Factors of the Term

The parts of each term that are multiplied.

7x

The factors are 7 and x.

Communicative Properties

Addition and multiplication of two real numbers can be done in any order.

a + b = b + a

ab = ba

Associative Properties

The way in which three numbers are grouped does not change their sum or product.

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

(ab)c = a(bc)

Distributive Property

Multiplication distributes over addition.

a(b + c) = ab + ac

Inconsistant Equation

An equation with no solution.

x = x + 4

(There is no number that is equal to itself plus 4.)

Identity

An equation that is true for all real numbers.

x + 3 = x + 2 + 1