Math SL

Topic 1: Algebra
● 1.1 Arithmetic sequences and series; sum of finite arithmetic series; geometric sequences and series;
sum of finite and infinite geometric series. Sigma notation. Applications.
● 1.2 Elementary treatment of exponents and logarithms. Laws of exponents; laws of logarithms.
Change of base.
● 1.3 The binomial theorem: expansion of (a + b)^n. Calculation of binomial coefficients using Pascal’s
triangle and nCr.

Arithmetic Sequence
- Sequence where difference between consecutive terms is constant
- Common difference = difference between successive terms (d = t​n​-t​n-1​)
- General term = expression to find any term in a sequence
- t​n​= t​1​ + (n-1)d \\ ​(where t​n​ is n​th​ term)
- Ex. given sequence: 12,19,26 find the 6th term (ans = 47)

Arithmetic Series
- Sum of terms that form an arithmetic sequence
- Sn = 2n [2t​1​+ (n-1)d]​ ​OR S
​ n = 2n (t​1​+t​n​) \\ ​(where Sn is the sum of n terms)
- Ex. for sequence ..... find the sum

Geometric Sequences
- Successive terms are formed by multiplying a constant common ratio (r)
tn
- r = tn−1
- t​n​ = t​1 r​​ n-1

Geometric Series
- Expression for the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence
n −1
- Sn = t​1 rr−1 ​ ​ r can’t be 1
r tn − t1
- Sn = r−1

Infinite Geometric Series

- Convergent series​ = series with infinite number of terms in which the sequence of partial sums
approaches a fixed values (-1 < r < 1)
- Divergent series ​= series with an infinite number of terms in which the sequence does not approach a
fixed value (r ≥ 1, r ≤ -1)
t1
- S∞= 1−r (*can only be convergent!)
Sigma Notation

Ex.

Exponents
- A ​negative ​base raised to an ​odd​ exponent is ​negative ​(Ex. -1​1 ​= -1)
- A ​negative​ base raised to an ​even​ exponent is ​positive ​(Ex. -1​2​ = 1)

Law of Exponents
n
- a​m​ x a​n​ = a​m+n - ( ba )​n​ = ban (b can’t equal 0)
am m-n​
- a​0​ = 1, (a can’t equal 0)
- an = a​ (a can’t equal 0)
- (a​m​)​n​ = a​m*n - a​-n​ = a1n
m n
- (ab)​n​ = a​n​b​n - a n = √am

Algebraic Expansion and Factorisation

- a(b+c) = ab+ac
- (a+b)(a-b) = a​2​ - b​2
- (a - b)​2​ = a​2​ - 2ab + b​2
- (a + b)​2​ = a​2​ + 2ab + b​2

Exponential Functions
- Exponential function usually has the form ​y = a • b​x-c​ + d, ​where b>0, b can’t equal 1, a can’t equal 0
- b ​controls steepness of graph
- c​ controls horizontal translation
- d​ controls vertical translation * ​ALSO the HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTE
- *​growth and decay questions are common

Logarithms
- Logarithms are the ​inverse​ of exponential functions:
- f(x) = 10​x​ then ​f-1​
​ (x) = log​10​x
x​
- log 10​ = x

Logarithms in Base a
- If f(x) = a​x​ then ​f-1​
​ (x) = log​10​x
- If y=a​ then x=log​a​y, and so ​x=log​a​a​x
x​
Laws of Logarithms
- *only if A and B are ​both​ ​positive ​and are in the ​same base
- log A + log B = log (AB)
- log A - log B = log ( BA )
- nlogA = log (A​n​)
- log 1 = 0

Natural Logarithms
- Given f(x)=e​x​, then inverse function ​f​-1​=log​e​x​ is in ​base e
- Use ​ln x​ to represent y=e​x ​(​natural logarithm)
- ln e​x​ = x ​AND ​elnx​
​ =x
x​ xlna​
- a​ = e​ where ​ a>0

Laws of Natural Logarithms

- ln A + ln B = ln (AB)
- ln A - ln B = ln ( BA )
- nlnA = ln(A​n​)
- ln 1 = 0

Exponential Equations Using Logarithms

- Can use logs to solve eponential equations:
- Ex. solve for x, 2​x​=30
- log 2​x ​= log 30
- xlog 2 = log 30
log 30
- x = log 2

The Change of Base Rule

logc a
- log​b​a = logc b ​where a,b,c > 0 and b,c can’t be 1

The Binomial Theorem

- Used to expand functions like (x+y)​n

Using nCr (also looks like ​( nr )​:

- (x+y)​n​ = nC​0​ (x)​n​(y)​0​ + nC​1​(x)​n-1​(y)​1​.... + nC​n​ (x)​0​(y)​n

Using Pascal’s Triangle

1 1 =Row 1
​
1 2 1 =Row 2 - Row 2 = a​2 + 2ab + b​2
1 3 3 1 =Row 3 - Row 3 = a​ + 3a​2​b​1​ + 3a​1​b​2​ + b​3
3​

1 4 6 4 1 =Row 4 - Row 4 = a​4​ + 4a​3​b​1​ + 6a​2​b​2​ + 4a​1​b​3​ + b​4

- General Term: ​T​r+1​ = ​( nr ) ​an-1​

​ b​r
The Binomial Coefficient
- ( nr ) or (nCr)
- ( nr ) = n!
r! (n−r)!

*note the ​constant​ ​term​ = when x​0

Topic 2: Functions and Equations

● 2.1 Concept of function. Domain, range; image (value). Composite functions. Identity function.
Inverse function.
● 2.2 The graph of a function; its equation y = f(x). Function graphing skills. Investigation of key features
of graphs, such as maximum and minimum values, intercepts, horizontal and vertical asymptotes,
symmetry, and consideration of domain and range. Use of technology to graph a variety of functions,
including ones not specifically mentioned. The graph of the inverse function as the reflection in the line
y = x of the graph of y=f(x).
● 2.3 Transformations of graphs. Translations. Reflections (in both axes). Vertical stretch with scale
factor p. Stretch in the x-direction with scale factor 1/q. Composite transformations.
● 2.4 The quadratic function: its graph, y-intercept, x-intercept(s). Axis of symmetry. Factored form.
Vertex form.
● 2.5 The reciprocal function: its graph and self-inverse nature. The rational function and its graph.
Vertical and horizontal asymptotes.
● 2.6 Exponential functions and their graphs. Logarithmic functions and their graphs. Relationships
between these functions.
● 2.7 Solving equations, both graphically and analytically. Use of technology to solve a variety of
equations, including those where there is no appropriate analytic approach. The quadratic formula.
The discriminant and the nature of the roots, that is, two distinct real roots, two equal real roots, no
real roots. Solving exponential equations.
● 2.8 Applications of graphing skills and solving equations that relate to real-life situations.

Functions
- Domain - X
- Range - Y
- Inverse function f −1 . When the function goes from the domain to the range.
- Ex: the inverse of Y = X − 1 is Y = X + 1

Graph of a function
- Y = f (x)
- Asymptote​ = a value that you can get really close to, but never be reached.
- Discriminant = ​In a quadratic equation, the discriminant is​ b2 − 4ac . ​In a quadratic equation, the
discriminant tells you how many possible solutions there are.
- 0 < b2 − 4ac , 2 distinct zeros
- 0 = b2 − 4ac , 1 zero
- 0 > b2 − 4ac , 2 zeros that are complex conjugates
Transformations
- Reflexion​ of f (x) is − f (x)
- Translation​ of f (x) b units up is f (x) + b
- Translation​ of f (x) a units to the left f (x + a) , a units to the right f (x − a)
1
- Vertical stretch ​of f (x) by a factor of 2 is 21 f (x)
1
- Horizontal stretch​ of f (x) by a factor of 2 is f (2x)

Intercepts and Vertex form

- X-Intercepts of (x − p)(x − q ) are (p, 0) (q, 0)
- Vertex form is f (x) = a(x − h)2 + k
- Vertex is (h, k )

Other stuff
1
- Ex: reciprocal of f (x) is f (x) , x =
/0
ax+b
- Rational function f (x) = cx+d is called a​ hyperbola
- X intercept is at −b a
- Y intercept is at db
- Vertical asymptote is x = ba
a
- Horizontal asymptote is y = b

Topic 3: Circular functions and trigonometry

● 3.1 The circle: radian measure of angles; length of an arc; area of a sector.
● 3.2 Definition of cosθ and sinθ in terms of the unit circle. Definition of tanθ as (sinθ/cosθ). Exact
values of trigonometric ratios.
● 3.3 The Pythagorean identity. Double angle identities for sine and cosine. Relationship between
trigonometric ratios.
● 3.4 The circular functions sin x , cos x and tan x : their domains and ranges; amplitude, their periodic
nature; and their graphs. Composite functions of the form f(x)=a sin(b(x+c))+d. Transformations.
Applications.
● 3.5 Solving trigonometric equations in a finite interval, both graphically and analytically. Equations
leading to quadratic equations in sinx , cosx or tanx.
● 3.6 Solution of triangles. The cosine rule. The sine rule, including the ambiguous case. Area of a
triangle.
The Circle
- Radian measures of angles:
- π radians = 180 °
- Ex. convert 45 to radians in terms of π :
π π
- 45 x 180 = 4
- The length of an arc:
- For θ in radians, arc length ​l = θ r
θ
- For θ in degrees, arc length ​l = 360 x​ 2 π r
- Area of a Sector:
- For θ in radians, area of sector ​A = 21 θ r​2
θ
- For θ in degrees, arc length ​A = 360 x​ π r​2
Unit Circle and Trigonometric Ratios
- Unit circle​ = circle with centre (0,0) and radius 1
- Has equation: ​x2​​ +y​2​ = 1
ADJ x
- cos θ = HY P = 1= x
OP P y
- sin θ = HY P = 1=y
OP P y sinθ
- tan θ = ADJ = x = cosθ
- cos θ is the x coordinate on a unit circle
- sin θ is the y coordinate on a unit circle

CAST Rule
- Determining if sin, cos, tan is positive in a given quadrant

Pythagorean Identity
- sin​2 θ ​+​ ​cos​2 θ ​= 1

Double Angle Identities ​(*in formula book!)

Periodicity
- Periodic behaviour ​= behaviour which is repeated over time
Sine Function
max+min
- Wave oscillated about a horizontal axis called ​principal axis​ (y = 2 )

-
- ​General sine function:​ y = a sin (b(x - c)) + d
- a= amplitude (absolute value!)
- b= period ( 2π b )
- c= horizontal translation
- d= vertical translation

Cosine Function

- General cos function: ​y = a cos (b(x - c)) + d

- Same as sine function, but starts (0,1)

Tangent Function

- General cos function: ​y = a tan (b(x - c)) + d

- Same as cosine and sine function, but:
- Period = π (period calculated πb )
π
- VA = 2 + k π (90, 270.. etc)
- Amplitude is undefined
Cosine Rule
- Use when given ​2 sides and 1 angle​ OR ​3 sides

Sine Rule
- Use when given ​2 angles and 1 side​ OR ​2 sides and 1 non-included angle

Ambiguous Case
- Sometimes when given information, a triangle can have more than one solution!

Area of a Triangle
- Area = 21 absinC
- Height = bsinC
Topic 4: Vectors
● 4.1 Vectors as displacements in the plane and in three dimensions. Components of a vector; column
representation. Algebraic and geometric approaches to the following: the sum and difference of two
vectors; the zero vector, the vector −v, multiplication by a scalar, kv ; parallel vectors, magnitude of a
vector, |v|, unit vectors; base vectors; i, j and k, position vectors.
● 4.2 The scalar product of two vectors. Perpendicular vectors; parallel vectors. The angle between two
vectors.
● 4.3 Vector equation of a line in two and three dimensions: t = ra + b. The angle between two lines.
● 4.4 Distinguishing between coincident and parallel lines. Finding the point of intersection of two lines.
Determining whether two lines intersect.

Vectors and Notation:

- Vector: quantity of both magnitude and direction
- Position Vector: the vector from one specific point to another
- E.g. “position vector of a” is the vector from the origin to point A
- E.g. “position vector of BC” is the vector from point C to Point B
- Vector Equality: vectors are said to be equal if they have the same magnitude and direction,
meaning two vectors are equal if and only if their corresponding components are equal
- Negative Vectors: vectors which are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction
- Magnitude of Vectors: the magnitude or length of a vector is represented with |vector|, and is
found using Pythagorian’s theorem

√x
2
- E.g. |​a​| = +y2
- Scalar: quantity of only magnitude
- Vectors can be multpilied by scalars, which can change its length or direction

- Component Form: vector ​a ​=

- Unit Vector Form: vector ​a ​= x​i​ + y​j
- Unit Vectors: vectors with the magnitude of 1
1
- E.g. a unit vector in the direction of ​a​ is |a| a
k
- E.g. a vector ​b​ of length ​k ​in the same direction as vector ​a​ is ​b​ = |a| a
- Parallelism: when a vector is a scalar multiple of another, they are said to be parallel
- E.g. a vector ​b​ of length ​k ​parallel to vector ​a​ is ​b​ = ± |a|k a

Scalar Products

- Scalar Product (aka Dot Product / Inner Product): where a = and b = ,a b = a​1​b​1​ + a​2​b​2

- Angle between Vectors: cosθ = , a b = |a| |b| cosθ

- If θ = 90 (vectors are perpendicular), then cosθ = 0, and a b=0
Lines

- Vector equation: = +t

- = any point on line, = known fixed point on line, = direction vector of line
- Paratmetric form: each point on the line corresponds to one value of t
- y = a​1​ + tb​1 y = a​2​ + tb​2
- Cartesian form: isolates the t value

- t= =

Topic 5: Statistics and Probability

● 5.1 Concepts of population, sample, random sample, discrete and continuous data. Presentation of
data: frequency distributions (tables); frequency histograms with equal class intervals.
Box-and-whisker plots; outliers. Grouped data: use of mid-interval values for calculations; interval
width; upper and lower interval boundaries; modal class.
● 5.2 Statistical measures and their interpretations. Central tendency: mean, median, mode. Quartiles,
percentiles. Dispersion: range, interquartile range, variance, standard deviation. Effect of constant
changes to the original data. Applications.
● 5.3 Cumulative frequency; cumulative frequency graphs; use to find median, quartiles, percentiles.
● 5.4 Linear correlation of bivariate data. Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient r. Scatter
diagrams; lines of best fit. Equation of the regression line of y on x. Use of the equation for prediction
purposes. Mathematical and contextual interpretation.
● 5.5 Concepts of trial, outcome, equally likely outcomes, sample space (U) and event. The probability
of an event A. The complementary events A and A′ (not A). Use of Venn diagrams, tree diagrams and
tables of outcomes.
● 5.6 Combined events, Mutually exclusive events. Conditional probability. Independent events.
Probabilities with and without replacement.
● 5.7 Concept of discrete random variables and their probability distributions. Expected value (mean),
E(X) for discrete data. Applications.
● 5.8 Binomial distribution. Mean and variance of the binomial distribution.
● 5.9 Normal distributions and curves. Standardization of normal variables (z-values, z-scores).
Properties of the normal distribution.

Terms
- Population =​ entire collection of individuals about which we want to draw conclusions
- Sample​ = subset of population which should be chosen at ​random​ to avoid ​bias​ in results
- Discrete data​ = exact number values
- Continuous data​ = numerical values within a certain continuous range
- Mean ​= sum of all data values divided by number of data values (arithmetic average)
- Mode ​= most frequently occuring value
- Median​ = middle value of an ​ordered​ ​set
Presentation of Data
- Frequency distribution table​:
Value Frequency (f) % Relative frequency

1 2 20
2 3 30
3 5 50

- Frequency histogram​:

- Box-and-whisker plots

- Lower Quartile (Q1)​ = median of lower half of data

- Upper Quartile (Q3)​ = median of upper half of data
- Interquartile Range (IQR)​ = Q3 - Q1
- Range​ = difference between max and min data value
- Ex. in Data set [1,1,2,3,3,4,4,5,6,6,7,7,8,9,9] n=15
- Range = 9-1 = ​8
- Median = ​5​ (8th term)
- Q1 = ​3
- Q3 = ​7
- IQR = 7-3 = ​4
- Outliers
- Any data larger than upper boundary, or smaller than lower boundary
- Upper boundary​ = Q3 + 1.5 IQR *memorize! Not given in data book*
- Lower boundary​ = Q1 - 1.5 IQR
Variance and Standard Deviation

- Where ​s2​​ ​= variance and ​s​ =

​ standard deviation
- x = value of the nth term
- x = mean of x values
- n = total number of terms

​Cumulative Frequency Graphs

- Y-axis is used to find lower and upper quartile, as well as median. MUST show work when answering a
question this way

Correlation
- Pearson’s correlation coefficient: r

- Where x = mean of variable x || and y = the mean of variable y

- Regression line (best fit)
- Calculate the mean of x, and the mean of y then plot it on the graph. Draw a line of best fit,
going through this point
- Interpolation and Extrapolation

-
Experimental Probability
- Number of Trials: the total number of times the experiment has been conducted
- E.g. A coin is flipped 200 times. The number of trials is 200.
- Outcomes: the different possible results of the experiment
- E.g. A coin has two sides, heads and tails. The outcomes are heads and tails.
- Frequency: the number of times a specific outcome has been observed
- E.g. Heads was observed 99 times. Tails was observed 101 times.
- Relative Frequency: the frequency of an outcome over the total number of trials, expressed as a
fraction or percentage, synonymous to probability
- E.g. Relative frequency of heads: 99/200 or 49.5%, Relative frequency of tails: 101/200, or
50.5%
- Sample Space U or Universal Set U: the set of all possible outcomes of an experiment
- Can be represented through lists in brackets
- E.g. the rolling of a die would have the sample space of {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
- Can be represented through 2-D grids

- U = 36 different outcomes, represented by the dots

- Can be represented through tree diagrams

-
-
Theoretical Probability
- Probability based on what is mathematically expected to occur
- Complementary Events: ​two events are complementary if one of the events must occur.
- In an experiment, the possible events are either A or A’, where p(A) + p(A’) = 1

Compound Events
P (A ⋂ B ) = P (A) x P (B)
P (A U B) = P (A) + P (B) − P (A ⋂ B)
P (A ᛁ B) = P (A ⋂ B)/P (B)
^ What is the probability of A, given B
P (A) = n(A)/n(U )
 Venn Diagram

Tree Diagram of Dependent Events

If A and B are mutually exclusive events, then P (A U B) = 0

And so the addition law becomes P (A U B) = P (A) + P (B)
- Mutually exclusive = if both cannot occur (a coin flip cannot be Tails and Heads)

If A and B are independent events, then P (A ⋂ B ) = P (A) P (B)

- Independent events = if the occurence of each one of them does not affect the probability that the other
occurs

Discrete Random Variable and Continuous Random Variables

- Random Variable: the possible outcomes for an experiment in number form
- Discrete Random Variable, where X = a distinct possible value
- E.g. X = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
- Continuous Random Variable, where X = any possible value on a part of the number line
- E.g. 1 ≤ X ≤ 6
- Probability Distribution: the probability that the variable will have a particular value
- Is in form P (X = x)
Expectation
- The number of times we expect an event to occur, given the number of trials and the probability of the
event
- n = number of trials, p = probability of events,​ E = np
- Fairness: when the E(gain) = 0

Binomial Distribution

- P (X = r) = p r (1 − p) n−r
- p = probability of success, (1 − p) = probability of failure, n = number of independent trials
- Mean and Standard Deviation of Binomial Distribution
- μ = np, μ = mean
- δ = √np (1 − μ) , δ = standard deviation

Normal Distribution
- The variable x is continuous
- Graph is symmetrical about the vertical line x= μ

- Calculate probability using calculator (normcdf or normpdf)

Standard Normal Distribution (z)

- Z distribution has μ =0 and δ =1
x−μ
- Z-score​ = δ
- Can be used to solve statistics or used to compare statistics