General Mathematics VU

Sets and Numbering Systems Topic 1

The study of Mathematics begins with a study of sets and the development of the numbering
systems. Every mathematical system can be represented as a “set”; therefore, it is important for us
to understand the definitions, notations and properties of “sets”

• Definition: A set is an unordered collection of distinct objects. Objects in the

collection are called elements of the set.

• Examples: o The collection of persons living in Lahore is a set.

 Each person living in Lahore is an element of the set.

o The collection of all towns in the Punjab province is a set.

 Each town in Punjab is an element of the set.

o The collection of all quadrupeds is a set.

 Each quadruped is an element of the set.

o The collection of all four-legged dogs is a set.

 Each four-legged dog is an element of the set.

o The collection of counting numbers is a set.

 Each counting number is an element of the set.

o The collection of pencils in your bag is a set.

 Each pencil in your bag is an element of the set.

• Notation: Sets are usually designated with capital letters. Elements of a set
are usually designated with lower case letters.
o D is the set of all four legged dogs. o An
individual dog might then be designated by d.

• The roster method of specifying a set consists of surrounding the collection

of elements with braces. For example the set of counting numbers from 1 to 5
would be written as {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

• Set builder notation has the general form {variable | descriptive statement }.

The vertical bar (in set builder notation) is always read as “such that”.

Set builder notation is frequently used when the roster method is either inappropriate or
inadequate.

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For example, {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number} is the set of all counting numbers less than 6.
Note this is the same set as {1,2,3,4,5}.

• Other Notation: If x is an element of the set A, we write this as x  A. x  A

means x is not an element of A.

If A = {3, 17, 2 } then 3  A, 17  A, 2  A and 5  A.

If A = { x | x is a prime number } then 5  A, and 6  A.

• Definition: The set with no elements is called the empty set or the null set
and is designated with the symbol .

• Definition: The universal set is the set of all things pertinent to a given
discussion and is designated by the symbol U

For example, when dealing with all the students enrolled at the Virtual University, the Universal
set would be
U = {all students at the Virtual University} Some
sets living in this universal set are:
A = {all Computer Technology students}
B = {first year students}
C = {second year students}

• Definition: The set A is a subset of the set B, denoted A  B, if every element

of A is an element of B.
If A is a subset of B and B contains elements which are not in A, then A is a proper subset of B. It
is denoted by A  B.

If A is not a subset of B we write A  B to designate that relationship.

• Definition: Two sets A and B are equal if A  B and B  A. If two sets

A and B are equal we write A = B to designate that relationship.
In other words, two sets, A and B, are equal if they contain the same elements

• Definition: The intersection of two sets A and B is the set containing those
elements which are elements of A and elements of B. We write A  B to
denote A Intersection B.

• Example: If A = {3, 4, 6, 8} and B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then A  B = {3, 6}

• Definition: The union of two sets A and B is the set containing those
elements which are elements of A or elements of B. We write A  B to denote
A Union B.

• Example: If A = {3, 4, 6} and B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

6}. • Algebraic Properties of Sets:

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o Union and intersection are commutative operations. In other words, A  B = B  A and A

∩ B = B ∩ A o Union and intersection are associative operations. In other words,
(A  B)  C = A  (B  C) and (A ∩ B) ∩ C = B ∩ (A ∩ C)
Union and Intersection are distributive with respect to each other. In other words
A ∩ ( B  C )= (A ∩ B)  (A ∩ C) and A  ( B ∩ C )= (A  B) ∩ (A  C) • A few other elementary
properties of intersection and union.
A   =A, A ∩  = , A  A = A, A ∩ A = A. •

Numbering Systems:

• Counting numbers are called Natural numbers and the set of Natural
numbers is denoted by N = {1,2,3…}
• Integers are Natural numbers, their opposites and zero. The set of integers is
denoted by Z = {…3, -2, -1, 0,1,2,3…}
• Rational numbers such as 2/3, -31/2 0.3333, are numbers that can be written
as a ratio of two integers. The set of rational numbers is denoted by Q. This
set includes o Repeating decimals, terminating decimals and fractions o
Integers are also rational numbers since every integer a can be written as a
fraction a/1
• Irrational numbers are numbers that can’t be written as fractions.
o 3. 45455455545555… has a pattern but doesn’t repeat. It isn’t rational. It can’t be
written like a fraction.
o Square root of 2,  (Pi) and e are also irrational.
• The Union of the set of rational numbers and the set of irrational numbers is
the set of Real numbers, denoted by R
• NZQR

• Definition: Cardinality refers to the number of elements in a set o A finite

set has a countable number of elements
o An infinite set has at least as many elements as the set of natural numbers

• Notation: |A| represents the cardinality of Set A

• History: Initially numbers were used for counting and the natural numbers
did that job well. However there were no solutions for equations of the form
x + 4 = 0.

To resolve this, the natural numbers were extended by inventing the negative integers. This
was done by attaching a symbol “-” (which we now call the minus sign) to each natural
number and calling the new number the “negative” of the original number. This was further
extended to all real numbers.

Now people had solutions for equations of the form x + 4 = 0, but equations of the form x2 + 4 = 0
still had no solutions. There is no real number whose square is -4.

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The numbering system had to be extended once again to accommodate for square roots of negative
numbers. A symbol, , was invented and it was called the “imaginary unit”. The real
numbers were extended by attaching this imaginary unit to each number and calling it the
“imaginary copy” of the real numbers.

• Definition: Numbers of the form a + bi are called complex numbers.

o a is the real part o b is
the imaginary part
The set of complex numbers is denoted by C

• Examples : 2 - 4i , -3 + 5i and -5 + 3/4i are all complex numbers

• Graphical Representation: Recall that real numbers are represented on a line.

A complex number has a representation in a plane. Simply take the x-axis as
the real numbers and y-axis as the imaginary numbers. Thus, giving the
complex number a + bi the representation as point P with coordinates (a,b)
as the following diagram shows:

• Properties of Complex Numbers: o Addition and Subtraction: For complex

numbers a + bi and c + di,
(a       bi) (c di) (a c) (b d i)
(a       bi) (c di) (a c) (b d
i) o Examples
 (4  6i) + (3 + 7i) = [4 + (3)] + [6 + 7]i = 1 + i
 (10  4i)  (5  2i) = (10  5) + [4  (2)]i = 5  2i
o Multiplication of Complex Numbers: For complex numbers a + bi and c + di,
(a bi c)(  di)(ac bd)  (ad bc i) .
o The product of two complex numbers is found by multiplying as if the numbers were
binomials and using the fact that i2 = 1.

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o Example: (2  4i)(3 + 5i)

 2(3) 2(5 )i 4 (3)i 4 (5 )i i

   6 10i 12i20i2
   6 2i 20( 1)
 262i

• Definition: Given a complex number z = a + ib, its conjugate is defined as

z*= a – ib

• Properties of conjugates:
o (z*)* = z
o z.z* = a2 + b2 (real) o z + z* = 2a (real)
o z - z* = 2ib (imaginary)

• Division of Complex Numbers: For complex numbers a + bi and c + di,

(a bi) (a bi) (cdi)
(cdi)  (c di) (x cdi) (acbd)
(bcad)
 22 i 2 2 c  d c  d
The quotient of two complex numbers is found by multiplying and dividing by the conjugate of
the denominator.

• 3 11 i  1 2i (3 11 )( 1 i   2 )i   36i 11i 

22i2   35i 22( 1)

Example :  12i *  12i  ( 1 2 )( 1i   2 )i  1  2i2i 4i2  1
4( 1)

  3 5i 22 25 5i 25 5i

     5 i
1 4 5 5 5

• Definition: The absolute value or modulus of a complex number is the distance the complex
number is from the origin on the complex plane.

• If you have a complex number z  (abi ) the absolute value can be found using
2 2
a b | z |
 Example: 
2 5i  (2)

2
 (5)
2
 4  25  29

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•
Functions and Quadratics Topic 2

• Definition: A mapping between two sets A and B is simply a rule for relating elements of one
set to the other. A mapping is also called a relation.

• Types of Relations:

o One-One Relations are mappings where each member of the pre-image is mapped to
exactly one member of the image.

o Many – Many Relations are the mappings where many members of the image are
images of more than one member of the pre-image, and members of the pre-image are
mapped to more than one image.

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o Many - One Relations are the mappings where two or more members of the pre-image
are mapped to exactly one member of the image.

o One-Many Relations are mappings where one member of the pre-image is mapped to
two or more members of the image.

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• Definition: Many-One and One-One relationships are called functions. • Definition: The set
consisting of members of the pre-image or inputs of a function is called its domain. For a given
domain the set of possible outcomes or images of a function is called its range.

o It is important to note that to define a function we need two things: One, the formula for
the function, and two, the domain.

• Examples:

o f ; Domain: ( )x  2x 1 x = R, Range: f(x) = R

1
o gx () ; Domain: x = R – {2}, Range: g(x) = R
x 2
o h x( ) ; Domain: { x 3 x ϵ R | x ≥ 3}, Range: h(x) ≥ 0 o q x( )

; Domain:  (x 1)2  2 x = R, Range: q(x) ≥ 2

• Definition: A function is called an even function if its graph is symmetric with respect to the
vertical axis, and it is called an odd function if its graph is symmetric with respect to the origin.

• Theorem:

o If f(-x) = f(x), then f is an even function o If f(-x) = -f(x), then f is an odd function

• Example: is an even function f ( )x  x2

• Example: is an odd function f ( )x  x3

• Definition: The sum, difference, product and quotient of the functions f and g are the functions

defined by o (f + g)(x) = f(x) + g(x) o (f – g)(x) = f(x) – g(x) o (fg)(x) = f(x)g(x) o (f/g)(x) =

f(x)/g(x), provided g(x) ≠ 0

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• Definition: Given functions f and g, then the function fog is a composite function, where g is
performed first and then f is performed on the result of g.

• Example: Consider 2 function s and . The function f x( )  3x  2

g x( )  x 2
fog may be found using a flow diagram as follows:

Thus f  g  3x 2  2

• Remember, the domain of fog is the set of all real numbers x in the domain of g
where g(x) is in the domain of f.
The domain of fog cannot always be determined simply by examining the final form of (fog)(x). Any
numbers that are excluded from the domain of g must also be excluded from the domain of fog.
• Example: Given and find and its f
( )x  4 x g x( )  3 x ( f  g)( )x domain.
2

Solution: Now Domain of f: -2 ≤ x ≤ 2 and Domain of g: x ≤ 3.

( f g x)( )  f g x( ( ))  f ( 3 x)

 4( 3 x)2  4 (3 x)  1 x

Even though is defined for all 1 x x ≥ -1, we must restrict the domain of fog to those
values that are also in the domain of g. Thus, Domain fog: -1 ≤ x ≤ 3

• Definition: If f is a one-one function, then the inverse of f, denoted by f-1, is the

function obtained by reversing the order of f. In other words, if f(a) = b then f-
1
(b) = a.

• If a function is to have an inverse which is also a function then it must be

oneone. This means that a horizontal line will never cut the graph more than
once; i.e. we cannot have f(a) = f(b) if a ≠ b. Two different inputs (x values) are
not allowed to give the same output (y value).

• Example: f(x) = x2 with domain x is not one to one. So, for example, the
inverse of 4 would have two possibilities: -2 or 2. This means that the inverse is not a function. We
say that the inverse function of f does not exist. However, if the Domain is restricted to x ≥ 0, then
the function would be one to one and its inverse would be f-1(x) = √x , x ≥ 0

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• Properties of Inverse Functions: o Domain of the inverse is equal to the

Range of f. o Range of inverse is equal to the Domain of f.

• Steps for finding inverse of a function f:

o Find the domain of f and verify that f is one-to-one. If f is not one-to-one, then
stop as the inverse does not exist.
o Solve the equation y = f(x) for x. i.e. make x the subject.
o Interchange x and y in step two. This will give the inverse function in terms of x.
o Find the domain of the inverse function. o Check that the inverse
function is correct.

• Example: Find the inverse of the function y = f(x) = (x-2)2 + 3 , x ≥ 2. Sketch the
graphs of y = f(x) and y = f-1(x) on the same axes showing the relationship
between them.
Solution o Step 1: In order for the function to be one to one, we must restrict its domain to
x ≥ 2. The Range of f is y ≥ 3 and so the domain of f-1 will be x ≥ 3.
o Step 2: Make x the subject. y – 3 = (x-2)2  √(y –3) = x-2 x = 2 + √(y –3) o
Step 3: Interchange x and y in the above equation to get y = 2 + √(x –3).
So
Final Answer is: f-1(x) = 2 + √(x –3) , x ≥ 3 o Step 4: Verification: f[f-1(x)] =
2
f[2 + √(x –3)] = {[2 + √(x –3)] -2} + 3
= [√(x –3)] 2 + 3 = (x –3) + 3 = x. And f-1[f(x)] = f-1[(x-2)2 + 3] = 2 + √([(x-2)2 + 3] –
3) = 2 + √(x-2)2 = 2 + (x-2) = x

Graph: Reflect in y = x to get the graph of the inverse function.

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• Definition: A function of the type y = ax2 + bx + c where a, b, and c are

called the coefficients, is called a quadratic function.
The graph of a quadratic function will form a parabola. Each graph will have either a maximum
or minimum point. There is a line of symmetry which will divide the graph into two halves.

• What happens if we change the value of a and c?

• When a is positive, the graph concaves downward.

• When a is negative, the graph concaves upward.

• When c is positive, the graph moves c units up.

When c is negative, the graph moves c units down

• Solving Quadratic Equations: Since y = ax2 + bx +c, by setting y=0 we set

up a quadratic equation. To find the solutions means we need to find the x-
intercept. Since the graph is a parabola, there will be at most two solutions.

• Graphing Method: In this method, we use a scientific calculator and graph

the equation. Then we read the x-intercepts from the graph.
•
o Example: x2 - 2x = 0
o To solve the equation, write y = x2 - 2x into your graphing calculator. Find the
xintercepts. The two solutions are x=0 and x=2.

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• Factorization Method: To solve a quadratic equation we get it in the standard

form y = ax2 + bx +c and see if it will factorize.
o Example: x2  5x 6  x2  5x  6 0 x3x2 0
 x  3 0 or x 2 0
 x  3 and x  2

• Completing the Square Method: For this method we need the coefficient of
x2 to be 1. We then divide the take the coefficient of x and add and subtract
the square of half of the coefficient of x from the equation to form a perfect
square on one side of the equation.
o Example: x 2
6x   . . This does not factorize. So we will use the
completing the 3 0 square method here.
x 2 6x  . The coefficient of 3 x is 6. So, the
square of 6/2 is 9. x2  .6x  9  3
9 We added 9 to both sides of the equation x2
 .6x  9  6 The left side becomes a perfect square.

 x 32  6  x 36 x 3  6

x  3  6 0.5 And 5 x  3 6 5.45

• Formula Method: Using the completing the square method, we get the general quadratic
formula. Given ax 2 bx , the quadratic formula is:  c 0

 b b2 4ac
x
2a

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o Example: x2 6x  3 0
Here, a = 1, b = 6 and c = 3. So, using the formula, we get:

2 2 x   b b 4ac   66
4(1)(3)   6 24 3 6
2a 2(1) 2

• Note that the expression b2 – 4ac under the square root – called the discriminant -
determines how many solutions (if any) the quadratic equation will have.
o If b2  , there will be two distinct real
solutions. 4ac  0 o If b2  , there will be
exactly one real solution. 4ac 0 o If , , there
will be no real solutions. b2 4ac  0
• Examples: In each of the following cases determine if the equations has one, two or zero
real solutions.
o 2x2 7x  4 0
b 4ac  7 4(2)(4)  4932 17  0
2 2

Therefore, there are two distinct real solutions

o 2x2  4x  2 0 b2 4ac  42 4(2)(2)

1616  0
Therefore, there is exactly one real solution

o 3x2  4x  2 0 b2 4ac  42 4(3)(2)

1624  8 0
Therefore, there are no real solutions.

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Matrices and Determinants Topic 3

• Definition: A matrix is a rectangular arrangement of numbers in rows and columns. The

order of a matrix is the number of the rows and columns. The entries are the numbers in
the matrix.

• Notation: A matrix A is written as follows:

a a11 12 ... a1n 

A ... ... ... ........a a21 22 ... a2n aij 

 
am1 am2 ... amn 
where ars represents the entry in the rth row and sth column. A matrix with m rows and n
columns is said to have order m x n.

• Operations on Matrices:

o Addition of Matrices: To add two matrices, they must have the same order. To
add, we simply add corresponding entries.
o Example:

5 3 2 1  5 ( 2)  3 1   3 2  

  


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3 4   3 0     3 3 40   0 4 0 7  
 1 3  0 4 7 ( 3)  4 4 

o Subtraction of Matrices: To subtract two matrices, they must have the same order.
We simply subtract corresponding entries.
o Example:

9 2 44 0 7   94  2 0 47 

    
5 0 6  1 5 4  51 05 6 ( 4)

 1 3 8  2 3 2  1 ( 2) 33 82 

5 2 3
 4 5 10 
 

3 0 6 
o Multiplication by a Scalar: In matrix algebra, a real number is often called a
scalar.
To multiply a matrix by a scalar, we multiply each entry in the matrix by that scalar. o
Example:
2 0  4( 2) 4(0)  8 0
To multiply two matrices, we multiply each row in the first matrix by each column in
the second matrix. An example is shown below:

A a aa a1121 1222  B b b bb b b1121 1222 1323 

, ,
We can multiply to form the matrix C = AB since the number of columns of A is equal
to the number of rows of B. The multiplication is carried out as follows:

 
1 4     
4 1  4(4) 4( 1)  16 4

o Matrix Multiplication: Given an r x c matrix A and an s x d matrix B, we can multiply A

with B to form the matrix AB if c = s. The resulting matrix will have dimension r x d.
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a b a b a b11 11  12 21 11 12 a b a b a b12 22 11 13  12 23 
C AB   
a b a b a b21 11  22 21 21 12 a b a b a b22 22 21 13  22 23 

o Example:

2 3
1 1 1   
A 1 1 and 1 0  B 1 0 2



(2)(1)(3)(1)  5 (2)(1)(3)(0)  2 (2)(1)(3)(2)  8 5 2 8

  1 
C  AB  (1)(1)(1)(1)  2 (1)(1)(1)(0) 1 (1)(1) (1)(2)  3  1 3
2 1

(1)(1)(0)(1) 1 (1)(1)(0)(0) 1 (1)(1)(0)(2) 1 1

• Definition: A Square matrix with ones on the diagonal and zeros elsewhere is called an
identity matrix. It is denoted by I.

• Example: The 4 x 4 identity matrix is:

1 0 0 0

 
0 1 0 0

I 0 0 1 0
 
0 0 0 1

• Definition: Given a square matrix B, if there exists a matrix D such that BD = DB = I, then D
is called the inverse of B, and is denoted by D = B-1.

• Given a system of equations a x b ij j  i , it can be written as a matrix equation Axb ,

j1

where A is the matrix of the coefficients, is the column matrix of the variables and is the
column matrix of the constants. i.e.

a a11 12 ... a1n



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 aa ... a
A  21 22 2n 
... ... ... ........ 
,
 
am1 am2 ... amn 

If A-1 exists then the system has a unique solution given by x  A1b
• Definition: A matrix is in echelon form if it has the following properties o Every non-
zero row begins with a 1 (called a leading 1) o Every leading one in a lower row is
further to the right of the leading one above it.
o If there are zero rows, they are at the end of the matrix

A matrix is in reduced echelon form if in addition to the above three properties it also has the
following property:
o Every other entry in a column containing a leading one is zero

• Methods for finding Solutions of Equations:

o Using Row Operations: Recall that when we are solving simultaneous equations, the
system of equations remains unchanged if we perform the following operations:

 Multiply an equation by a non-zero

constant  Add a multiple of one equation to
another equation  Interchange two
equations.

We have seen that any system of equations can be written as a matrix system. i.e. the
two systems are equivalent.
So, given a system Ax = b we can form the augmented matrix (Ab) by attaching an
additional column at the end of the matrix A with entries from matrix b. Since the
original system of equations remains unchanged as described above, the system
described by the augmented matrix (Ab) also remains unchanged under the following
row operations:

 Multiply a row by a non-zero constant 

Add a multiple of one row to another row
 Interchange two rows.

Using row operations, we will change the matrix (Ab) to an Echelon form or a
reduced Echelon form. Once that is achieved, the solution will be easily
found.

Example: Solve the following system of equations:

x  2y  z 1

2x  2y  2

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3x 5y  4z 1
Solution: The system can be written in matrix form as:
1 2 1 x
 2 1
2 5  
 
0 y 2
3    
4 
z   1

The augmented matrix is

 
1 2 1 1 R R22 1 1 2 1 1 R23 1 2 1 1

 
(Ab)  2 2 0 2 ~ 0 2 2 0
 
~ 0 1 1 2



 R R33 1    
3 5 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 0 

1
R2 2 1 1R R12 2 1 0 3 3R3/4 1 0 3 3
     
~0 1 1 2 ~ 0 1 1 2 ~ 0 1 1 2

 R R32 2    
0 2 2 0 0 0 4 4  0 0 1 1
R R13 3 1 0 0 0 
 
~0 1 0 1
R R2 3  
0 0 1 1
This gives the solution: x = 0, y = 1, z = -1

o Solving Equations using Inverse: If we could find A-1, we could also solve the system
by using x  A1b . One way to find inverse is as follows:

o Theorem: Given a nxn matrix A, if the augmented matrix (AI), where I is the nxn
identity matrix, can be row reduced to a matrix (IB), then B is the inverse of A. If (AI)
cannot be reduced to (IB), then A does not have an inverse.

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o Example: Solve the system of equations:

2x 2y  2z 1

2y  z 1
2x 3y 1

Solution: The matrix A of the coefficients is

2 2 2 
  0 2 1
 
2 3 0 
-1
To find A we use the above theorem


2 2 2 1 0 0 R R3 1 2 2
  
(AI)  0 2 1 0 1 0  ~ 0 2

1 0 1 1 0 0
R /2 
1
0 R R 2  2 1 2 
0 1 2
1 2 3

~ 0 1 2 1 0 1 ~ 0 1
1 0 1
1
5 1 0 1  
R  23 
0 0
0 2 1 0 2 3 3
1 2 2 0 0 2 2
1
1 0 0 1
2 1  1 1 0 1 5 
RR  R R   0
1 1
1 2
2 5 1 2 1 3
1
~ 0 0 1  ~ 0 
R R 2 
3 2
 R  2 
0 2 0 3

2 3 0 0 0 1 0 5

11
2 1 0 0
1 0 1 
2 1 0 0

1
So,
3 3 1
2 

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A1   1 2 1 
 
2 5 2 

This gives the solution

 x 32
 
3 1 1
  
=  y  A1b  1 1  1     1 2   32  3
2 1  4  1 112
 z 2 5  
1    2 5

2  9 
2    
• Definitio
n: Let M be the set of all square matrices. Then the Determinant is a function from M to the
set of real numbers. i.e. the determinant is a process of attaching a real number to every square
matrix.

• Notation: If A is a square matrix, then determinant of A is denoted by detA or |A|

• Example: det =

• Second Order Determinant: A 2 x 2 determinant can be found using the following method:

a11
a1
2
a a11 22 a a21 22 a21
a22

1 2
• Example:    ( 1)( 4) ( 3)(2)   4 6 10
3 4

• Definition: The Minor of an element in a third-order determinant is a second-order

determinant obtained by deleting the row and column that contains the element.

a11 a12 a13

• Example: 21 23 Given a a22 a a32 a
a31 33

a a
The Minor of a 11 12 a31 a32
23

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aa
The Minor of a  11 13 a21 a23
i j
a ( 1)
• Definition: The Cofactor of ij  (Minor of aij )
a C
• The cofactor of ij is denoted by ij

• Thus, the cofactor of an element is nothing more than a signed minor.

a11 a12 a13

• Example: Given a21 a22 a23

a31 a32 a33

23 12

a11 a12a11 a32
The Cofactor of a23  C23  ( 1) a31

11
a22 a32a31

a32 a

a22 a23a23
The Cofactor of a11  C11  ( 1)
a32 a33a33

• Theorem: The value of a determinant of order 3 is the sum of three products obtained by
multiplying each element of any one row (or each element of any one column) by its
cofactors. • Note: The above theorem and definitions of minor and cofactor generalize
completely for determinants of order higher than 3

2 2 0
• Example: Evaluate 3 1 2
1  3 1

Solution: We expand by the first row to get:

0 2 2
3 1 2 
1 3 1

 1 121 1 23 2  1 13 1

2 3 1 ( 1)  ( 2) ( 1) (0) ( 1)


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 1 1 1 3
(2)(1)[(1)( 1) ( 3)(2)] ( 2)( 1)[( 3)( 1) (1)(2)] 0        
(2)(5) (2)(1) 12 

• Finding Inverse Using Determinants

• Definition: Given a matrix A, the transpose of A denoted AT is the matrix obtained by

interchanging the rows of A with its columns.

• 8 1 3  8
0 10
 0  0 
Example: The transpose of A  0 4 2 is AT   4
 1 2
 
 
3
10 3  3
C
• Definition: Given a matrix A, calculate all the cofactors of A. We then form the matrix ( ij ) of
the cofactors. The Adjoint or Adjugate of A is the transpose of the matrix of the cofactors.
i.e.adj A( ) ( Cij )T (Cji )
1
1
• The inverse of A is then found by the formula: A  adj A( )
| A|
• Example: Find the inverse of the following matrix using determinant.
2 1 3
 1 
A= 0 2 1
 
 1 0
Solution: We need to first find all the cofactors. 0
1
1 3
2 1 1
1 1 1 C21  ( 1) 6
2 0
C11 C12 3
 0
C22 3 1 1  1 3
Now, adj A( ) C21
C31  ( 1) 4 1
 C32
1
C31

2 1 3 det( )A 0 1
1 1 1 2 0
C11  ( 1)2
2 0
1
1  2 Therefore, A  adj A( ) 1 det( )A 3 2

8 5 
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
General Mathematics VU

1 2 0 11 3
C12  ( 1)1 C13 
1 02

2 222 32
1
C22  ( 1)3
11

2 32
C32  ( 1) 3 2 2
2
0 10

1 10 10 1
T
C11 C21 C31 2 6 4
C13   
3     3
  C12 C22 C32  1 2 . And
1( 1) 3(1) 8 C23 5
C23  C33   1 
2 01 01 2
C33 C13 2

2 6 4
1 


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1

• Cramer’s Rule for Solving Systems of Equations: Suppose we are

given a system of 2 equations in 2 unknowns as follows:

a x11 1 a x122  b1

a x21 1 a x222  b2
1 2 3a11 b a12 a13 a and
12
x1  by: x12  and x2  x3  , where  det( )A ,  1
Then, the solution is given 1 2 1

a
The solution is given by ,  and  , where ab21 a22 a23, 22
2
a11 b1
a31 a32 a33
 2
a21 1 ab122 a3 1
b a11 b1 a1
3
a12 b1
 , b2 b2
a22 a22
1
Similarly, for a2 involving b3 a2 b3
a32a system
3
2a2 1 three unknowns and three equations:
3 a32
b2 b3 a33 a31 a33 a11
a x11 1  a x12 2 a x13 3  and  3a21
b1 a x21 1  a x22 2 a x23 3
 b2 a x31 1  a x32 2  a a31
x33 2  b3

• Example: Solve using Cramer’s Rule: x1 2x2  x3 1

2x1 2x2  2
3x1 5x2 4x3 1

Solution:
121
20 20 22
2 1
54 34 35 ,

 1(8)2(8)1(4)8164
   4

20 20 22
2 1
54 14 15 ,
154
 1(8)2(8)1(8)81680
   

 2 2 0 1
354

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
121
 1 2 2 0 1
1 11
2 0 20
22
 22 2 0 1 1 1
14 34 3 1 , and
314
1(8) 1(8) 1( 4) 8 8 4      4
1 21
2 2 22 22
 32 2 2 1 2 1
51 31 35
351
    1( 8) 2( 4) 1(4)    8 8 4 4

1 0 , x2 2 41, x3 3  4 1.

So, by Cramer’s Rule: x1   0
 4  4  4

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Sequences and Series Topic 4

• Definition: Rows of numbers are called sequences, and the separate numbers are called
terms of the sequence.

• Notation: Usually the terms of the sequence are denoted by a1 = First term of the
sequence
a2 = second term of the sequence
…
an = nth term of the sequence

• Definition: An Arithmetic Sequence (or Arithmetic Progression) is a sequence in which

each term after the first term is found by adding a constant, called the common difference
(d), to the previous term.

• The inductive definition of an arithmetic sequence has the form a1 a and an  an1 d

• Formula: The formula for finding any term in an arithmetic sequence is an = a + (n-1)d.

All you need to know to find any term is the first term in the sequence (a) and the
common difference, d.

• Example: Given the sequence, 1500, 3000, 4500, 6000, …, find the 16th term.

Solution: a = 1500, d = 1500, n -1 = 16 - 1 = 15 .

So a16 = 1500 + 1500(15) = 24000

• Definition: An Arithmetic Series is the sum of the terms in an arithmetic sequence.

• Example: Arithmetic sequence: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10,

Corresponding arithmetic series: 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10

• To find the sum of the first n terms on arithmetic sequence, we can use the formula:

Sn = n/2(a + an) = n/2(a + a + (n-1)d) = n/2(2a + (n-1)d)

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• Example: Find the sum of the first 50 terms of an arithmetic series with a = 28 and d = -4

Solution: We need to know n, a, and a50. n= 50, a = 28, d = -4. The formula is Sn = n/2(2a
+ (n-
1)d) So, S50 = 50/2(2(28) + (50-1)(-4)) = 25(56 + 49 (-4)) = 25(56 – 196) = 25(-140) = -
3500

• Definition: A sequence in which each term after the first is found by multiplying the
previous term by a constant value called the common ratio, is called a Geometric
Sequence (or Geometric Progression).

• The formula for finding any term of a geometric sequence is an = arn-1

• Example: Find the 10th term of the geometric sequence with a = 2000 and a common
ratio of 1/2.
• Solution: a10 = 2000• (1/2)9 = 2000 • 1/512 = 2000/512 = 500/128 = 250/64 = 125/32

• Definition: A Geometric Series is the sum of the terms in a arithmetic sequence.

• The formula for fining the sum of the first n terms of a geometric sequence is given by
a(1rn )
Sn 
1r
4

• Example: Find the sum 3(2) n1

n1

Solution: This is a geometric series with first term -3 and common ratio 2.

3(1 2 )4 3(116)
S4   45
1 2 1

• Definition: If a sequence of numbers approaches (or converges) to a finite number, we say

that the sequence is convergent. If a sequence does not converge to a finite number it is
called divergent.

a(1rn ) n

S
• For the sequence of the geometric series, we know that n  and it is the
expression r 1r
that determines if the series converges or diverges: If | r |1 then |rn |increases indefinitely
and the series is divergent. However, if | r |1 then |rn |tends to zero as n tends to infinity.
So the a(1 0) a a
sum tends to Sn   . It is conventional to write S 

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1r 1r 1r

 n1

• Example: Evaluate 35 1


n1  4
Solution: This is an infinite geometric series with a = 35 and r = -1/4. So,

S    28

Permutations and Combinations Topic 4

• Multiplication Principle: If two operations A and B are performed in order, with n possible
outcomes for A and m possible outcomes for B, then there are n x m possible combined
outcomes of the first operation followed by the second.

• Example: Basket A contains a mango (m) and a banana (b). Basket B contains an apple
(a), an orange (o) and a grapefruit (g). You draw one fruit from A and then one fruit from
B. How many different pairs of fruits can you have?

Solution: ma, mo, mg, ba, bo, bg = 6. Or, (2 from A) x (3 from B) = 6 according to the
multiplication principle.

• Difference between permutations and combinations: Both are ways to count the
possibilities. The difference between them is whether order matters or not. Consider a
poker hand:

A♦, 5♥, 7♣, 10♠, K♠

Is that the same hand as:

K♠, 10♠, 7♣, 5♥, A♦

Does the order the cards are handed out

matter? o If yes, then we are dealing with

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permutations o If no, then we are dealing

with combinations

• Permutation Rules:

o To arrange n distinct objects in a row, the number of different arrangements is n! =

n(n-
1)(n-2)…3.2.1

o The number of different permutations of r objects which can be made from n

distinct objects is given by

o The number of different permutations of n objects of which p are identical to each

other, and then q of the remainder are identical, and r of the remainder are
identical is

o To arrange n objects in a line in which r of the objects have to be together we

have r!( n
– r + 1)! Permutations

o To arranging n objects in a circle in which arrangements are considered to be the

same if they can be obtained from each other by rotation, we get n!/n = (n – 1)!
Permutations. • Example: Suppose you have 4 pictured cards that have the
pictures of the letters A, B, C and D, and you want to arrange them in a row to
form “words”. How many 4-letter words are there?
Solution: here we are arranging four distinct objects in a line. The number of permutations
is 4! = 24

• Example: Eight runners are hoping to take part in a race, but the track has only six lanes.
In how many ways can six of the eight runners be assigned to lanes.

Solution: This is a permutation of six lane assignments from 8 people:

8
P6     20160

• Example: Find the number of distinct permutations of the letters of the word
MISSISSIPPI

Solution: The total number of letters = 11, Number of S’s = 4, Number of I’s = 4, Number
of P’s

= 2. The total number of distinct permutations is  34650

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• Example: Five people, A, B, C, D and E are arranged randomly in a line. Find the possible
permutations when A and B are next to each other

Solution: Imagine A and B are stuck together in the order AB. Treat them as one unit.
Then there are 4 unites to permute (AB, C, D and E) in a line and we know there are 4! =
24 ways to arrange 4 units. But A and B could also be stuck together in the order BA, and
there will be another 4! arrangements in that case. Therefore, there will be a total of 2 x 4!
= 48 arrangements of the 5 people in the line where A and B are always together.

• Example: How many ways are there to sit 6 people around a circular table, where seatings
are considered to be the same if they can be obtained from each other by rotating the
table?

Solution: First, place the first person in the north-most chair. This has only one possibility.
Then place the other 5 people. There are 5P5 = 5! = 120 ways to do that By the product
rule, we get 1x120 =120.

Alternatively, there are 6P6 = 720 ways to seat the 6 people around the table. For each
seating, there are 6 “rotations” of the seating. Thus, the final answer is 720/6 = 120

• Formula for Combinations: In general, to find the number of combinations of r objects

taken from n objects, we divide the number of permutations nPr by r!. The total number
of
 n n
P
C
n! n r combinations is given by: r  
  r r! r n!( r)!

• Example: The manager of a football team has a squad of 16 players. He needs to choose
11 to play in a match. How many possible teams can be chosen?

Solution: This is a combination problem as the order in which the teams are chosen is not

important. The number of combinations is 16C11   4368

Binomial Theorem Topic 5

• In mathematics we are always looking for generalization of ideas. For example, we know
the formula for

(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2

(x + y)3 = x3 + 3x2y + 3xy2 + y3

But it is hard to remember formulas for higher powers. We need a mechanism that would
help us expand (x + y)n for any values of n

• Pascal’s Triangle:

Expression Coefficients

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(x + y)1 = x + y 11

(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2 121

(x + y)3 = x3 + 3x2y + 3xy2 + y3 1331

(x + y)4 = x4 + 4x3y + 6x2y2 + 4xy3 + y4 14641

(x + y)5 = x5 + 5x4y + 10x3y2 + 10x2y3 + 5xy4 + y5 1 5 10 10 5 1

Each value inside the triangle is obtained by adding the two values above it

• Example: Expand (a + x)6

Solution: Remember the 5th row of the Pascal’s triangle: 1 5 10 10 5 1

Coefficients of the 6th row will be will be: 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6 and 1

So expansion will be (a + x)6 = a6 + 6a5x + 15a4x2 + 20a3x3 + 15a2x4 + 6ax5 +x6

• We note that the Pascal’s triangle is inefficient in finding the coefficient of big expansions
such as the coefficient of x9y6 in the expansion of (x + y)15. What is needed is a formula in
terms of n and r for the coefficient of xn-ryr in the expansion of (x + y)n. We note the
following connection between the binomial coefficients and the Pascal’s triangle:

C
The n-th row is n k , k = 0, 1, …, n

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• Binomial Theorem: If n is a natural number, then

n

(x + y)n = nC0 xn + nC1 xn-1 y + nC2 xn-2 y2 + nC3 xn-3 y3 + nC4 xn-4 y4 + ... + nCn yn   nC xk
n k yk
k0

n
n!
C
The binomial coefficients are given by 
r

r n!( r)!

• Example: Calculate the coefficient of x11y4 in the expansion of (x+y)15

Solution: By the binomial theorem the coefficient is given by

15
C4   1365

• Example: Use the Binomial Theorem to calculate 1.018

Solution: 1.018 = (1 + 0.01)8 = 1 + 8(0.01) + 28(0.01)2 + 56(0.01)3 + 70(0.01)4 + 56(0.01)5

+ 28(0.01)6 + 8(0.01)7 + (0.01)8 = 1 + .08 + .0028 + .000056 + .00000070 + .0000000056
+ .000000000028 + .00000000000008 + .0000000000000001 = 1.0828567056280801.

Coordinate Geometry Topic 6

• Distance Between Two Points: Given any two points A(x1, y1) and B(x2, y2), the distance
between them is given by AB (x x2  1)2  (y2 y1)2

• Example: Given points A(2, 3) and B(5, 7), find the distance between A and B.
Solution: AB (5 2)  2 (7 3)2  (3)2 (4)2 5

• Mid-Point between two points: Given any two points A(x1, y1) and B(x2, y2), the mid-point M
has

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x1 x2 y1  y2
coordinates ( , )
2 2
• Example: Given points A(4, 3) and B(10, 7). Let M be the mid-point of AB. Find the
coordinates of M
4 10 3 7
Solution: M = ( , )  (7,5)
2 2

• Definition: Given any two points A(x1, y1) and B(x2, y2), the gradient or slope of the line
segment joining A and B is the ratio of the change in y with respect to the change in x. It is
denoted by m, and y2  y1 is defined as m  . x2  x1
• Properties of Gradient:
o The bigger the gradient’s magnitude is, the steeper the line segment. o Negative
gradient means line is facing downwards. o Positive gradient means the line is facing
upwards.
o The slope gives the average rate of change in y per unit change in x, where the value
of y depends on x.
o Two line segments that are parallel will have the same slope.

• Example: Find the slope of the line through the points (2,-1) and (-5,3)
rise y2  y1 3  (1)
 4 4
Solution: slope  m   =  
x2  x1  2 7 7

run ( 5)
• Equation of a Line: The equation of a line or a curve is a rule for determining whether or not
the point with coordinates (x, y) lies on the line or curve. The equation of a line through a
fixed point (x1, y1) with gradient m is given by y  y1
m
x x1
 y y1  m x(  x1)
 y mx y1 mx1

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 y mxc
where c = y1 – mx1

• The last form of the line is called the slope-intercept form of a straight line where m is the
slope and c is the y-intercept.

• Example: Find the slope of the line given 3x – 4y = 12

Solution: Writing the equation in the slope-intercept form, we get:

3x 4y 12
4y  3x12

y  x3
Therefore, the slope is ¾.

• Two Lines in a Plane: In a plane, two lines either intersect or are parallel. If the gradients are
the same, the lines are parallel and do not intersect. If the gradients are not the same, the lines
intersect.

• Example: Given the equations of the lines 2x – y = 4 and 3x + 2y = -1. Do these lines
intersect? If they do, find the point of intersection.

Solution: Since these two lines have different gradients, they must intersect. To find the point
of intersection we need (x, y) which lie on both the lines, i.e. which satisfy the two equations
simultaneously. We need to solve the equations simultaneously. Solving the equations
simultaneously we get x = 1 and y = -2.

• Perpendicular Lines: If a line has gradient m, then the gradient of a line perpendicular to this
line is -
1/m. Two lines with gradients m1 and m2 are perpendicular if m1.m2 = -1, or m1=-1/m2

• Example: Are the lines 3x + 5y = 6 and 5x - 3y = 2 parallel, perpendicular, or neither?

Solution: For Line 1: x       5y 6 5y 3x 6 y x

So, its slope is ‐3/5.

5 -3x y      2 3y 5x 2 y x
For Line 2:

So, its slope is 5/3, which is the negative reciprocal of the slope of the first line.
Therefore, the two lines are perpendicular.

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• Equation of a Circle: The equation of a circle with center (h, k) and radius r in
standard form is: (x – h)2 + (y – k)2 = r2

• Example: Identify the center and radius of the given circle and sketch the graph:

x 4  y 3  25
2 2

Solution: Comparing the given equation with standard form, we see that its center is (-
4, 3) and radius is 5. The graph is as follows:

• Example: Find the center and radius of the circle with equation x2 + y2 + 6x -4y = 23

Solution: We transform the equation into the form (x - h)2 + (y – k)2 = r2 by completing the
square relative to x and relative to y. Then from this standard form we can determine the
center and radius.

We want to write x2 + y2 + 6x -4y = 23 as

(x2 + 6x )+ (y2 - 4y ) = 23
(x2 + 6x + 9)+ (y2 - 4y + 4) = 23 + 9 + 4
(x+3)2 + (y – 2)2 = 36
(x – (-3))2 + (y – 2)2 = 62

The center is (-3, 2) and the radius is 6

Trigonometry Topic 7
• Basic Functions:
o Cosine Function: Consider a circle of radius 1.

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P(x, y)

O  Q A X

Let P(x, y) be any point making an angle  with the horizontal x-axis.
Then Cos = OQ/OP = x/1 = x
i.e. the value of Cos is the x-coordinate of P as P travels along the circumference of
the circle, starting from the point A.

o Properties of the Cosine Function:

 The cosine function has “period” 360o as it repeats itself after each revolution of
360o
 Cos(-) = Cos as the x-coordinate of P doesn’t change when we reflect across
the xaxis.
 Cos (180 - ) = - Cos as the x-coordinate changes signs when reflected across
the yaxis.
 Cos ( - 180) = - Cos as the x-coordinate changes signs when reflected across
the origin.
 Cos is positive in the first and the fourth quadrant (as the x coordinate of P is
positive), and negative in the second and the third quadrant as the x-axis is
negative there.
 The range of the cosine function is between -1 and 1. The maximum value of 1 is
taken when  = 0o, ±360o, ±720o, …, and the minimum value of -1 is at  =
±180o, ±540o, …,

o Definition: The functions with the property that they keep repeating themselves are
called periodic functions. The smallest interval for which the function repeats
itself is called its period.

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o Graph of the Cosine Function:

o Sine Function: Using the same diagram as before, we consider a circle of radius 1. Let
P(x, y) be any point making an angle  with the horizontal x-axis. Then Sin = PQ/OP =
y/1 = y
i.e. the value of Sin is the y-coordinate of P as P travels along the circumference
of the circle, starting from the point A.

o Properties of the Sine Function:

 Sin(-) = -Sin as the y-coordinate of P changes sign when we reflect across the x-
axis.

 Sin is positive in the first and the second quadrant (as the y coordinate of P is
positive), and negative in the third and the fourth quadrant as the y coordinate is
negative there.

 Sin(180 - ) = Sin  because as we reflect across the y-axis the y-coordinate doesn’t
change.

 Sin( - 180) = - Sin as the y-coordinate changes signs when reflected across the
origin.

 Like the cosine function, the sine function is also periodic, with period 360 degrees,
and range between -1 and 1.

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o Graph of the Sine Function:

o Tangent Function: Using the same diagram as before, we consider a circle of radius 1. Let
P(x, y) be any point making an angle  with the horizontal x-axis.

Then Tan = PQ/OQ = y/x =

sin / cos o Properties of the Tangent

Function:

 Tan(-) = -Tan as the y-coordinate of P changes sign when we reflect across the x-
axis but the x-coordinate doesn’t change sign.

 Tan is positive in the first and the third quadrant (as the x and y coordinates of P
have the same signs in these quadrants), and negative in the second and the fourth
quadrant as the x and y coordinates have opposite signs in these quadrants.

 Tan(180 -) = -Tan as the x-coordinate of P changes sign when we reflect across the
y-axis but the y-coordinate doesn’t change sign

 The domain of tan does not include the angles for which x is 0, namely, for  = ±90,
±270, …

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 Like the cosine and sine functions, the tangent function is also periodic, but its period
is 180.
i.e. tan( + 180) = tan and tan( - 180) = tan
o Graph of the Tangent Function:

• Basic Properties of Trigonometric Functions:

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• Definition: The Amplitude of a function is the height from the mean (or the rest) value of
the function to its maximum or minimum value.

o The amplitude of the function f(x) = ASinBx is |A| and the period is 2/|B|
o The amplitude of the function g(x) = ACosBx is |A| and the period is 2/|B|

• Changing Trigonometric Graphs:

o y= k Cosx & y = k Sinx: The amplitude of the function is “k” .

o y = Coskx & y = Sinkx: The period of the function is “360  k”.

o y= Cos x + k & y = Sin x + k: Translates the graph + k or – k parallel to the y-

axis.

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o y = - Cos x & y = - Sin x: Reflects the graph in the x-axis.

o Combining the Effects: Draw the graph of y = 4sin2x + 3.

 Step 1: Draw the graph of y = sin x

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 Step 2: Draw the graph of y = 4 sin x

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 Step 3: Draw the graph of y = 4 sin 2x

 Step 4: Draw the graph of y = 4 sin 2x + 3

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o Phase Shift:

 Shown below is the graph of y = sin xo

 Now compare it with the graph of y= sin( x - 60o)

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The graph is translated 60o to the right parallel to the x axis.

o From the previous example we can now see that the equation y = cos ( x - k ) and
y = sin ( x - k) translate the graphs ko to the right parallel to the x-axis and the
equations y = cos ( x + k ) and y = sin ( x + k) translate the graph ko to the
left parallel to the xaxis.

o Note that the functions Sine, Cosine and Tangent are not one-to-one. So, they
don’t have inverses unless we restrict the domains of the definitions.

• Definition: The inverse sine function is defined by y = arcsin x if and only if

sin y =
x. The domain of y = arcsin x is [–1, 1]. The range of y = arcsin x is [–/ , /2].

1   1
• Example: arcsin  since is the angle whose sine is .
2 6 6 2
3   3
• Example: sin1  since sin 
2 3 3 2

• Definition: The inverse cosine function is defined by y = arccos if and only if

cos y =
x. The domain of y = arccos x is [–1, 1]. The range of y = arccos x is [0, ].

• Definition: The inverse tangent function is defined by y = arctan x if and only if tan y =
x. The domain of y = arctan x is ( , ) . The range of y = arctan x is [–/2, /2].

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• Solving Trigonometric Equations

o To solve cos  = k
 Find cos–1(k) = 
– Use symmetry property to get cos(- ) = cos () to get - as a
solution.
– Use the periodic property [cos( ± 360) = cos ] to find all the
solutions in the required interval.

 Example: Given that cos (70.52) = 1/3, solve cos  = 1/3, giving all the
roots in 0
≤  ≤ 360
– Find cos–1 (1/3) = 70.52
– Use symmetry property to get cos(- 70.52) = cos (70.52) to get -
70.52 as a solution.
– Note that -70.52 is not in the required interval. Now use the
periodic property cos(-70.52) = cos(-70.52 + 360) =
cos(289.48). So another solution is 289.48 degrees
– All the solutions are 70.52º and 289.48º

 To solve Sin = k
– Find sin–1(k) = 
– Use symmetry property to get sin(180 - ) = sin() to get another
solution.
– Use the periodic property [sin( ± 360) = cos ] to find all the
solutions in the required interval.

 Example: Given that sin(44.42 º) = 0.7, solve sin = -0.7, giving all the
roots in -
180 ≤  ≤180
– Find sin–1(-0.7) = -44.42
– Use symmetry property to get sin(180 – (-44.42)) = sin (-44.42)
to get 224.42 as a solution.
– Note that 224.42 is not in the required interval. Now use the
periodic property sin(224.42) = sin(224.42 - 360). So another
solution is -135.58 degrees
– All the solutions are -44.42º and -135.58º

 To solve Tan  = k
– Find Tan–1(k) = 

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– Use the periodic property tan(180 ± ) = tan() to get other

solutions in the required interval.

 Example: Given that tan(63.43°) = 2, Solve tan = -2, giving all the roots
in 0 ≤
 ≤ 360
– Find tan–1(-2) = -63.43°,
– Note that -63.43°is not in our range. Now use the periodic
property tan(63.43°) = tan(-63.43° - 180°) to get 116.56. Now use
the periodic property tan(116.56°) = tan(116.56° + 180°) to get
296.56°.
– The solutions are is 116.6º and 296.6°

o Definition: Two functions f and g are said to be identically equal if f(x) = g(x) for
every value of x for which both functions are defined. Such an equation is referred to
as an identity. An equation that is not an identity is called a conditional equation.

o Basic Trigonometric Identities:

 Reciprocal Identities:

 Quotient Identities

 Periodic Properties

 Even-Odd
Properties

 Pythagorean Identities

sin2 cos2 1

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o Example: Verify that the following equation is an identity: tantcott

sec2tcsc2t
sin costt
Solution: LHS = tantcott  tant  cott
sin costt sin costt sin costt
1 1
tant cott
sin cost t sin costt
sint 1 cost 1
   
cost sin cost t sint sin cost t
1 1
 
cos2t sin2t
sec2tcsc2t
= RHS

o Sum and Difference Formulas:

 cos(A-B) = cosAcosB + sinAsinB
cos(A+B) = cosAcosB - sinAsinB

 sin(A+B) = sinAcosB + cosAsinB

sin(A-B) = sinAcosB – cosAsinB

 tan(A B )
tan A tan B
1 tan Atan B
tan A tan
B tan(A B )

1 tan Atan B

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o Double Angle Formulas:

 sin 2A = sin(A+ A) = sinAcosA+sinAcosA = 2sinAcosA

 cos2A = cos(A+A) = cosAcosA-sinAsinA = cos A-sin A2 2

 tan 2A = tanA+ tanA = 2tanA2

1- tanAtanA 1- tan A

o Example: Find the exact value of Cos 165o.

Solution: cos(165 )  cos(210 45 )  cos210 cos45 sin 210 sin 45 

3 2 1 2 6 2 ( 6  2)
      
2 2 2 2 4 4 4

Statistics Topic 8

• Definition: Methods of collection, organization and analysis of numerical information are

collectively called statistics. Pieces of numerical and non-numerical information are called
data. In order to collect data, you need to observe or measure some property; this property is
called a variable.

• Definition: A variable is qualitative if it is not possible for it to take a numerical value. A

variable is quantitative if it can take a numerical value. A quantitative variable which can
take any value in a given range is called a continuous variable. A quantitative variable which
has clear steps between its possible values is called a discrete variable.

• Types of Statistics: Descriptive Statistics comprises those methods concerned with collection
and describing a set of data so as to yield meaningful information.

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o Example: Summarized large amounts of data collected from the pool games of 2011
cricket world cup to provide immediate meaningful information concerning the
performance of each team.

• Inferential Statistics comprises those methods concerned with analysis of a subset of data
leading to predictions or inferences about the entire set of data.

o Example: Suppose we collected data for 30 years regarding the average rainfall in the
month of July in Lahore, and the amount came to be 3.3 centimeters. We make the
inference that next year in the month of July we can expect between 3.2 and 3.4
centimeters of rain.

Where can Statistics

Contribute?  Business
and Industry o
Manufacturing
 Improve product quality
 Increase efficiency of processes o Marketing
 Conduct sample surveys
 Determine product viability
 Estimate advertisement effectiveness o Engineering
 Make consistent product

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 Predict product life

o Banking
 Estimate the risk of a company defaulting on loan
 Determine effective asset allocation for portfolios

• Health and Medicine o Epidemiology

 Calculate cancer incidence rates
 Monitor disease outbreaks
 Study risk factors for various diseases o Public Health
 Design community efforts
 Education programs o Pharmacology
 Drug discovery, development, and approval
 Ensure validity of results in clinical trials
o Genetics
 Identify potential indicators for specific diseases or traits 
Test gene modification for treatment of diseases

• Natural Resources o Agriculture

 Evaluate differences in crop management
 Evaluate the best combinations of fertilizers, pesticides and densities of
planting.
o Ecology
 Study changes in local and global climate
 Develop strategies to improve the environment
 Study the impact of new industrial plants on surrounding ecology
o Geography
 Evaluate the amount of rainfall one can expect for a given area
based on longitude, latitude and distance from the sea.

• Social and Natural Sciences o Physics

 Determine when an increase in the density of cosmic rays signals the presence
of a supernova
 Conducting tests to determine existence of new particles.
o Chemistry
 Predict shape of large molecules
 Analysis of mass spectrometry data o Biology
 Seek to better understand why insects cluster
 Identify genes related to a particular disease o Sociology
 Estimate the chances of a major war in the next five years
 Study the increase in rates of marriage failure
 Determine the characteristic of prisoners to study risk of them
repeating criminal behavior. o Psychology
 Study the effects of narcotics on schizophrenia

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 Determine if the existence of extrasensory perception can be

demonstrated
 Evaluate the relationship between shyness and loneliness o
Anthropology
 Determine the age of an archaeological site
 Analyze the percentage difference in body fat between urban and
rural dwellers in
Pa
kistan o
Zoology
 Evaluate the differences in behavior of caged animals when they
are outdoors and when they are indoors
 Determine what techniques are more effective in counting a given
species of bird.

• Education o Develop effective teaching strategies

o Research appropriate and informative evaluation (testing) instruments o Identify risk
factors for bullying, dropping out, failing
o Identify factors contributing to a decrease/increase in student achievement
o Study the proportion of graduates of various programs subsequently employed in their
field of study

• Government Media and Law o Government Agencies

 Design and implement effective sampling strategies
 Estimate the unemployment rate
 Track and report changes in the economy
 Regulations on stock trading, drug approval, pollution o
Journalism
 Effective communication of statistical ideas to a broad audience
 Participation in education efforts o Expert Witness
 Testify in court cases involving DNA evidence, salary
discrepancies, discrimination, and disease clusters

• Definitions: A population is defined as the set of all possible members of a stated group. A
cross-section of the returns of all of the stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) is an example of a population.

• Definition: A sample is defined as a subset of the population of interest. Once a population

has been defined, a sample can be drawn from the population, and the sample’s characteristics
can be used to describe the population as a whole.

• Definition: A measure used to describe a characteristic of a population is referred to as a

parameter.

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• Definition: It is frequently too costly or time consuming to obtain measurements for every
member of a population, if it is even possible. In this case, a sample may be used. In the same
manner that a parameter may be used to describe a characteristic of a population, a sample
statistic is used to measure a characteristic of a sample.

• Measurements Scales:

o Nominal scale: Observations are classified or counted with no particular

order. It consists of assigning items to groups or categories. No
quantitative information is conveyed and no ordering of the items is
implied. Nominal scales are therefore qualitative rather than quantitative.
 Religious preference, race, and gender are all examples of
nominal scales.

o Ordinal scale: All observations are placed into separate categories and the
categories are placed in order with respect to some characteristic.
Differences between values makes no sense.
 Political parties on left to right spectrum given labels 0, 1, 2;
restaurant ratings, etc, are examples of ordinal scales.

o Interval scale: This scale provides ranking and assurance that differences
between scale values are equal. Difference makes sense, but ratio doesn’t;
and there is no natural zero.
 temperature (C,F) and dates are examples of interval scale

o Ratio scale: These represent the strongest level of measurement. In

addition to providing ranking and equal differences between scale values,
ratio scales have a true zero point as the origin.
 Height, weight, age and length are all examples of ratio scale.

Representation of Data Topic 9

• Definition: A frequency distribution is a tabular presentation of statistical data

that aids the analysis of large data sets. Frequency distributions summarize
statistical data by assigning it to specified groups, or intervals.

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Three steps are required to construct a frequency

distribution: o Define the intervals. o
Tally the observations. o Count the
observations.

• Definition: Relative frequency is calculated by dividing the frequency of each

interval by the total number of observations. Simply, relative frequency is the
percentage of total observations falling within each interval.

• Definition: Cumulative Frequency is calculated by summing the frequencies

starting at the lowest interval and progressing through the highest. Cumulative
frequency for any given interval is the sum of the frequencies up to and including
the given interval.

 Example:

• Definition: A Bar chart graphically represents the data sets by representing the
frequencies as heights of bars.
• Example: Genderwise groupings of

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students.

• Definition: A Bar chart which represents continuous data is called a histogram

if o The bars have no spaces between them (though there may be bars with
zero height, which could look like spaces).
o The area of each bar is proportional to the frequency.
o If all the bars have the same width, then the height is proportional to the
frequency.

• Example: Height ranges of students in centimeters.

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• Definition: Frequency Density is defined as the ratio between the frequency of a

class and the class width. i.e. Frequency Density = Frequency/Class Width

• Example:

• Histogram: Frequency Density of height ranges of students

• Cumulative Frequency Graphs: Another way of representing continuous data is to

draw a cumulative frequency graph. The cumulative frequencies are plotted
against the upper class boundaries of the corresponding class

• Example: The grouped frequency distribution in the following table summarizes

the masses in kilograms, measured to the nearest kilogram, of a sample of 38
students. Represent the data using a cumulative frequency graph

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• We can use the cumulative frequency graph to get other information also. For example,
what proportion of the students has mass less than 60 kg?

From the graph the frequency is about 8.8.The proportion under 60 kg = 8.8/38 = 0.23

or 23% • Pie Charts: Pie charts are useful for representing percentage allocation data.

For example, the budget of a household can be represented effectively through a pie
chart. Pie charts can be thought of as circle graphs. To calculate the quantities
represented by each slice of the pie chart we need to take the angular fraction of the
given total. i.e. If a particular frequency is x, and n is the total number, then the
allocation angle for that class will be (x/n).360

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• Example: In a survey, 90 people were asked to indicate which one of five musical
instruments they played. The information is given in the following

table.
Represent the data on a pie chart

Solution: We first calculate the allocation angle for each group:

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Measures of Central Tendency Topic 10

 Focus of Statistics:
We are concerned in statistics with three things:
o Measures of Location: where the data is clustered or centered. Also called measures
of central tendency.
o Measures of Dispersion: How the data is spread out from the center.
o Measures of Shape: How the data sways and peaks.

• Measures of Central Tendency: The central tendency is measured by averages. These

describe the point about which the various observed values cluster. In mathematics, an
average, or central tendency of a data set refers to a measure of the "middle" or
"expected" value of the data set.

• We will be studying the following measures of central tendency: Arithmetic Mean,

Geometric Mean, Weighted Mean, Harmonic Mean, Median, and Mode.

• Definition: The Arithmetic Mean is the sum of the observation values divided by the
number of observations. It is the most widely used measure of central tendency, and is the
only measure where the sum of the deviations of each value from the mean is always zero.
The formula for
n
x1  x2  x3 ............. xn
 i1
i
x
calculating the arithmetic mean of n values is: x  or, x  . n n

zzz z
• Arithmetic Mean of Grouped Data: If 1 2 3, , ,.........., k are the mid-values and
f f f
f1, 2, 3,........, k are the corresponding frequencies, where the subscript ‘k’ stands for the

number of classes, then the mean is z   fi zi .

f i

• Example: The math exam scores of 9 students are given below: 59, 66, 65, 74, 71, 67, 71,
62, 77.
59       66 65 74 71 67 71 62 77
612
The mean score is: x    68
9 9

• Definition: The Geometric Mean is often used when calculating investment returns over
multiple periods, or to find a compound growth rate. It is computed by taking the nth root
of the product of n values. In general, when we are dealing with numbers that need to be
multiplied, the geometric mean gives a more realistic picture than the arithmetic mean.
The geometric mean for n values is:

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=
• Geometric Mean of Grouped Data: If the “n” non-zero and positive variable values x1 2,x
x f f f
,........, n occur 1, 2,......., n times, respectively, then the geometric mean of the set of
1



f
1
f
2
f
n
N
1 n xifi  N where N fn i

observations is defined by: GM x1 x2 xn 

 i1  i1

• Example (a): Company A has grown over the last 3 years by 10 million, 12 million and
14 million dollars. What is the average annual growth amount?

This is arithmetic mean = (10 + 12 + 14)/3 = 12 million dollars. •

Example (b): The profit of Company B has grown over last three years by 2.5%, 3%,

and 3.5%.

What is the average growth rate?

1
This is geometric mean = [(1.025)(1.030)(1.035)]3  2.9992%

• Definition: The Weighted mean is a special case of the mean that allows different
weights on different observations. Formally, the weighted mean of a non-empty set of
data, x1,x2, …, xn, with non-negative weights w1, w2, …, wn, is the quantity calculated by

Note: The arithmetic mean is weighted mean where all the weights equal 1

• Example: Given two school classes, one with 20 students, and one with 30 students, the
grades in each class on a test were:

Morning class = 62, 67, 71, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 79, 80, 80, 81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 89, 93,
98

Afternoon class = 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 87, 88, 88, 89, 89, 89, 90, 90, 90, 90, 91, 91,
91, 92, 92, 93, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99

What is the average score of all the students if the average for the morning class is 80 and
the average of the afternoon class is 90?

Solution: The straight average of 80 and 90 is 85, the mean of the two class means.
However, this does not account for the difference in number of students in each class, and

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the value of 85 does not reflect the average student grade (independent of class). The
average student grade can be obtained by either averaging all the numbers without regard

to classes as x   86, or weighting the class means by the number of students in

each class: x   86.

• Definition: The Harmonic mean is often used by investors to find the average cost of
shares purchased over time. In certain situations, especially many situations involving
rates and ratios,
the harmonic mean provides the truest average. Formally, for a set of positive data values,
x1,x2, …, xn, the harmonic mean is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocals:

= .

• Example (c): You go on a 100 km trip. Suppose you travel half the time at 40 km/h and
half the time at 60 km/h. What is the average speed?

This is Arithmetic mean = (40 + 60)/2 = 50 km/hr

• Example (d): You go on a 100 km trip. Suppose you travel half the distance of your trip at
40 km/h, and the remaining half at 60 km/h. What is the average speed?

This is Harmonic mean = 2/(1/40 + 1/60) = 48 km/hr

• Definition: The median is the middle value of the observations such that the number of
observations above it is equal to the number of observations below it. If the number of
values, n is odd, then the median is the middle value, i.e. Me  x; if n is even, then the
median is the
(n1)

1 
average of the middle two values, i.e. Me  xn  xn 
2 2 21

 n
• Median of Grouped Data: For grouped data the median is given by: Me  Lo  h  
F
,
fo  2 
where o L0 = Lower class boundary of the median

class o h = Width of the median class o f0 =

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Frequency of the median class o F =

Cumulative frequency of the pre-median class

• Steps to Find the Median of Grouped Data:

o Compute the less than type cumulative

frequencies. o Determine n/2 , one-half of the total

number of cases.

o Locate the median class for which the cumulative

frequency is more than N/2 . o Determine the lower

limit of the median class. This is L0. o Sum the

frequencies of all classes prior to the median class.

This is F. o Determine the frequency of the median

class. This is f0.

o Determine the class width of the median class.

This is h. o Apply the Formula.

• Definition: Mode is the value of a distribution for which the frequency is maximum. In
other words, mode is the value of a variable, which occurs with the highest frequency. •
Example: The mode of the list (1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4) is 3. The mode is not necessarily
well defined.
The list (1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5) has the two modes 2 and 3.

• Mode of Grouped Data: The formula for finding mode from grouped data is
1
L
M0  1  h , where

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  12

o L1 = Lower boundary of modal class o Δ1 = difference of frequency between modal

class and class before it o Δ2 = difference of frequency between modal class and class

after

o h = class interval • Example: A commuter who travels to work by car has a choice of
two different routes, V and W. He decides to compare his journey times for each
route. So, he records the journey times, in minutes, for 10 consecutive working days,
for each route. The results are:

o Calculate the means and medians for the two routes respectively.

o Which average do you think is more suitable for comparing the time taken on each
route?

• Solution: For Route V: Mean = (53+52+48+51+49+47+42+48+57+53)/10 = 500/10 = 50

Arranging in ascending order, we get: 42, 47, 48, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 53, 57. So, the
Median is (49 + 51)/2 = 50

For Route W: Mean = (43+41+39+108+52+42+38+45+39+51)/10 = 498/10 = 49.8.

Arranging in ascending order, we get: 38, 39, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 51, 52,108. So, the
Median is (42 + 43)/2 = 42.5

Route W is quicker.

• Example: Consider the two sets of data A and B

A: 48, 52, 60, 60, 60, 68, 72

B: 0, 10, 60, 60, 60, 110, 120

For both sets of data the mean = median = mode = 60. Are the two data sets the same?

• If you were given nothing but the measures of location, you might be tempted to think that
the two sets of data are similar. But B is much more spread out than A. It is necessary for
us to devise some new measures to summarize the spread of data.

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Measures of Dispersion Topic 11

• The Measures of Dispersion we will consider are:

o Range

o Inter Quartile Range o Mean Absolute Deviation o Variance and Standard

Deviation.

• Definition: The Range is defined as the difference between the largest and the smallest
data values. i.e. Range = Largest Value – Smallest Value

o In the previous example, the range for A is: 72 – 48 = 24 and the range for B is:
120 – 0 = 120.

• Limitations of Range: Range is limited as it does not give the pattern of distribution in the
middle.

o Example:

Dataset C: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 10

Dataset D: 2, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 10

Both the datasets have same mean, same median and same range. But the data
patterns are different. In D, data is clustered around the center, but in C it is
farther away from the center.

We need more accurate measures of dispersion.

• Definition: The quantiles are values which divide the distribution such that there is a
given proportion of observations below the quantile. It is mostly used to compare one’s
results with others.

• Commonly used quantiles are:

o Quartiles: The distribution is divided into quarters. o Quintiles: The distribution

is divided into fifths. o Deciles: The distribution is divided into tenths.

o Percentile: The distribution is divided into hundredths (percents).

• At a given percentile, y, with n data points sorted in ascending order, the position of the
observation: Ly = (n + 1) (y/100). Then from the dataset we can obtain Py which is the
Lyth value • Example, For 11 observations, the third quartile (point below which 75%
of observations lie) can be identified as the 9th value since Ly = (11 + 1) (75/100) = 9

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• Example: Consider the data set: 47 35 37 32 40 39 36 34 35 31 44

o Find the 75th percentile point. o Find the 1st quartile point.

o Find the 5th decile point.

Solution: First arrange the data in ascending order: 31, 32, 34, 35, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40,

44, 47 o Location of the 75th percentile is the L75 = (11 + 1) (75/100) = 9th

value. i.e. P75=40 o Location of the 1st quartile is the L25 = (11 + 1) (25/100) =

3rd value. i.e. P25=34 o Location of the 5th decile is the L50 = (11 + 1) (50/100) =

6th value. i.e P50=36.

• Definition: Recall, the first quartile, denoted by Q1, is the value below which 25% of the
values lie, while the third quartile, denoted by Q3, is the value below which 75% of the
values lie. The inter-quartile range, IQR, is defined as Q3 – Q1.

IQR contains information about the spread of the middle 50% of the data.

Note: the second quartile, Q2 = Median

• Another way to find Quartiles:

o Case1: If there are even number of data values.

 Arrange the data in ascending order

 Split the data into upper half and lower half

 The median of the upper half is Q3 and the median of the lower half is Q1

o Case2: There are odd number of data values.

 Arrange the data in ascending order

 Find the median Q2 and delete it from the list to get even number of
values.

 Use the method of case one to find Q1 and Q3

• How to Read the Quartiles from a cumulative graph: Results from two traffic surveys with
50 cars each taken at two observation points A and B are summarized below.

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Find the Median and the IQR

• Solution: Q1 is the value below which 25% of the values lie. i.e. it is the value
corresponding to
CF = 0.25(50) = 12.5

Q3 is the value below which 75% of the values lie. i.e. it is the value corresponding to CF
= 0.75(50) = 37.5

Q2 is the value below which 50% of the values lie. i.e. it is the value corresponding
to CF = 0.5(50) = 25 For A:

Median = 51, Q1 = 30, Q3 = 71, IQR = 41

For B:

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Median = 76, Q1 = 64, Q3 = 89, IQR = 25

Median speed at A is lower than the median speed at B, and the IQR at A is greater
than the IQR at B.
So, at A, the cars go more slowly and there is greater variation in their speeds

• Five Number Summary: One helpful way to summarize data is to give values which
provide essential information about the data set. One such summary is called the five-
number summary. This summary gives the median, Q2, the lower quartile, Q1, the
upper quartile, Q3, the minimum value, m, and the maximum value, M.

• Box and Whiskers Plot: The five-number summary can be converted into a useful
diagram, called the box-and-whisker plot, or a boxplot. Steps are:
o Draw a scale (horizontal or vertical)
o Above the scale draw a box (rectangle) in which the left side is above the
point corresponding to Q1 and the right side is above the point corresponding
to Q3. Then mark a third line inside the box above the point corresponding to
Q 2.
o Draw the two whiskers: the left whisker extends from Q1 to m, and the right
whisker extends from Q3 to M.

• Example: The data below give the number of fish caught each day over a period of 11
days by a fisherman. Give a five number summary of the data, and plot a box and
whiskers diagram: 0, 2, 5, 2, 0, 4, 4, 8, 9, 8, 8

Solution: Rearrange the data in ascending order: 0, 0, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9

The median value is the 6th value i.e. Q2 = 4
Lower quartile is the 3rd value, i.e. Q1 = 2
Upper quartile is the 9th value, i.e. Q3 = 8
The five-number summary is then: m = 0, Q1 = 2, Q2 = 4, Q3 = 8, M = 9
Here is the box-and-whisker plot for the distribution of the number of fish caught over
11 days

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• So far we have only looked at dispersion measuring methods that measure ranges of
values. We need dispersion measures that measure variation for each value in the
dataset.

• Definition: Mean absolute deviation (MAD) is the average of the absolute values of
the
1
deviations of individual observations from the arithmetic mean. MAD n| X X |

Example:

M.A.D. = 42/9 = 4.66

• Limitations of MAD o Absolute values are not very easy to manipulate algebraically.
o Its graph is not “smooth” and that causes problems in dealing with it in
calculus.

• Definition: The Variance of a dataset is the mean of the squared deviations from the
mean. It
2
1
2
is calculated using the formula: Var X( )
 n(X X )

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Standard deviation is the positive square root of the variance. i.e.

1 2

n
(X  X )
SD  

• It can be shown through algebraic means that the variance formula can be written as
2
1 2
1 2 2

Var X( )   (X X )  nX (X )

n

• Example:

2 2

n
Using the definition:   ( XX )  (274)  30.4
9 1 1
Using the alternative formula:
2
1 2 2
1 2

 X (X )  9 (30550)58  3394.43364  30.4

n

• Example: 12 boys and 13 girls, in a class of 25 students were given a test. The mean
and SD of the 12 boys were 31 and 6.2 respectively; the mean and SD of the 13 girls
were 36 and 4.3 respectively. Find the mean marks and SD of the whole class of 25
students.

Solution: Let the Boys’ marks be represented by x1, x2, … x12. Let the Girls’ marks be
represented by y1, y2, … y13.

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 
We are given x  xi 12  31. This means that xi  (31)(12)  372 . Given that SD of
Boys

x i2

is 6.2, the variance of Boys = 38.44. This means that 312  38.44. This gives
12
x i
2
12(38.4431 )2 11993.28

We are also given y   yi 13  36. This means that yi  (36)(13)  468

 yi2
Given that SD of Girls is 4.3, the variance of Girls = 18.49. This means 362 18.49 ,
13
which gives y i
2
13(18.4936 )2 17088.37
372 468 840
 x  y i i

The overall mean is    33.6

25 25 25
The overall variance is  x i
2
yi2 (33.6)2  11993.28 17088.37
(33.6)  34.306
2

25 25
So, the overall SD = 34.306 5.86

• Variance for Grouped Data: The formula for variance of grouped data is:

x f 2 2

Variance  i i
( )x
 fi

• Definition: If the mean of a sample statistic is equal to the population parameter, the
sample statistic is called an unbiased estimator of the population parameter. The
sample variance becomes unbiased if we divide by n – 1 instead of n.

• Estimate of Population Variance: When a sample is used to actually estimate the population
variance there is a different formula for the sample variance and the sample standard deviation
1 2 2
The unbiased estimator of the population variance is s 
n 1  (X  X )

1 2
And the unbiased estimator of the population standard deviation is s 
n 1  (X  X )

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• Chebyshev’s Theorem: For any set of observations, the proportion of the observations within
k standard deviations of the mean is at least: 1 – (1/k2) for all k > 1.

• Chebyshev’s inequality can be used to measure maximum amount of dispersion,

regardless of the shape of the distribution.

• Example: A distribution has a mean of 3. If 75% of all of its observations lie between
1.25 and 4.75, what is the standard deviation of this distribution?

Solution: We observe that the two values – 1.25 and 4.75 - are equidistant from the
mean of
3. In other
words, 3 –
kσ = 1.25
and 3 + kσ
= 4.75.
This gives us 2kσ = 3.5 or kσ = 1.75
Now, by Chebyshev’s theorem, we have 1 – (1/k2) = 0.75. This gives k = 2. Therefore
2σ =
1.75, or σ = 0.875

• Definition: The coefficient of variation expresses how much dispersion exists relative to the
mean of a distribution and allows for direct comparison of dispersion across different data
sets. It is used in investment analysis to compare relative risks.
CV  s = standard deviation of x / average value of x.
X

• Example: Investment A has a mean return of 7% and an std dev of 0.05. Investment B
has a mean return of 12% and a std dev of 0.07. Which is riskier?

Solution: A’s CV is 0.05 / 0.07 = .714; B’s CV is 0.07 / 0.12 = 0.583

A has 0.714 units of risk for each unit of return while B has 0.583 units of risk for
each unit of return. A has more risk per unit of return.

Skewness and Kurtosis Topic 12

• Definition: The first four central moments about the mean are defined as follows: o

1  (x x) n

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o 2  (x 
x)2 n

o 3  (x 
x)3 n

o 4  (x 
x)4 n

• Definition: Skewness, or skew, refers to the extent to which a distribution is not

symmetrical. Non-symmetrical distributions may be either positively or negatively
skewed and result from the occurrence of outliers in the data set.

o A positively skewed distribution is characterized by many outliers in the upper

region, or right tail. A positively skewed distribution is said to be skewed right
because of its relatively long upper (right) tail.
o A negatively skewed distribution has a disproportionately large amount of
outliers that fall within its lower (left) tail. A negatively skewed distribution is
said to be skewed left because of its long lower tail.

• Definition: The moment coefficient of skewness, β1, is defined as μ32/ μ23, where the
sign of skewness is determined by the sign of β1 and the degree of skewness is
determined by the absolute value of β1.

• Skewness and Measures of Central Tendency: Skewness affects the location of the
mean, median, and mode of a distribution as summarized in the following bulleted
list.

o For a positively skewed distribution, the mode is less than the median, which is less
than the mean. The mean is affected by outliers; in a positively skewed distribution, there
are large, positive outliers which will tend to "pull" the mean upward, or more positive.

o For a negatively skewed distribution, the mean is less than the median, which is less
than the mode. In this case, there are large, negative outliers which tend to "pull" the
mean downward (to the left).

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The diagrams illustrate an empirical relationship between mean, Median and the Mode. They
suggest that the distance between the Mean and the Mode is three times the distance between
the Mean and the Median, i.e. Mean – Mode = 3(Mean – Median)

Note: This is only an empirical and approximate relationship. There is no mathematical

proof for it, and one can find counter examples where this is not true. However, in most
smoothly skewed distributions this relationship holds. • Example: (a) Given Mean =
20, Mode = 15 find the value of Median. (b) Given Mode = 25, Median = 20, find the
value of Mean.
Solution: (a) Mode = 3 Median — 2 Mean

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15 = 3 Median — (2 x 20)

15 = 3 Median — 40

3 Median = 55 or Median = 18.3

(b) Mode = 3 Median — 2 Mean

25 = (3x20) — 2 Mean

25 = 60—2 Mean, or 2 Mean = 35

Mean = 17.5

• Another measure of skewness is the Pearson’s coefficient of skewness:

Mean-Mode 3(Mean-Median)
Pearson's coefficient of skewness  
Standard deviation Standard deviation

• Example: Find the pearson’s Coefficient of Skewness from the following data:

Solution:

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Mean = 2485/35 = 71
1 5
M0  L1  h  60 (10)  67.14   1 2
5 2

sd   x fi2 i ( )x 2  184475 (71)2  229.71 15.16

fi 35
(Mean-Mode) (7167.14)
SK    0.255
Standard deviation 15.16
The distribution is positively skewed.

• Measuring Peakedness: Kurtosis is a measure of the degree to which a distribution is

more or less "peaked" than a normal distribution.

• The most important measure of kurtosis based on the second and fourth moments is

 n(x x )4

2 242  (x x )22 o If 2  3

0,the distribution is leptokurtic. o If 2

 3 0, the distribution is platykurtic. o
If 2  3 0, the distribution is
mesokurtic.
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These pictures are illustrated in the following diagram:

Leptokurtic distribution has a higher peak than the normal distribution and fatter tails than
normal distribution.

Platykurtic distribution has a flatter peak than the normal distribution and thinner tails than the
normal distribution.

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Probability Concepts Topic 13

• Probability is the calculation of chance of a particular hypothesis being true or false.

• Example: Hypothesis: “Head will turn up when I toss a fair coin once” o The chances

that this hypothesis will be true is 0.5 or 1 in 2.

o We say that the probability that heads will show is 0.5.

• Definition: An event is a specified set of outcomes or a particular hypothesis.

o We usually denote events by capital letters such as A, B, C, P, Q, R, etc.

• Notation: We denote probability by capital P, and the probability of an event A by P(A).

Example: In the above example if we say that A is the event that head will turn up when
we toss a fair coin once, then we write P(A) = 0.5

• An event can be a single outcome or a combination of outcomes. The following are all
examples of events:

o A = Head shows up when we toss a coin o B = Head shows up on the second and

the third toss of a coin.

o C = A number greater than 3 appears when we roll a die.

• Definition: Two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot happen at the same time. •
Example: When we toss a coin, the events H {= Head shows up} and T {=Tail
shows up} are mutually exclusive as they both cannot happen at the same time.

• Definition: A collection of events is exhaustive if all the possible elementary

events under the experiment are covered by the event(s) considered together. In
other words, the events are said to be exhaustive when they are such that at least
one of the events compulsorily occurs.

• Example: When we toss a coin, the events H and T are exhaustive as they cover all
the possibilities of the experiment.

• Definition: A Probability Space or Sample Space is the set of all the possible
outcomes in an experiment.

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• Example: When we toss a fair coin three times, we get the following Sample
Space:

HHH HHT HTH THH TTH THT HTT TTT, , , , , , , 

• The probability of an event A is defined by: P(A) = # of ways in which A can
occur
# of events in the sample space

• Characteristics of a Probability Distribution:

o The probability of any event A lies between 0 and 1, i.e. 0  P A( ) 1 o
The sum of probabilities of all the mutually exclusive and exhaustive
events in a probability distribution equals 1.

• Definition: Two events A and B are independent if knowledge of one event

happening does not affect the probability of occurrence of the other event.

• Example: Suppose an experiment consists of tossing a fair coin twice. Let A be the
event that Head turns up on the first toss and let B be the event that Tail turns up
on the second toss. Then A and B are independent as the occurrence of one does
not affect the occurrence of the other.

• Definition: If A is an event, then Ac (or A’ ) is called the complement of A, and

P(A) + P(Ac) = 1

• Multiplication Rule: The probability that event A and event B occur together is
given by the multiplication rule:P AB( )  P A(  B)  P A P B( ). ( )

• Addition Rule: The probability that event A or event B occur is given by the
addition rule: P A(  B)  P A( )  P B( )  P A(  B)

• Example: The following table summarizes the availability of trucks with air bags
and bucket seats at a dealership.

What is the probability of selecting a truck at random that has either air bags or
bucket seats?

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Solution: The addition rule for probabilities is used to determine the probability of
at least one event among two or more events occurring. The probability of each
event is added and the joint probability (if the events are not mutually exclusive) is
subtracted to arrive at the solution. P(air bags or bucket seats) = P(air bags) +
P(bucket seats) - P(air bags and bucket seats) = (125/220) + (110/220) - (75/220) =
0.57 + 0.50 0.34 = 0.73 or 73 percent.

Alternative: 1 - P(no airbag and no bucket seats) = 1 - (60/220) = 73%

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General Mathematics VU

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