IIE Module Manual IQTT5111/d/p/w

IQTT5111/d/p/w
INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES
AND THINKING
MODULE MANUAL 2022
(First Edition: 2020)

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Table of Contents
Using this Manual.........................................................................................................6
Introduction ..................................................................................................................7
Module Purpose ...........................................................................................................8
Module Outcomes ........................................................................................................8
Assessments ................................................................................................................9
Learning Unit 1: Introduction to Numeracy .................................................................10
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................10
2 Basic Calculations...............................................................................................11
3 The Number Line and Inequalities ......................................................................13
4 The Number Line and Negative Numbers ..........................................................16
5 Fractions .............................................................................................................18
6 BODMAS ............................................................................................................22
7 Commutative, Associative and Distributive Laws ...............................................24
8 Computing the Average and Finding Missing Values .........................................25
9 Powers (Exponents) and Roots ..........................................................................27
10 Approximation (Decimal Places and Significant Figures) ................................28
11 Percentages ....................................................................................................30
12 Ratios and Proportions ....................................................................................34
13 Activities ..........................................................................................................35
14 Revision Exercises ..........................................................................................43
15 Solutions to Revision Exercises ......................................................................47
Learning Unit 2: Basic Algebra...................................................................................51
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................51
2 Basic Rules of Algebra........................................................................................52
3 Equations ............................................................................................................54
4 Solving Algebraic Problems ................................................................................54
5 Formulae .............................................................................................................55
6 Solving Inequalities in Algebra ............................................................................57
7 Linear Equations .................................................................................................57
8 Simultaneous Equations .....................................................................................59
9 Non-Linear Equations .........................................................................................61
10 Activities ..........................................................................................................61
11 Revision Exercises ..........................................................................................66
12 Solutions to Revision Exercises ......................................................................70
Learning Unit 3: Using Tables and Graphs ................................................................75
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................75
2 Quantitative Data ................................................................................................76
3 Tables and Graphs: An Introduction ...................................................................77
4 Tables and Graphs: Qualitative Data ..................................................................78
5 Tables and Graphs: Quantitative Data ................................................................80
6 Activities ..............................................................................................................85
7 Revision Exercises..............................................................................................90
8 Solutions to Revision Exercises ..........................................................................92
Learning Unit 4: Introduction to Excel ........................................................................96
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................96

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2 Arithmetic Operations .........................................................................................97

3 Computation of Statistical Values .....................................................................106
4 Creating a Bar Chart in Excel: An Example ......................................................113
5 Creating a Pie Chart in Excel: An Example ......................................................117
6 Creating a Histogram in Excel: An Example .....................................................120
7 Activities ............................................................................................................124
8 Revision Exercises............................................................................................128
9 Solutions to Revision Exercises ........................................................................130
Learning Unit 5: Statistical Measures .......................................................................132
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................132
2 Measures of Central Tendency, Location and Variability ..................................133
3 Measures of Central Tendency .........................................................................133
4 Measures of Variability......................................................................................138
5 Activities ............................................................................................................140
6 Revision Exercise .............................................................................................144
7 Solution to Revision Exercise ...........................................................................145
Learning Unit 6: Basic Geometry .............................................................................147
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................147
2 Perimeter and Circumference ...........................................................................147
3 Area ..................................................................................................................149
4 Volume ..............................................................................................................151
5 Activities ............................................................................................................152
6 Revision Exercises............................................................................................154
7 Solutions to Revision Exercises ........................................................................156
Learning Unit 7: Financial Calculations ....................................................................159
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................159
2 Determining VAT-Inclusive and VAT-Exclusive Values ....................................160
3 Calculating Commission ...................................................................................160
4 Mark-Up ............................................................................................................161
5 Mark-Down and Discount..................................................................................162
6 Interest Calculations .........................................................................................163
7 Activities ............................................................................................................165
8 Revision Exercises............................................................................................169
9 Solutions to Revision Exercises ........................................................................172
Bibliography .............................................................................................................174
Intellectual Property .................................................................................................175

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Using this Manual

This manual has been developed to meet the specific objectives of the module and
uses a number of different sources. It functions as a stand-alone resource for this
module and no prescribed textbook or material is therefore required. There may,
however, be occasions when additional readings are also recommended to
supplement the information provided. Where these are specified, please ensure that
you engage with the reading as indicated.

Various activities and revision questions are included in the learning units of this
manual. These are designed to help you to engage with the subject matter as well as
to help you prepare for your assessments.

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Introduction
The Introduction to Quantitative Thinking and Techniques module develops new ways
of thinking about basic mathematics and the ideas and concepts that it represents.
This is done in the current context of information-based decision-making and data
analytics. We live in a technologically advanced world and the use of computers is
significant to everything we do. In addition to many things, computers enable us to do
mathematical calculations, efficiently and accurately.

We all need numeracy skills, necessary for attaining the confidence and skill to use
numbers and mathematical approaches in all aspects of life. This module reviews basic
arithmetic operations, BODMAS, fractions, decimals, percentages, exponents, ratios
and proportions. We also cover their application in the real world.

We further learn how to apply algebraic rules such as substitution, expanding brackets,
factorising, simplifying and expanding to algebraic expression, and express word
problems as inequalities. In addition, we will also combine functions using algebraic
expressions and given a real-life scenario set up linear equations and learn to solve
simultaneous equations in a step-by-step process using graphical, substitution and
elimination methods. You will learn to use graphs to illustrate linear functions and
depict real-world applications such as profit, revenue and cost using equations and
graphs. Tables and graphs are visual representations which are used to organise
information to show patterns and relationships. Researchers and scientists often use
tables and graphs to report findings from their research which can look at qualitative
and quantitative data types.

The module further introduces Excel as a daily tool to do basic arithmetic calculations,
using Excel built-in functions, to draw graphs and convert real-world situations into an
Excel file in order to do relevant calculations and write a simple ethical report to
interpret your Excel findings. Excel is further utilised in Statistical purposes as we
calculate and interpret measures of central tendency, location and variability. These
will include the mean, mode and median for ungrouped data, standard deviation,
variance, quartiles and percentiles for continuous data and quartiles and percentiles in
an ordered data set.

This module further takes you through basic Geometry and introduces you to solving
real-life problems on relationships between the side lengths, perimeters, areas and
volumes. The module then concludes with the world of finance, which plays a pivotal
role in anything we do, and the ability to effectively plan, and account for our finances
is essential.

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Module Purpose
The module develops new ways of thinking about basic mathematics and the ideas and
concepts that it represents. This is done in the current context of information-based
decision-making and data analytics.
Module Outcomes
Determine mathematical solutions to basic quantitative business problems
MO1
using appropriate tools and techniques.
Express real-world quantitative problems in appropriate mathematical terms
MO2
to derive solutions.
Estimate and judge the accuracy and reasonableness of mathematical
MO3
solutions to basic problems.
MO4 Read and interpret data expressed in various forms.
Work with and represent data and information in ethical and appropriate
MO5
ways.

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Assessments
IQTT5111/d/p

Integrated Curriculum Engagement (ICE)

Minimum number of ICE 4
activities to complete
Weighting towards the final 10%
module mark

Tests/Examination Test Assignment Examination

Weighting 25% 30% 35%
Duration 1 hour 10 hours 2 hours
Total marks 60 100 120
Open/ closed book Closed book Open book Closed book
Resources required Scientific Scientific calculator Scientific
calculator calculator
Learning Units covered LU 1 - 2 LU 1 - 4 ALL

IQTT5111w

Integrated Curriculum Engagement (ICEw)

Minimum number of ICE 4
activities to complete
Weighting towards the final 10%
module mark

Tests/Examination Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Examination

Weighting 25% 30% 35%
Duration 1 hour 10 hours 2 hours
Total marks 100 100 120
Open/ closed book Open book Open book Closed book
Resources required Scientific Scientific calculator Scientific
calculator calculator
Learning Units covered LU 1 - 2 LU 1 - 4 ALL

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Learning Unit 1: Introduction to

Numeracy
Learning Objectives: Having My notes
completed this learning unit, students
should be proficient in:

• Perform four basic operations

(addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division) on
positive and negative whole
numbers;
• Define identity fractions as proper,
improper and mixed;
• Perform calculations with fractions
using the four basic operations
(addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division);
• Explain BODMAS and apply it to
calculations;
• Express fractions as decimals and
percentages;
• Calculate answers to appropriate
decimal places or significant
figures;
• Explain Exponent rules and use
them to solve problems
• Calculate ratio;
• Solve real word problems involving
ratios and proportions;
• Solve real world problem involving
fractions and percentages.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises given in
the manual

1 Introduction
This learning unit provides revision on various topics with which
students should already be familiar. Topics covered range from
basic arithmetic calculations to percentages to ratios and
proportions.

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2 Basic Calculations
2.1 Addition
Addition involves the summing together of two or more values.
It is represented by the + sign.

Example:

You wish to buy a desk and chair for your home office. The desk
that you have chosen costs R3 599,99 and the chair you like
costs R999,99. The total cost of purchasing the desk and chair
is found by adding their respective individual costs together:

Total cost of desk and chair = cost of desk + cost of chair

= 3 599,99 + 999,99
= R4 599,98

2.2 Subtraction
Subtraction is the opposite of addition. It involves taking away
one value from another. It is also referred to as determining the
difference between two values. It is represented by the – sign.

Example:

You are shopping in a stationery store. You have selected

R1 458,63 worth of stationery and suddenly realise that you
have picked up two diaries for next year by mistake. You decide
not to buy the least expensive diary, which costs R125,45. How
much will the remaining stationery now cost you?

Cost of remaining stationery

= original cost of stationery − cost of diary
= R1 458,63 − R125,45
= R1 333,18

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2.3 Multiplication
Multiplication is represented by the × sign. It is the repetitive
addition of a value. For example, 3 × 6 may be interpreted as
adding six to itself three times, i.e. 3 × 6 = 6 + 6 + 6 = 18.

Example:

As the Purchasing Manager, it is your responsibility to purchase

new vehicles for all the salespeople in the company. The vehicle
you have chosen for this purpose costs R219 999,99. If there
are eight salespeople in the company, what is the total cost of
purchasing the vehicles?

Total cost of purchasing vehicles

= cost per vehicle × number of vehicles
= R219 999,99 × 8
= R1 759 999,99

2.4 Division
Division is the process of determining how many times one
number goes into another number. It is normally represented by
the ÷ sign.

Example:

A clothing shop in your local shopping mall currently has a “three

for the price of two” special on men’s shirts. If the price of each
shirt is normally R592,50, how much will you pay for each of the
three shirts?

Normal price of two shirts = 2 × R592,50 = R1 185,00

Price of each of the three shirts = R1185,00 ÷ 3 = R395,00

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3 The Number Line and Inequalities

The number line indicates the location of a number relative to
other numbers. An example of a number line is given below.

| | | | | | | | | | |
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Negative numbers lie below zero and as a result lie to the left of
zero on the number line. Positive numbers lie above zero and
therefore lie to the right of zero on the number line.

3.1 Less than

If a number is less than another number, then the former
number lies to the left of the latter number on the number line.

Example:

You need to purchase a new laptop and prefer to purchase the

laptop that is the cheapest option. You have the choice between
laptop A that costs R8 995,99 and laptop B that costs
R8 999,99.

R8 995,99 < R8 999,99

As R8 995,99 lies to the left of R8 999,99 on the number line,

R8 995,99 is less than R8 999,99 and therefore laptop A is the
cheapest option.

3.2 Greater than

If a number is greater than another number, then the former
number lies to the right of the latter number on the number line.

Example:

If employee X produces 91,68 units of a product per day, while

employee Y produces 91,48 units per day of the same product,
which of the two employees is most productive?

91,68 > 91,48

As 91,68 lies to the right of 91,48 on the number line, 91,68 is

greater than 91,48, and therefore employee X is more
productive than employee Y.

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3.3 Less than or Equal to

If a number is less than or equal to another number, then the
former number is equal to, or lies to the left, of the latter number
on the number line.

For the less than or equal to sign to apply, the number on the
left-hand side of the sign must be less than OR equal to the
number on the right-hand side of the sign. There are two
different conditions indicated by this sign. Only one of the
conditions needs to be satisfied for the sign to be true.

Example:

To be accepted as an entrant to this weekend’s 10km race, a

runner must have completed a recent 10km race in a time of
seventy minutes or less. Last weekend, you completed a 10km
race in one hour and ten minutes. Do you qualify for this
weekend’s race?

One hour and ten minutes converted into minutes is seventy

minutes. Seventy minutes is NOT less than seventy minutes but
IS equal to seventy minutes. Therefore, the following is true:

One hour and ten minutes ≤ 70

You therefore qualify for this weekend’s race.

3.4 Greater than or Equal to

If a number is greater than or equal to another number, then the
former number is equal to, or lies to the right, of the latter
number on the number line.

For the greater than or equal to sign to apply, the number on the
left-hand side of the sign must be greater than OR equal to the
number on the right-hand side of the sign. Again, there are two
different conditions indicated by this sign and only one of the
conditions needs to be satisfied for the sign to be true.

Example:

Client Z has an outstanding amount on his account with your

company. Your financial manager informs the client that he must
make a payment of at least R30 000 towards this outstanding
amount, or his account will be handed over to your company’s
legal representatives. The client pays R30 000 immediately. Will
his account be handed over?

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“At least” is another way of saying “greater than or equal to”. To

avoid having his account handed over, the client needs to pay
an amount equal to R30 000, or greater than R30 000. In other
words:

Amount paid ≥ R30 000

R30 000 is NOT greater than R30 000, but it IS equal to

R30 000, and therefore the client’s account will not be handed
over to your legal representatives.

3.5 Not Equal to

“Not equal to” is the opposite of “equal to” and is indicated by
the sign ≠. In order for the ≠ sign to be true, the values on either
side of the sign must NOT be the same.

Example:

The diameter of a typical replacement heart valve is 2,50cm. If

the diameter is too large, too much blood reaches the heart. If
the diameter is too small, the amount of blood that reaches the
heart is not enough. Thus, the desired condition is:

Heart valve diameter = 2,50cm

A heart valve with a diameter of 2,75cm would not be

appropriate, as 2,75 is not equal to 2,50. In other words:

2,75cm ≠ 2,50cm

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4 The Number Line and Negative

Numbers
Dealing with negative numbers is very simple. As you will see
below, if you have two signs which are the same, then this
always results in a positive (or “plus”) sign. On the other hand,
if you have two different signs, then this always results in a
negative (or “minus”) sign.

4.1 Addition
Adding a negative number to any number gives the same result
as subtracting the positive version of the negative number. For
example:

12 + −8 = 12 − 8 = 4

Therefore, adding a negative number to any number results in

a movement to the left along the number line. Notice that the
combination of the plus sign and the minus sign results in a
negative sign, as discussed above.

Example:

Your company’s revenue for the last month was R835 000,
while the company’s total expenses for the same period were
R1 001 625. Therefore, the company’s cashflow for the month
was:

R835 000 + (−R1 001 625) = R835 000 − R1 001 625

= −R166 625

In other words, a negative cashflow of R166 625.

4.2 Subtraction
Subtracting a negative number from any number gives the same
result as adding the positive version of the negative number. For
example:

12 − −8 = 12 + 8 = 20

Therefore, subtracting a negative number from any number

results in a movement to the right along the number line. Notice
that the combination of the minus sign and the minus sign
results in a positive sign, as discussed above.

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Example:

Your company currently has a negative balance of R8 565 on

its bank account and you have just purchased a further R650
worth of stationery from the same account:

−R8 565 + −R650 = −R8 565 − R650 = −R9 215

The balance on the company’s bank account will now be a

negative one of R9 215.

4.3 Multiplication
Multiplying a number by a negative number will give a negative
result if the first number is positive and a positive result if the
first number is negative. For example:

12 × −8 = −96

−12 × −8 = 96

As can be seen from these results, and as previously discussed,

the combination of a positive sign and a negative sign will result
in a negative sign, while the combination of a negative sign and
a negative sign will result in a positive sign.

Example:

As a result of an administrative error, your company accidentally

overcharged each of five of your clients by an amount of
R1 457,50. These amounts must now be transferred out of your
company’s bank account back to the relevant clients. The effect
on your bank account will be as follows:

5 × −R1 457,50 = −R7 287,50

Therefore R7 287,50 will be deducted from the company bank

account.

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4.4 Division
Dividing a number by a negative number will give a negative
result if the first number is positive, and a positive result if the
first number is negative. For example:

20 ÷ −4 = −5

−20 ÷ −4 = 5

As can be seen from the above results and as previously

discussed, the combination of a positive sign and a negative
sign will result in a negative sign, while the combination of a
negative sign and a negative sign will result in a positive sign.

5 Fractions
A fraction is defined in its simplest terms as being a part of a
whole number. A fraction is most commonly expressed in the
following format:

𝑎
𝑏

The number above the dividing line (“a” in this example) is

referred to as the numerator. The number below the dividing
line (“b” in this example) is referred to as the denominator.

For example, a half is expressed as:

1
2

While a quarter is expressed as:

1
4

If the numerator is less than the denominator, then this type of

fraction is referred to as a proper fraction. Both fractions given
above are examples of proper fractions.

On the other hand, an improper fraction is one where the

numerator is greater than the denominator. For example:

5
4

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An improper fraction can also be expressed as a mixed fraction.

A mixed fraction is one where the fraction is expressed as a
whole number and a proper fraction. The previous example of
an improper fraction can be expressed as a mixed fraction as
follows:

1
1
4

A simplified fraction is one where the numerator and

denominator have both been divided by the same common
value, resulting in a new fraction. For example, dividing the
numerator and denominator of the fraction on the left-hand side
below by four gives the fraction on the right-hand side:

4 1
=
8 2

As both fractions in the example above have the same

mathematical meaning, such fractions are referred to as
equivalent fractions.

A fraction can be expressed as a decimal fraction by dividing

the numerator by the denominator. For example:

1
= 0,125
8

A terminating fraction is one where the decimal fraction version

of the fraction has a finite number of decimal places. For
example:

1
= 0,2
5

A recurring fraction is a non-terminating fraction. For example:

1
= 0,3333333 … = 0, 3̇
3

5.1 Calculations Involving Fractions

The following procedure can be applied when adding fractions:

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑑 + 𝑏𝑐
+ =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏𝑑

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For example:

1 2 (1 × 7) + (3 × 2) 7 + 6 13
+ = = =
3 7 3×7 21 21

The following procedure can be applied when subtracting

fractions:

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑑 − 𝑏𝑐
− =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏𝑑

For example:

2 1 (2 × 9) − (5 × 1) 18 − 5 13
+ = = =
5 9 5×9 45 45

The following procedure can be applied when multiplying

fractions:

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑐
× =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏𝑑

For example:

2 3 2×3 6
× = =
7 11 7 × 11 77

The following procedure can be applied when dividing

fractions:

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎×𝑑
÷ =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏×𝑐

For example:

4 1 4 × 13 52 7
÷ = = =5
9 13 9×1 9 9

5.2 Fraction Examples

Example 1:

You are a salesman for company Z. Total sales for company Z

last year were R900 000. You were responsible for obtaining
R150 000 worth of these sales. As a fraction, your share of the
total sales was, in simplified form:

R150 000 1
=
R900 000 6

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Example 2:

You and your brother own shares in the family business. He

owns one-sixth of the shares, while you own one-eighth of the
shares. You wish to know the size of your combined ownership,
expressed as a fraction:

1 1 (1 × 8) + (6 × 1) 8 + 6 14 7
+ = = = =
6 8 6×8 48 48 24

Example 3:

Up until now, company X has had a contract to provide a large

client with two-fifths of their requirements of a raw material.
Unfortunately, company Y can offer the client the same raw
material at a lower price. As a result, the client has now decided
to source one-third of the raw material previously provided by
company X from company Y. We wish to know what fraction of
the client’s total requirement of this raw material is now provided
by each company.

Company Y now provides one-third of the two-fifths that were

previously provided by company X. Therefore, company Y
provides:

1 2 1×2 2
× = =
3 5 3 × 5 15

Likewise, company X now only provides two-thirds of the

two-fifths that it previously provided. Therefore, company X
provides:

2 2 2×2 4
× = =
3 5 3 × 5 15

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6 BODMAS
BODMAS provides a step-by-step process by which to correctly
solve complicated arithmetic problems. The order in which
arithmetic operations should be applied is as follows:

• Brackets
• Of
• Division
• Multiplication
• Addition
• Subtraction

For example, consider the following problem:

16 × 5 + (35 − 3) ÷ 23 − 34

At the first stage of solving the problem, if the problem includes

terms in brackets, solve for the terms in brackets before doing
anything else. In our example:

16 × 5 + (35 − 3) ÷ 23 − 34
= 16 × 5 + 32 ÷ 23 − 34

At the second stage, if the problem involves a number raised to

a power, or includes a percentage of a number, then this should
now be dealt with.

In our example:

16 × 5 + 32 ÷ 23 − 34
= 16 × 5 + 32 ÷ 8 − 34

At the third stage, if the problem includes a number that needs

to be divided by another number, then this should now be dealt
with. In our example:

16 × 5 + 32 ÷ 8 − 34
= 16 × 5 + 4 − 34

At the fourth stage, if the problem includes a number that needs

to be multiplied by another number, then this should now be
dealt with. In our example:

16 × 5 + 4 − 34
= 80 + 4 − 34

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At the fifth stage, if the problem includes a number that needs

to be added to another number, then this should now be dealt
with. In our example:

80 + 4 − 34
= 84 − 34

At the sixth and final stage, if the problem includes a number

that needs to be subtracted from another number, then this
should now be dealt with. In our example:

84 − 34
= 50

Example:

You run a company that designs and builds custom kitchens.

Last month, your company constructed five kitchens for different
clients. Each client was charged R115 000 per kitchen. The cost
of the materials for each kitchen was R75 000. You share a
retail outlet with a company that designs and builds bathrooms.
The monthly rent for the outlet is R30 000 and the monthly rates
bill (including water and electricity) is R4 000. Each company is
responsible for 50% of the rent and rates bills. You employ three
labourers, who are each paid R8 000 per month. We wish to
determine the difference between your company’s revenue and
expenses last month:

(5 × R115 000) − (5 × R75 000) − (50% 𝑜𝑓 R30 000)

− (50% 𝑜𝑓 R4 000) − (3 × R8 000)
= (R575 000) − (R375 000) − (R15 000) − (R2 000)
− (R24 000)
= R575 000 − R375 000 − R15 000 − R2 000 − R24 000
= R159 000

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7 Commutative, Associative and

Distributive Laws
(Students should note that these laws do not apply in the case
of subtraction and division).

7.1 Commutative Law

The commutative law states that:

𝑎×𝑏 =𝑏×𝑎

and

𝑎+𝑏 =𝑏+𝑎

Examples:

3×6=6×3

2+8=8+2

7.2 Associative Law

The associative law states that:

(𝑎 + 𝑏 ) + 𝑐 = 𝑎 + (𝑏 + 𝑐 )

and

(𝑎 × 𝑏 ) × 𝑐 = 𝑎 × (𝑏 × 𝑐 )

Examples:

(6 + 3) + 2 = 6 + (3 + 2)

(5 × 4) × 7 = 5 × (4 × 7)

7.3 Distributive Law

The distributive law states that:

𝑎 × (𝑏 + 𝑐 ) = 𝑎 × 𝑏 + 𝑎 × 𝑐

and

(𝑏 + 𝑐 ) × 𝑎 = 𝑏 × 𝑎 + 𝑐 × 𝑎

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Examples:

2 × (3 + 4) = 2 × 3 + 2 × 4

(5 + 7) × 9 = 5 × 9 + 7 × 9

8 Computing the Average and Finding

Missing Values
8.1 The Average
The average of a group of values is the group of values added
together (i.e. the sum if the group of values), divided by the
number of values in the group. In other words:

Sum of the group of values

Average =
Number of values in the group

Example:

Your company receives seven orders today, each of which is

worth the amounts indicated in the table below:

Order Number Amount (Rand)

1473 10 000
1474 17 000
1475 24 000
1476 9 500
1477 31 000
1478 15 750
1479 12 250

We wish to determine the average value of the orders received

today:

Average value of order =

𝑅10 000 + 𝑅17 000 + 𝑅24 000 + 𝑅9 500 + 𝑅31 000 + 𝑅15 750 + 𝑅12 250
7

𝑅119 500
=
7

= R17 071,43

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8.2 Finding Missing Values

It may also be the case that we know the average for a group of
values, but one or two values may be missing from the data
set, and we then have to determine these values.

Example:

Consider the following table, which indicates the monthly

salaries for a group of eight employees. Notice, however, that
the salaries for employees 2 and 5 are missing. Suppose you
are told that the average monthly salary for this group of
employees is R16 750 and that employees 2 and 5 both earn
the same monthly salary. We wish to know the monthly salary
that is being earned by employees 2 and 5.

Employee Number Monthly Salary (Rand)

1 10 000
2
3 15 000
4 20 000
5
6 17 000
7 18 000
8 22 000

Now, if there are eight employees in the group, and the average
monthly salary of the employees in the group is R16 750, then
this means that the total amount of the monthly salaries earned
by the employees in this group is:

8 × 𝑅16 750 = R134 000

The total of the monthly salaries given in the table is:

𝑅10 000 + 𝑅15 000 + 𝑅20 000 + 𝑅17 000 + 𝑅18 000 + 𝑅22 000
= R102 000

Subtracting R102 000 from R134 000 will give us the total
monthly salaries earned by employees 2 and 5:

𝑅134 000 − 𝑅102 000 = R32 000

As employees 2 and 5 earn the same monthly salary, each

employee must earn half of this amount. Therefore employees
2 and 5 each earn a monthly salary of R16 000.

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9 Powers (Exponents) and Roots

9.1 Rules for Exponents and Roots
Students should familiarise themselves with the following rules
regarding the use of exponents and roots.

a) 𝑥 𝑚 × 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑚+𝑛

Example:

23 × 25 = (2 × 2 × 2) × (2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2) = 28

b) (𝑥 𝑚 )𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑚𝑛

Example:

(34 )2 = 34 × 34 = 38

c) (𝑥𝑦)𝑛 = 𝑥 𝑛 𝑦 𝑛

Example:

(𝑥 3 𝑦 4 )2 = 𝑥 6 𝑦 8

𝑥 𝑛 𝑥𝑛
d) ( ) =
𝑦 𝑦𝑛

Example:

2
𝑥3 𝑥6
( 4) = 8
𝑦 𝑦

e) 𝑥 0 = 1 (𝑥 ≠ 0)

Example:

50 = 1

f) 𝑥1 = 𝑥

Example:

1121 = 112

1
𝑛
g) 𝑥 𝑛 = √𝑥

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Example:

1 3
643 = √64 = 4

1
h) = 𝑥 −𝑛
𝑥𝑛

Example:

1 1
3
= 2−3 = = 0,125
2 8

10 Approximation (Decimal Places and

Significant Figures)
10.1 Rounding: Decimal Places
To round a number to x decimal places:

a) Go to the value at the x-th decimal place;

b) Look at the value immediately to the right of the value at
the x-th decimal place:

• If this value is greater than or equal to five, add one

to the value at the x-th decimal place and drop all
numbers to the right of the value at the x-th decimal
place;
• If this value is less than or equal to four, leave the
value at the x-th decimal place as it is, and drop all
numbers to the right of the value at the x-th decimal
place.

Examples:

• Following the steps given above, rounding 23,47362914

to four decimal places gives 23,4736;
• Following the steps given above, rounding 23,47362914
to five decimal places gives 23,47363.

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10.2 Rounding: Significant Figures

To round a value to x significant figures:

a) Go to the value at the x-th position from the left-hand side,

starting with the first non-zero figure;
b) Look at the value immediately to the right of the value at
the x-th position:

• If this value is greater than or equal to five, add one

to the value at the x-th position, and give a value of
zero to all numbers to the right of the value at the
x-th position;
• If this value is less than or equal to four, leave the
value at the x-th position as it is, and give a value of
zero to all numbers to the right of the value at the
x-th position.

Example:

Round the figure 392 547 to:

a) Five significant figures:

392 550

b) Four significant figures:

392 500

c) Three significant figures:

393 000

Example:

Round the figure 0,0315284 to:

a) Five significant figures:

0,031528

b) Four significant figures:

0,03153

c) Three significant figures:

0,0315

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10.3 Rounding: Appropriate Degree of

Accuracy
How critical is the degree of accuracy by which something
should be measured?

If it is critical that something should be measured to a high

degree of accuracy, then it should be measured using a
relatively large number of decimal places. This is normally the
case in the manufacture of engineering components.

On the other hand, if you want to know roughly how much it will
cost in total for the groceries that you purchase on a visit to a
supermarket, you can round the price of each item to the
nearest rand and total those values.

11 Percentages
11.1 Percentage: A Definition
The term “percentage” is represented by the symbol “%” and
means “per hundred”. For example, if we say that 5% of items
manufactured on a production line are faulty, we are saying that
five out of every hundred items manufactured on the production
line are faulty.

Percentages are used widely in business to determine important

financial values, such as discounts, taxes and interest rates.

It is recommended that you always change a percentage to a

decimal or a fraction before you use it in a calculation.

11.2 Calculating the Percentage Rate

To express X as a % of Y:

𝑋
× 100
𝑌

Example:

27 as a % of 41:

27
× 100 = 65,85%
41

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11.3 Calculating the Percentage Amount

To compute X% of Y:

𝑋
×𝑌
100

Example:

43% of 151:

43
× 151 = 64,93
100

11.4 Converting Percentages to Fractions

To convert a percentage to a fraction, divide the percentage by
100 and drop the % sign. Then simplify the resultant fraction.

Example:

To convert 56% to a fraction:

56 14
56% = =
100 25

11.5 Converting Percentages to Decimals

To convert a percentage to a decimal, determine the fraction
version of the percentage (see above), and then divide the
numerator by the denominator.

Example:

To convert 65% to a fraction:

65 13
65% = = = 13 ÷ 20 = 0,65
100 20

11.6 Converting a Fraction or a Decimal to a

Percentage
To convert a fraction or a decimal into a percentage, multiply the
fraction or decimal by 100 and then add the % sign.

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Example:

To convert 3⁄25 into a percentage:

3
× 100 = 12%
25

Example:

To convert 1,27 into a percentage:

1,27 × 100 = 127%

11.7 Calculating the Base Amount

If you are told that X% of an unknown base Y is equal to Z, then
Y is referred to as the base amount.

If the percentage amount of the base (Z) and the percentage

rate (X) are known, the base amount (Y) can be determined by
dividing the percentage amount by the percentage rate, and
multiplying the result by 100, i.e.:

𝑍
𝑌= × 100
𝑋

Example:

If 29% of an unknown amount Y is 116, then:

116
𝑌= × 100 = 400
29

11.8 Percentage Rate of Change (Increase or

Decrease)
A percentage rate increase or decrease between two values is
the difference between the original value and the new value,
divided by the original value and then multiplied by 100. In other
words:

𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒

% 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = × 100
𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡

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Example:

If the amount of liquid in a bottle increases from 1,50 litres to

1,75 litres, then the % increase in the amount of liquid in the
bottle is given by:

1,75 − 1,50
× 100 = 16,67%
1,50

Example:

If the petrol in a car’s fuel tank falls from 60 litres to 43 litres,

then the % decrease in petrol in the tank is given by:

60 − 43
× 100 = 28,33%
60

11.9 Adding or Subtracting a Percentage

Amount to or from a Base Value
a) To add X% of Y to Y:

(100 + 𝑋)% × 𝑌

Example: If an employee receives a 13% increase on his

old monthly salary of R18 500, then his new monthly
salary will be:

(100 + 13)% × 𝑅18 500 = 113% × 𝑅18 500

= 1,13 × 𝑅18 500 = R20 905

b) To subtract X% of Y from Y:

(100 − 𝑋)% × 𝑌

Example: If an employee earns a gross monthly salary

of R23 750 and she pays 21% tax on this amount, then
her monthly salary minus tax will be:

(100 − 21)% × 𝑅23 750 = 79% × 𝑅23 750

= 0,79 × 𝑅23 750 = R18 762,50

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12 Ratios and Proportions

12.1 Ratios
A fraction, a percentage and a ratio are all different ways in
which we can describe the same numerical relationship.

For example, if the number of male students in a statistics class

is 10, while the number of female students in the same class is
40, then t relationship may be expressed as the following ratio
of male to female students:

10 to 40 or 10:40 or simplified, 1:4

The latter simplified ratio 1:4 indicates that for everyone male
student in the statistics class, there are four female students in
the same class.

The same relationship may be expressed as the following

fraction:

10⁄40 = 1⁄4

This states that the number of male students in the statistics

class is a quarter of the number of female students in the same
class.

Likewise, the relationship may be expressed in the form of a

percentage:

10⁄40 × 100 = 25%

Thus, the number of male students in the statistics class is 25%

of the number of female students in the same class.

12.2 Proportions

A proportion, signified by the symbol “::”, indicates that two or

more ratios are numerically equivalent. For example:

1: 5 ∷ 15: 75

The above states that the ratio 1:5 is “in proportion” to the ratio
15:75. In other words, the ratios 1:5 and 15:75 have the same
mathematical meaning (simplifying the ratio 15:75 results in the
ratio 1:5).

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13 Activities

13.1 Activity 1

1. You have just been paid for completing four

programming projects. You received the following
amounts for the respective projects:

- Project A: R75 565

- Project B: R125 455
- Project C: R37 545
- Project D: R104 665

What was the total amount that you received?

Solution:

Total amount = 𝑅75 565 + 𝑅125 455 + 𝑅37 545 + 𝑅104 665
= R343 230

2. You are given a project to complete. If the project is

completed on time, you will receive a payment of
R45 700. For every day that the project runs late, you
will be penalised R6 500. How much will you receive if
the project is completed one day late?

Solution:

Payment received = 𝑅45 700 − 𝑅6 500 = R39 200

3. You have fifteen employees, who each receive a

monthly salary of R23 500. How much does it cost you
in total per month for these fifteen employees?

Solution:

Monthly cost of employees = 15 × 𝑅23 500 = R352 500

4. If the total cost of buying four identical chairs for your

office was R3 400, what was the cost of each chair?

Solution:

Cost of chair = 𝑅3 400 ÷ 4 = R850

5. Which inequality signs can be placed between the

following pairs of values to produce a true statement?

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21? 15

14? 14

17? 67

Solution:

21 > 15 or 21 ≥ 15 or 21 ≠ 15

14 = 14 or 14 ≥ 14 or 14 ≤ 14

17 ≠ 67 or 17 < 67 or 17 ≤ 67

6. Determine the answers to the following problems:

10 + (–12)

–16 – (–17)

–14 × 20

–8 × –7

35 ÷ –7

–45 ÷ –5

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Solution:

10 + (−12) = 10 − 12 = −2

−16 − (−17) = −16 + 17 = 1

−14 × 20 = −280

−8 × −7 = 56

35 ÷ −7 = −5

−45 ÷ −5 = 9

7. Solve the following fraction problems, giving your final

answer in its simplest fractional form. If the answer is an
improper fraction, give the answer both in its improper
form and as a mixed fraction:

2 7
a) +
5 8

19 13
b) −
4 11

1 4
c) 1 ×2
7 9

11 1
d) ÷
13 4

Solution:

2 7 2×8+5×7 16+35 51 11
a) + = = = or 1
5 8 5×8 40 40 40

19 13 19×11−4×13 209−52 157 25

b) − = = = or 3
4 11 4×11 44 44 44

1 4 8 22 8×22 176 50
c) 1 ×2 = × = = or 2
7 9 7 9 7×9 63 63

11 1 11 4 44 5
d) ÷ = × = 𝑜𝑟 3
13 4 13 1 13 13

8. Solve the following BODMAS problems:

(45% of 300−35)+(53 +75)

a) (8×6+2)

(120÷60+16÷2)×(85% of 200−2×80−5)
b)
24 +190÷10−10

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Solution:

(45% of 300−35)+(53 +75)

a) (8×6+2)

(135 − 35) + (125 + 75) 100 + 200 300

= = = =6
(48 + 2) 50 50

(120÷60+16÷2)×(85% of 200−2×80−5)
b)
24 +190÷10−10

(2 + 8) × (170 − 160 − 5) 10 × 5 50
= = = =2
16 + 19 − 10 25 25

9. Identify which of the commutative, associative and

distributive laws are illustrated in the following examples:

a) (6 + 12) × 17 = 6 × 17 + 12 × 17

b) 81 + 64 = 64 + 81

c) 4 × (16 × 17) = 4 × 16 × 17

Solution:

a) (6 + 12) × 17 = 6 × 17 + 12 × 17

Same format as (𝑏 + 𝑐 ) × 𝑎 = 𝑏 × 𝑎 + 𝑐 × 𝑎

∴ Distributive law

b) 81 + 64 = 64 + 81

Same format as 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑏 + 𝑎

∴ Commutative law

c) 4 × (16 × 17) = 4 × 16 × 17

Same format as (𝑎 × 𝑏) × 𝑐 = 𝑎 × (𝑏 × 𝑐 )

∴ Associative law

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10. The weight (in kilograms) of twelve grapefruits

purchased at a local fruit and vegetable store are given
in the table below. What is the average weight of the
grapefruits?

0,345 0,415 0,295 0,325 0,355 0,320

0,330 0,365 0,370 0,315 0,310 0,255

Solution:

The total weight of the twelve grapefruits is 4kg. Therefore:

4
Average weight = = 0,333kg
12

11. In the last week, the average number of units of a good

produced by each of your 15 employees was 192. If 14
of the employees produced a total of 2 680 units, how
many units did the 15th employee produce?

Solution:

If the average number of units produced by the 15 employees

was 192, then the total number of units produced by the 15
employees must have been 15 × 192 = 2 880. If 14 of the
employees produced 2 680 units, then the 15th employee must
have produced (2 880 − 2 680) = 200 units.

12. Determine the answers to the following exponent

problems:

a) 𝑥7 × 𝑥5

b) (𝑦 −5 )3

c) (𝑦 6 𝑧 5 )4

−3
𝑥 −2
d) ( )
𝑧8

e) 2560

f) 4521

1
g)
𝑦7

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Solution:

a) 𝑥 7 × 𝑥 5 = 𝑥 7+5 = 𝑥 12

b) (𝑦 −5 )3 = 𝑦 −15

c) (𝑦 6 𝑧 5 )4 = 𝑦 24 𝑧 20

−3
𝑥 −2 𝑥6
d) ( ) =
𝑧8 𝑧 −24

e) 2560 = 1

f) 4521 = 452

1
g) = 𝑦 −7
𝑦7

13. Round 124,67293619 to:

a) Three decimal places;

b) Four decimal places;
c) Seven decimal places.

Solution:

a) 124,673
b) 124,6729
c) 124,6729362

14. Give the number 1 253 379 to:

a) Two significant figures;

b) Four significant figures;
c) Six significant figures.

Solution:

a) 1 300 000;
b) 1 253 000;
c) 1 253 380.

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15. Determine the answers to the following percentage

problems:

a) What is 68% of 406?

b) What is 104 as a percentage of 371?
c) What is 23% as a decimal fraction?
d) What is 12,5% as a fraction?
e) What is 4/50 as a percentage?
f) What is 0,37 as a percentage?
g) What is the value of x, if 23% of x is 207?

Solution:

68
a) 68% of 406 = × 406 = 276,08
100

104
b) 104 as a % of 371 = × 100 = 28,03%
371

23
c) 23% as a decimal fraction = = 0,23
100

12,5 1
d) 12,5% as a fraction = =
100 8

4
e) 4/50 as a percentage = × 100 = 8%
50

f) 0,37 as a percentage = 0,37 × 100 = 37%

207
g) 23% of 𝑥 = 207 ∴ 0,23 × 𝑥 = 207 ∴ 𝑥 = = 900
0,23

16. Determine the answers to the following percentage

problems:

a) A car is travelling at 85km/h and then increases

its speed to 115km/h. What is the percentage
increase in speed?
b) A laptop that originally cost R8 999,99 now costs
R7 999,99. What is the percentage decrease in
the price of the laptop?
c) You agree to do a job for a customer for a fee of
R55 000. She is particularly impressed with your
work and decides to pay you a bonus of 6% on
your original fee. How much does the customer
pay you for the job?

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d) In order to attract a new customer, you agree to

do a job for him at 11% less than the fee that you
normally charge. If the fee that you normally
charge is R37 500, how much are you charging
the new customer?

Solution:

20
a) Percentage increase = × 100 = 23,53%
85

1000
b) Percentage decrease = × 100 = 11,11%
R8 999,99

c) Customer pays (100 + 6)% of R55000

= 1,06 × R55 000 = R58 300

d) Customer charged (100 − 11)% of R37 500

= 0,89 × R37 500 = R33 375

17. There are three female employees for every five male
employees in your organisation. If there are 250 male
employees, how many female employees are there?

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14 Revision Exercises

14.1 Revision Exercise 1

1. You wish to purchase a new laptop that costs

R10 999,99, but you have no ready cash. You do,
however, have an old laptop, cell phone and router that
you can sell to help pay for the laptop. If you get
R2 199,99 for the old laptop, R3 500,00 for the cell
phone and R800 for the router, how much do you still
need to buy the new laptop?

2. Your construction company completed four jobs this

week, each of which brought in R45 000. If you take
R30 000 for yourself and share the remainder with your
20 employees, how much will each employee receive?

3. Which of the inequality statements below are true?

a) 16 ≤ 24
b) 25 ≠ 26
c) 27 > 25
d) 17 ≥ 13
e) −3 < 7
f) −5 > −2

4. Compute the answers to the following:

a) −6 − (−4)
b) −16 + 5
c) 6 × (−74)
d) −46 ÷ −2
e) 25 + (−7)
f) −22 × −21
g) −21 ÷ 3

5. a) A tank containing 500 litres of water has a leak.

If one-third of the water in the tank leaked out on
Monday and one-seventh of the remaining water
in the tank leaked out on Tuesday, how much
water is left in the tank?
b) There is R240 000 in your company bank
account at the beginning of the month. Two-fifths
of this money is immediately used to pay for
various operating expenses. The remaining
money is to be used to cover daily expenses over
a period of twenty working days. If 13/20ths of this

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remaining money is used within the first 10

working days of the month, how much is left per
day for the remaining 10 working days?

6. Using BODMAS, solve the following problem. You have

20 employees at the beginning of the month. You agree
to share half the profits made by your company this
month equally amongst your employees. A contract that
your company helps to complete during the month
generates a total amount of R900 000, of which your
company receives 65%.

Your total operating expenses during the month come to

R390 000, including your own income. Total profit for the
company is the difference between these two amounts.
If five employees leave the company during the month
and thereby forego their rights to share in the profits, how
much will each of the remaining employees receive?

7. You own a company that manufactures sunglasses. You

pay rent of R35 000 per month for your factory premises
and R17 500 per month for rates, electricity and water.
You pay yourself a gross salary of R25 000 per month,
and have 10 employees, for whom the total gross salary
bill is R75 000 per month. The raw materials used in the
creation of the sunglasses cost R125 per pair. If
everything previously mentioned covers all operating
expenses for your company and you produce 5 000 pairs
of sunglasses per month, what is the minimum amount
that you need to charge per pair of sunglasses in order
to break even? (Hint: this will be the average cost of
producing a pair of sunglasses in your factory).

8. After phoning 10 different manufacturers, you find that

the average cost of purchasing a kilogram of steel wool
is R305. The prices charged by nine of the
manufacturers are given in the table below:

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Manufacturer Price per Kg

A 290
B 325
C 299
D 301
E 304
F 262
G 285
H 295
I 299

What price was charged for the steel wool by the

manufacturer missing from the table (the 10th
manufacturer)?

9. Solve the following:

a) 𝑥 2 × 𝑥 2 × 𝑥 −4

b) (𝑦 −5 )−0,2

c) (𝑥 −3 𝑦 5 𝑧 −5 )−2

7
𝑧6
d) ( 2)
𝑧

e) 650

f) 241

1
g)
𝑧 −3

10. Give the number 0,000005679382 to:

a) Three significant figures;

b) Five significant figures.

11. Round the number 26,18394726 to:

a) Three decimal places;

b) Six decimal places.

12. Determine the answers to the following percentage

problems:

a) What is 103% of 2106?

b) What is 1104 as a percentage of 871?

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c) What is 43% as a decimal fraction?

d) What is 6,25% as a fraction?
e) What is 7/40 as a percentage?
f) What is 0,67 as a percentage?
g) What is the value of x, if 13% of x is 143?

13. Determine the answers to the following percentage

problems:

a) In 2019, a loaf of bread cost R13,99. By 2021,

the price has increased to R15,99. What is the
percentage increase in price?
b) An uncapped fibre contract originally cost R990
per month. It has now fallen in price to R565 per
month. What is the percentage decrease in the
monthly price of the contract?
c) You were earning R25 000 per month. You then
receive an increase of 8,75%. How much are you
now earning per month?
d) Your gross salary per month is R35 000. In total,
all deductions, including tax, constitute 31% of
your gross salary. How much of your gross salary
is left after these deductions?

14. Three friends decide to start a business. Molly

contributes R50 000 to start-up capital, while Zinhle
contributes R40 000 and Serena contributes R30 000.
They agree to share any profits that the business makes
in the same ratio as their respective contributions to
start-up capital.

a) If the business made a profit of R36 000 in its first

year of operation, how much is each friend’s
share of the profit?
b) If Molly’s share of the profit made by the business
in its second year of operation is R40 000, what
is the total profit made by the business that year?

15. In a two-year training course, there are nine first year

students for every four students in second year. If there
are 234 first year students, how many students are there
in second year?

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15 Solutions to Revision Exercises

15.1 Revision Exercise 1

Amount still needed

= 𝑅10 999,99 − (𝑅2 199,99 + 𝑅3 500,00 + 𝑅800,00)
= 𝑅10 999,99 − 𝑅6 499,99 = 𝑅4500

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑏𝑠 = 𝑅45 000 × 4

= 𝑅180 000
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒
= 𝑅180 000 − 𝑅30 000 = 𝑅150 000
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 20 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠
= 𝑅150 000 ÷ 20 = 𝑅7500

a) True
b) True
c) True
d) True
e) True
f) False

a) −6 − (−4) − −6 + 4 = −2
b) −16 + 5 = −11
c) 6 × (−74) = −444
d) −46 ÷ −2 = 23
e) 25 + (−7) = 25 − 7 = 18
f) −22 × −21 = 462
g) −21 ÷ 3 = −7

1
a) 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦 = 1 −
3
2
= 𝑜𝑓 500 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠
3
1
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 = 1 −
7
6 2
= 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓 500 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦
7 3
6 2 12 12
× = ∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 500 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡
7 3 21 21

12
× 500 = 285,71 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡
21

2 3 3
b) 1− = ∴ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅240 000 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡
5 5 5
3
× 𝑅240000 = 𝑅144 000 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡
5

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13 7
1− = 𝑜𝑓 𝑅144 000 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 10 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
20 20
7
× 𝑅144 000 = 𝑅50 400 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 10 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
20

𝑅50 400 ÷ 10 = 𝑅5 040

∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑅5 040 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 10 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠

((65% 𝑜𝑓 𝑅900 000) − 𝑅390 000) ÷ 2

20 − 5

((𝑅585 000) − 𝑅390 000) ÷ 2 𝑅195 000 ÷ 2

= =
15 15

𝑅97 500
= = 𝑅6 500
15

∴ 𝐸𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑅6 500

𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

= 𝑅35 000 + 𝑅17 500 = 𝑅52 500

𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠
= 𝑅25 000 + 𝑅75 000 = 𝑅100 000

𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 5 000 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠

= 5 000 × 𝑅125 = 𝑅625 000

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠

= 𝑅52 500 + 𝑅100 000 + 𝑅625 000 = 𝑅777 500

𝑅777 500
∴ 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 = = 𝑅155,50
5 000

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑑
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛.

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛

𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑅2 660. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑
𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 10 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑅305,
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 10 × 305 = 𝑅3 050.

∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑟

𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑅3 050 − 𝑅2 660 = 𝑅390.

a) 𝑥 2 × 𝑥 2 × 𝑥 −4 = 𝑥 2+2−4 = 𝑥 0 = 1 (𝑥 ≠ 0)

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b) (𝑦 −5 )−0,2 = 𝑦 −5×−0,2 = 𝑦1 = 𝑦

c) (𝑥 −3 𝑦 5 𝑧 −5 )−2 = 𝑥 −3×−2 𝑦 5×−2 𝑧 −5×−2

= 𝑥 6 𝑦 −10 𝑧10

7
𝑧6 𝑧 6×7 𝑧 42
d) ( 2) = = = 𝑧 42−14 = 𝑧 28
𝑧 𝑧 2×7 𝑧 14

e) 650 = 1

f) 241 = 24

1
g) = 𝑧 −(−3) = 𝑧 3
𝑧 −3

a) 0,00000568
b) 0,0000056794

a) 26,184
b) 26,183947

103
a) 103% 𝑜𝑓 2 106 = × 2 106 = 2 169,18
100

1 104
b) 1 104 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 % 𝑜𝑓 871 = × 100 = 126,75%
871

43
c) 43% 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = = 0,43
100

6,25 1
d) 6,25% 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = =
100 16

7
e) 7/40 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = × 100 = 17,50%
40

f) 0,67 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 0,67 × 100 = 67%

143
g) 13% × 𝑥 = 143 ∴ 𝑥 = = 1 100
0,13

2,00
a) % 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 = × 100 = 14,30%
13,99

425
b) % 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 = × 100 = 42,93%
990

c) 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 (100 + 8,75)% × 𝑅25 000

= 1,0875 × 𝑅25 000 = 𝑅27 187,50

d) 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 = (100 − 31)% × 𝑅35 000

= 0,69 × 𝑅35 000 = 𝑅24 150

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𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 − 𝑢𝑝 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙:

𝑅50 000 5
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦: =
𝑅120 000 12

𝑅40 000 4 1
𝑍𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑙𝑒: = =
𝑅120 000 12 3

𝑅30 000 3 1
𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑎: = =
𝑅120 000 12 4

5
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦: × 𝑅36 000 = 𝑅15 000 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡
12

1
𝑍𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑙𝑒: × 𝑅36 000 = 𝑅12 000 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡
3

1
𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑎: × 𝑅36 000 = 𝑅9 000 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡
4

5
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦: × 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 = 𝑅40 000
12

12
∴ 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 = 𝑅40 000 × = 𝑅96 000
5

9: 4 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 234: 𝑥
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠

9 234
∴ = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 9𝑥 = 4 × 234 = 936
4 𝑥

936
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑥 = = 104 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
9

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Learning Unit 2: Basic Algebra

Learning Objectives: Having completed this My
learning unit, students should be proficient in notes
the following algebraic concepts:

• Explain Algebraic rules of substitution,

expanding brackets, factorising, simplifying
and expanding algebraic expression;
• Express word problems as inequalities;
• Combine functions using algebraic
expressions;
• Set up a linear equation to solve real-world
applications;
• Solve simultaneous equations using
graphical; substitution and elimination
methods;
• Use graphs to illustrate linear functions by
plotting points, using the gradient and y-
intercept;
• Use graphs to depict real-word applications;
• Express profit, revenue and cost using
algebraic equations;
• Identify non-linear equations(small).
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples, activities and

exercises in the learning unit.

1 Introduction
As a basic definition, we may say that algebra is the area of
mathematics where letters and other symbols are used to
represent numbers in equations and formulae.

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2 Basic Rules of Algebra

2.1 Substitution

This means substituting a numerical value into an algebraic

expression.

Example:

Consider the expression:

𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 − 7

If we want to determine (or evaluate) the value of this expression

for x = 4, all we have to do is substitute 4 into the expression:

42 + 5(4) − 7 = 16 + 20 − 7 = 29

2.2 Expanding Brackets in Algebra

If there is a numerical or algebraic term in front of a set of
brackets, with the brackets containing a numerical or algebraic
expression, then all factors in the brackets must be multiplied by
the term in front.

Example:

3(18 − 5) = 3 × 18 − 3 × 5 = 39

3𝑎2 𝑏(4𝑎𝑏 2 + 2𝑎2 𝑏 2 ) = 12𝑎3 𝑏 3 + 6𝑎4 𝑏 3

2.3 Factorising an Algebraic Expression

Factorising is the opposite of expanding.

Example:

6𝑎2 𝑏 + 3𝑎𝑏 2 = 3𝑎𝑏(𝑎 + 𝑏)

In the above example, each of the terms in the initial expression

have the common factor 3𝑎𝑏. This common factor is the term
that is placed in front of the brackets. To determine what goes
inside the brackets, we divide each of the terms by the common
factor.

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2.4 Simplifying an Algebraic Expression

Before looking at examples involving the simplification of an
algebraic expression, students should first be aware that
algebraic expressions can be grouped into three different types:

• Those that can be simplified immediately without any

preparation;
• Those that require preparation before being simplified;
and
• Those that cannot be simplified at all.

All the following examples represent expressions that can be

simplified.

Examples:

a) 2𝑦 + 3𝑥 − 7 − 8𝑥 + 4𝑦 = −5𝑥 + 6𝑦 − 7

b) 7𝑎 − (−3𝑎 + 4𝑏 + 12) − 2𝑏
= 7𝑎 + 3𝑎 − 4𝑏 − 12 − 2𝑏
= 10𝑎 − 6𝑏 − 12

49𝑥 5 𝑦 3
c) = 7𝑥 4 𝑦
7𝑥𝑦 2

d) 42𝑣 + 6(8𝑣 + 3𝑣 − 10) + 35𝑣

= 42𝑣 + 48𝑣 + 18𝑣 − 60 + 35𝑣
= 143𝑣 − 60

𝑥 3 −𝑥 2 𝑥(𝑥 2 −𝑥) 𝑥
e) = =
6𝑥 2 −6𝑥 6(𝑥 2 −𝑥) 6

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3 Equations
An equation is a statement indicating the mathematical equality
of two expressions. For example:

2𝑥 − 3 = 1

In the above equation, the x is called a variable or an unknown,

while the values 3 and 1 are referred to as constants.

Solving an equation means finding the value of the variable that

makes the equation statement true. In our previous example:

2𝑥 − 3 = 1

The value for x that makes the above statement true is x = 2.

4 Solving Algebraic Problems

Rule 1: The same number may be added to both sides of
the equation.

For example:

𝑥 − 8 = 12
∴ 𝑥 − 8 + 8 = 12 + 8
∴ 𝑥 = 20

Rule 2: The same number may be subtracted from both

sides.

For example:

7 + 𝑥 = 11
∴ 7 − 7 + 𝑥 = 11 − 7
∴ 𝑥=4

Rule 3: Both sides of an equation may be multiplied by the

same non-zero number.

For example:

𝑥
= 22
7
𝑥
∴ × 7 = 22 × 7
7
∴ 𝑥 = 154

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Rule 4: Both sides of an equation may be divided by the

same non-zero number.

For example:

8𝑥 = 24
∴ 8𝑥 ÷ 8 = 24 ÷ 8
∴ 𝑥=3

Rule 5: If an equation contains brackets, use the

distributive law to remove the brackets (i.e. expand the
brackets), and then apply rules 1 to 4 where appropriate.

For example:

5(2𝑥 − 6) = 70
∴ 10𝑥 − 30 = 70
∴ 10𝑥 = 70 + 30
∴ 10𝑥 = 100
∴ 𝑥 = 10

5 Formulae

5.1 Finding the Unknown Value in a Formula

A formula is an equation in which the terms are represented by

words or symbols. If we know the value of all the terms except
one, then we can determine the unknown value using
substitution.

For example:

𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 = 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 – 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠

If 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 = R10 000 and 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 = R3 000, then substituting

these values into the above formula gives that:

𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 = R10 000 − R3 000 = R7 000

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5.2 Changing the Subject of a Formula

It is often the case that the initial format of a formula does not
allow us to directly determine the unknown value of one of the
variables in the formula. In such an instance, it is useful to be
able to change the format of the formula so that the subject
becomes the desired variable.

For example, consider the following formula:

𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 = 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 × 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦

In this instance, the subject of the formula is revenue. In order

to make 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 the subject, we manipulate the formula (using
the same rules for solving algebraic problems that we have
previously learned) to obtain:

𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒
𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒

Example:

We wish to make i the subject of the following formula:

𝐹𝑉 = 𝑃𝑉 (1 + 𝑖 )𝑛

𝐹𝑉
∴ = (1 + 𝑖)𝑛
𝑃𝑉

𝑛 𝐹𝑉
∴ √ =1+𝑖
𝑃𝑉

𝑛 𝐹𝑉
∴ 𝑖= √ −1
𝑃𝑉

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6 Solving Inequalities in Algebra

6.1 Rules for Solving Inequalities
For the most part, the same rules that we have previously
learned for solving algebraic problems can be applied when
solving inequalities. However, consideration must be given to
how the inequality sign is affected by the application of these
rules.

The additional guidelines given below should be followed:

a) Adding or subtracting the same value to/from both sides

of an inequality does not change the inequality sign;
b) Multiplying or dividing both sides of an inequality by the
same positive number does not change the inequality
sign;
c) Multiplying or dividing both sides of an inequality by the
same negative number changes the direction of the
inequality sign.

7 Linear Equations
7.1 Dependent and Independent Variables
A linear equation provides a quantitative description of the
relationship between two variables, in the situation where this
relationship can be described by a line.

The two variables consist of:

• An independent variable (x): a variable that stands on its

own and is not affected by the other variable under
consideration; and
• A dependent variable (y): a variable whose value is
dependent on the other variable under consideration.

For example, consider the number of umbrellas sold and the

amount of rainfall. The number of umbrellas sold will be
dependent on the amount of rainfall and therefore the number
of umbrellas sold is the dependent variable.

On the other hand, the amount of rainfall will not be affected in

any way by the number of umbrellas sold and therefore the
amount of rainfall is the independent variable.

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7.2 The Format of a Linear Equation

As previously suggested, a linear equation describes the linear

relationship that exists between an independent variable and
a dependent variable.

By the term ‘linear relationship’, we mean that the relationship

between the two variables can be described by a straight line.

This straight line can be drawn on a graph and can be expressed

in the form of the following equation:

𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥

where: 𝑦 = the dependent variable

𝑥 = the independent variable
𝑎 = the 𝑦-intercept (the value of 𝑦 when 𝑥 = 0)
𝑏 = the slope/gradient of the line

When drawing the graph of a linear relationship, the following

should be kept in mind:

• The horizontal (or ‘x’) axis displays the values of the

independent variable;
• The vertical (or ‘y’) axis displays the values of the
dependent variable;
• Scales should be chosen for each variable so that the
graph does not look cramped;
• The scales should be clearly stated on each axis;
• The graph should be neat and easily interpreted;
• The graph should have an appropriate, descriptive title
and, if relevant, the source of the data used to construct
the graph should be indicated.

We can find the linear function/equation for the line that goes
through the coordinates (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) using the following
steps:

a) Obtain the value for b by inserting the values from the

coordinates into the equation:

𝑦2 − 𝑦1
𝑏=
𝑥2 − 𝑥1

b) Substitute the value obtained for b and the x and y

values for either one of the coordinates into the linear
function format 𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥 and solve for a.

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c) The linear function for the line is then 𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥, with

the values obtained from the above procedure
substituted into the equation for a and b.

Example:

We wish to determine the linear function for the line that goes
through the coordinates (1, 1) and (7, 3). We first determine the
value of b:

3−1 2 1
𝑏= = =
7−1 6 3

1
We then substitute 𝑏 = and 𝑥 = 1 and 𝑦 = 1 into 𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥,
3
and solve for a:

𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥
1
∴ 1 = 𝑎 + (1)
3
1 2
∴𝑎 =1− =
3 3

And therefore, the function of the line that goes through the
two coordinates is:

2 1
𝑦= + 𝑥
3 3

8 Simultaneous Equations
When dealing with two unknown variables, two simultaneous
equations are required in order to determine the values of the
two unknown variables.

If a solution exists, then simultaneous equations can be solved:

• Graphically; or
• Algebraically (using substitution or elimination).

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8.1 Solving Simultaneous Equations

Graphically
a) Manipulate both equations until they are in the linear
equation format:

𝑦 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥

b) Determine two points on the line that represents the first

equation. Draw a straight line through these points.

c) Do the same for the second equation;

d) The 𝑥 and 𝑦 coordinates of the point where the two lines

intersect represent the solution for the simultaneous
equations.

8.2 Solving Simultaneous Equations using

Substitution
a) If the equations are given in linear function format, then
the left-hand side of the equals sign in each instance will
be 𝑦;
b) Equate the two equations, and solve for 𝑥;
c) Substitute the value obtained for 𝑥 into either of the
original equations and solve for 𝑦.

8.3 Solving Simultaneous Equations using

Elimination
a) Multiply one or both equations until the coefficients in
front of the 𝑥 or the 𝑦 in both equations are the same;
b) Add (or subtract) the equations from one another in such
a way that one of the unknown variables is eliminated;
c) Solve for the remaining unknown variable;
d) Substitute the value obtained for this variable into one of
the equations and solve for the remaining unknown
variable.

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9 Non-Linear Equations
A common non-linear equation is the quadratic equation, which
has the following format:

𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐

Graphically, a quadratic function takes the form of a parabola.

10 Activities
10.1 Activity 1
1. Given that x = 6, determine the value of the following
expressions, using substitution:

a) 5𝑥 + 3
b) 12 − 4𝑥
c) 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 20
d) 2𝑥 3 + 10

Solution:

a) 5𝑥 + 3 ∴ 5(6) + 3 = 30 + 3 = 33
b) 12 − 4𝑥 ∴ 12 − 4(6) = 12 − 24 = −12
c) 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 20 ∴ 62 + 4(6) − 20 = 36 + 24 − 20 = 40
d) 2𝑥 3 + 10 ∴ 2(63 ) + 10 = 2(216) + 10
= 432 + 10 = 442

2. Expand the brackets for the following expressions:

a) 6(15 + 4)
b) 2𝑥 2 𝑦(3𝑥𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 3 𝑦 3 )

Solution:

a) 6(15 + 4) = 6 × 15 + 6 × 4 = 90 + 24 = 114

b) 2𝑥 2 𝑦(3𝑥𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 3 𝑦 3 ) = 6𝑥 3 𝑦 3 − 8𝑥 5 𝑦 4

3. Factorise the following expressions:

a) 8𝑥 2 𝑦 3 − 12𝑥 3 𝑦 4
b) 3𝑥 3 𝑦 − 12𝑥 2 𝑦 4 + 6𝑥𝑦

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Solution:

a) 8𝑥 2 𝑦 3 − 12𝑥 3 𝑦 4 = 4𝑥 2 𝑦 3 (2 − 3𝑥𝑦)

b) 3𝑥 3 𝑦 − 12𝑥 2 𝑦 4 + 6𝑥𝑦 = 3𝑥𝑦(𝑥 2 − 4𝑥𝑦 3 + 2)

4. Simplify the following algebraic expressions:

a) 3𝑥 + 6𝑦 + 12𝑧 − 4 − 5𝑥 + 4𝑦 − 6𝑧 + 8

b) 9𝑎 − (4𝑐 − 3𝑎 + 8𝑏 − 10) + 3𝑏 − 5𝑐

56𝑥 6 𝑦 10
c)
14𝑥 3 𝑦 7

d) 32𝑛 − 5(50 − 8𝑛 + 5𝑛 − 2) + 105𝑛

𝑦 5 −𝑦 3
e)
4𝑦 6 −5𝑦 8

Solution:

a) 3𝑥 + 6𝑦 + 12𝑧 − 4 − 5𝑥 + 4𝑦 − 6𝑧 + 8
= −2𝑥 + 10𝑦 + 6𝑧 + 4

b) 9𝑎 − (4𝑐 − 3𝑎 + 8𝑏 − 10) + 3𝑏 − 5𝑐
= 9𝑎 − 4𝑐 + 3𝑎 − 8𝑏 + 10 + 3𝑏 − 5𝑐
= 12𝑎 − 5𝑏 − 9𝑐 + 10

56𝑥 6 𝑦 10 4(𝑥 6−3 )(𝑦 10−7 )

c) = = 4𝑥 3 𝑦 3
14𝑥 3 𝑦 7 1

d) 32𝑛 − 5(50 − 8𝑛 + 5𝑛 − 2) + 105𝑛

= 32𝑛 − 250 + 40𝑛 − 25𝑛 + 10 + 105𝑛
= 32𝑛 + 40𝑛 − 25𝑛 + 105𝑛 − 250 + 10
= 152𝑛 − 240

𝑦 5 −𝑦 3 𝑦 3 (𝑦 2 −1) 𝑦 2 −1
e) = =
4𝑦 6 −5𝑦 8 𝑦 3 (4𝑦 3 −5𝑦 5 ) 4𝑦 3 −5𝑦 5

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5. Solve the following basic equations:

a) 2𝑥 − 4 = 24

b) 𝑥 + 15 = 10

𝑥
c) = 18
9

d) 11𝑥 = 44

e) 3(7𝑥 − 6) = 108

Solution:

a) 2𝑥 − 4 = 24 ∴ 2𝑥 = 24 + 4 = 28 ∴ 𝑥 = 28 ÷ 2 = 14

b) 𝑥 + 15 = 10 ∴ 𝑥 = 10 − 15 = −5

𝑥
c) = 18 ∴ 𝑥 = 9 × 18 = 162
9

d) 11𝑥 = 44 ∴ 𝑥 = 44 ÷ 11 = 4

e) 3(7𝑥 − 6) = 108
∴ 21𝑥 − 18 = 108
∴ 21𝑥 = 108 + 18 = 126
∴ 𝑥 = 126 ÷ 21 = 6

6. Change the subject in each of the following formulae to

y:

a) 𝑥 =6−𝑦

b) 6𝑥 = 2𝑦 + 22

𝑥−𝑎
c) 𝑧=
𝑦

𝑥−𝑦
d) 𝑧=
𝑛

𝑦 𝑘
e) 𝑟 = (1 + ) − 1
𝑘

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Solution:

a) 𝑥 =6−𝑦 ∴𝑦 =6−𝑥

b) 6𝑥 = 2𝑦 + 22
∴ 6𝑥 − 22 = 2𝑦
∴ 𝑦 = (6𝑥 − 22) ÷ 2
∴ 𝑦 = 3𝑥 − 11

𝑥−𝑎 𝑥−𝑎
c) 𝑧= ∴𝑦=
𝑦 𝑧

𝑥−𝑦
d) 𝑧=
𝑛
∴ 𝑧𝑛 = 𝑥 − 𝑦
∴ 𝑦 = 𝑥 − 𝑧𝑛

𝑦 𝑘
e) 𝑟 = (1 + ) − 1
𝑘
𝑦 𝑘
∴ 𝑟 + 1 = (1 + )
𝑘
𝑘 𝑦
∴ √𝑟 + 1 = 1 +
𝑘
𝑦 𝑘
∴ = √𝑟 + 1 − 1
𝑘
𝑘
∴ 𝑦 = 𝑘( √𝑟 + 1 − 1)

7. Solve for x, given the following inequalities:

a) 2𝑥 ≥ 9 − 𝑥

b) (−2𝑥 + 7) − 12 ≤ 4(6 − 𝑥 )

c) −3(𝑧 2 + 4𝑦 + 𝑥 ) > −12𝑦 − 3𝑧 2 + 36

Solution:

a) 2𝑥 ≥ 9 − 𝑥
∴ 2𝑥 + 𝑥 ≥ 9
∴ 3𝑥 ≥ 9
∴𝑥≥3

b) (−2𝑥 + 7) − 12 ≤ 4(6 − 𝑥 )
∴ −2𝑥 + 7 − 12 ≤ 24 − 4𝑥
∴ −2𝑥 + 4𝑥 ≤ 24 − 7 + 12
∴ 2𝑥 ≤ 29
∴ 𝑥 ≤ 14,50

c) −3(𝑧 2 + 4𝑦 + 𝑥 ) > −12𝑦 − 3𝑧 2 + 36

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∴ −3𝑧 2 − 12𝑦 − 3𝑥 > −12𝑦 − 3𝑧 2 + 36

∴ −3𝑧 2 − 12𝑦 − 3𝑥 + 12𝑦 + 3𝑧 2 > 36
∴ −3𝑥 > 36
∴ 𝑥 < −12

8. a) Determine the linear function for the line that

goes through the coordinates (1, 0) and (5, 4).
b) Determine the linear function of the line that goes
through the coordinates (-1, 4) and (2, 10).

Solution:

𝑦2 −𝑦1 4−0 4
a) 𝑏= = = =1
𝑥2 −𝑥1 5−1 4

∴ 4 = 𝑎 + 1(5) ∴ 𝑎 = 4 − 5 = −1

Therefore, the linear function is:

𝑦 = −1 + 𝑥

𝑦2 −𝑦1 10−4 6
b) 𝑏= = = =2
𝑥2 −𝑥1 2−(−1) 3

∴ 10 = 𝑎 + 2(2) ∴ 𝑎 = 10 − 4 = 6

Therefore, the linear function is:

𝑦 = 6 + 2𝑥

9. Obtain the values of x and y for each of the following sets

of simultaneous equations:

a) 3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 18
4𝑥 + 5𝑦 = 23

b) 10𝑥 − 6𝑦 = 26
7𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 47

Solution:

a) 3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 18 (equation one)
4𝑥 + 5𝑦 = 23 (equation two)

We multiply equation one by 4, and equation two by 3:

12𝑥 + 16𝑦 = 72 (new equation three)

12𝑥 + 15𝑦 = 69 (new equation four)

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We subtract equation four from equation three:

∴𝑦=3

Substitute 𝑦 = 3 in equation one:

3𝑥 + 4(3) = 18 ∴ 3𝑥 = 18 − 12 = 6
∴𝑥=2

b) 10𝑥 − 6𝑦 = 26 (equation one)

7𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 47 (equation two)

We multiply equation two by 2:

14𝑥 + 6𝑦 = 94 (new equation three)

10𝑥 − 6𝑦 = 26 (equation one)

We add equation three and equation one:

∴ 24𝑥 = 120
∴𝑥=5

Substitute 𝑥 = 5 in equation two:

7(5) + 3𝑦 = 47 ∴ 3𝑦 = 47 − 35 = 12
∴𝑦=4

11 Revision Exercises
11.1 Revision Exercise 1

1. You operate a second-hand stall at a local flea market.

While you were on lunch, your assistant sold three
identical baskets and a vase to the same customer. If the
cost of the vase was R25,00 and the total value of the
goods sold to the customer was R80,50, create an
algebraic expression for this transaction and use it to
determine the price of each of the baskets.

2. A supermarket has five tills. The owner claims that as till

three is an express till, twice as many customers go
through this till as go through tills one, two or four. He
also claims that as till five is only used when the
supermarket is particularly busy, half as many
customers go through till five as go through tills one, two
or four. Assume that the owner is correct and that the

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total number of customers who went through the tills on

Saturday was 1 320. Create an algebraic expression for
this situation and use it to determine how many
customers went through each till on Saturday.

3. You have to buy new desks, chairs and computers for

30 employees. The cost of each of the items is as
follows:

Item Cost (R)

Desk 1 050,75
Chair 899,99
Computer 6 999,99

Using brackets, give the total cost of this expenditure as

an algebraic expression and expand the brackets to
determine the total cost of this expenditure.

4. You own a warehouse that sells computer parts

wholesale. On Monday morning, you sell the following
computer parts at the times indicated:

Items Time
10 64GB flash drives 09:22
Eight computer screens 10:02
20 laptops 10:25
50 external hard drives 10:55
10 laptops 11:10
20 external hard drives 11:20
50 64GB flash drives 11:32
15 computer screens 11:48
80 laptops 11:59

a) Express these sales as an algebraic expression,

and simplify this expression;
b) Amend the simplified expression obtained in part
a) if two laptops and three external hard drives
were returned for a full refund during the
morning;
c) Given the prices per item indicated below,
determine the total value of the sales made that
morning.

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Item Cost per item (R)

64GB flash drive 132
Computer screen 1 100
laptop 8 999,99
External hard drive 1 100

5. You withdraw R500 from an ATM to take your family for

lunch. Each of the five family members (including
yourself) order the same lunchtime special, which
includes a cool drink. After you give the waiter a tip of
R50, you have no money left. Create an algebraic
expression to describe this scenario and use it to
determine the cost per individual for the lunchtime
special.

6. You start a new job at a company that fits new tyres to

all types of motor cars. Customers are charged for the
number of tyres that they require. They are also charged
a standard fee of R150 for wheel balancing and
alignment. Create an algebraic expression to describe
this scenario and use it to determine what a customer
will pay if she requires three tyres costing R1 180 each.

7. The total amount of money earned from the sale of an

item is determined by the price of the item and the
number of units of that item which are sold. Create an
algebraic expression to describe this scenario and use it
to determine the total amount of money earned from the
sale of an item that costs R25,75, if 1 055 units of the
item are sold.

8. Manipulate the algebraic expression created for the

previous question, so that the price of the item becomes
the subject. Determine the price of an item if the sale of
495 units generates a total value of R390 802,50.

9. In order for a company to make a profit or break even

when manufacturing a product, the total value of sales
generated by the number of units of this product must be
greater than or equal to the total cost of producing that
number of units:

a) Express this as an algebraic inequality;

b) Will this inequality be valid if the sale of 23 500
units at R65,75 each cost the company R650 000
in overheads plus a production cost of R37,85

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per unit manufactured? Will the company make a

profit?

10. You have been told that it costs a company R950 to

make 100 units of a product and R1 550 to make 200
units of the same product. As one of the financial
managers at the company, you have the responsibility of
constructing a linear equation from this data. Use this
linear equation to determine how much it will cost the
company to produce 500 units of this product.

11. Old McQuarrie owns a farm, on which he keeps cows

and chickens. If we disregard Old McQuarrie, there are
1 390 legs and 402 heads on the farm. How many cows,
and how many chickens are there on the farm?

12. In a local constituency, an ANC majority of 1 926 in the

last election was turned into a DA majority of 924 in the
most recent election. In this election, the DA candidate
obtained 39% of the total vote, with the ANC candidate
taking second place. The EFF obtained 10% of the total
vote, being beaten into fourth place by the COPE
candidate, who obtained 1 848 more votes than the EFF.

Given that there were only the four candidates and that
all the figures given above are exact, use algebra to
determine the total number of votes and the number of
votes obtained by each candidate.

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12 Solutions to Revision Exercises

12.1 Revision Exercise 1
1. Let x = cost of a single basket. Then:

3𝑥 + 25 = 80,50

Thus:

3𝑥 = 80,50 − 25 = 55,50 ∴ 𝑥 = 55,50/3 = R18,50

2. Let x = the number of customers who go through till 1 or

2 or 4. Then the number of customers who go through
till 3 will be 2x and the number of customers who go
through till 5 will be 0,5x. In other words:

Till
1 2 3 4 5
No, of customers x x 2x x 0,5x

∴ Total no, of customers = 𝑥 + 𝑥 + 2𝑥 + 𝑥 + 0,5𝑥 = 5,5𝑥

If the total number of customers on Saturday was 1 320,

then:

5,5𝑥 = 1320 ∴ 𝑥 = 1320/5,5 = 240

Therefore, the number of customers who went through

each till on Saturday was as follows:

Till
1 2 3 4 5
No. of customers 240 240 480 240 120

3. Let x = cost of desk

y = cost of chair
z = cost of computer

Then:

Total cost = 30(𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧)

Expanding the brackets and incorporating the actual

costs of the various items, gives:

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Total cost = 30𝑥 + 30𝑦 + 30𝑧

= 30(R1 050,75) + 30(R899,99) + 30(R6 999,99)
= R31 522,50 + R26 999,70 + R209 999,70
= R268 521,90

4. Let: v = 64GB flash drive

x = Computer screen
y = Laptop
z = External hard drive

a) 10𝑣 + 8𝑥 + 20𝑦 + 50𝑧 + 10𝑦 + 20𝑧 + 50𝑣 +

15𝑥 + 80𝑦

= 60𝑣 + 23𝑥 + 110𝑦 + 70𝑧

b) 60𝑣 + 23𝑥 + 110𝑦 + 70𝑧 − 2𝑦 − 3𝑧

= 60𝑣 + 23𝑥 + 108𝑦 + 67𝑧

c) Total value of sales

= 60(R132) + 23(R1 100) + 108(R8 999,99)
+ 67(R1 100)
= R7 920 + R25 300 + R971 998,92 + R737 00
= 𝑅1 078 918,92

5. Let: x = cost per individual for lunchtime special

Then:

5𝑥 + 50 = 500

Solving for x:

5𝑥 + 50 = 500 ∴ 5𝑥 = 500 − 50 = 450

∴ 𝑥 = 450/5 = R90

6. Let: x = number of tyres required

y = cost per tyre

Then:

Cost to customer = 𝑥𝑦 + 150

For three tyres costing R1 180 each, 𝑥 = 3 and 𝑦 =

1180. Therefore:

Cost to customer = 𝑥𝑦 + R150

= 3(R1 180) + R150

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= R3 540 + R150
= R3 690

7. Let: x = price of item

y = no. of units sold

∴ Total amount earned = 𝑥𝑦

For 1 055 units costing R35,75 each, 𝑥 = 35,75 and 𝑦 =

1 055. Therefore:

Total amount earned = 𝑥𝑦

= R 35,75 × 1 055 = R37 716,25

8. Let: z = total amount earned

Then:

𝑧 = 𝑥𝑦
∴ 𝑥 = 𝑧⁄𝑦

If 495 units generate total money earned of R390 802,50

then 𝑦 = 495 and 𝑧 = R390 802,50, Therefore:

𝑥 = R390 802,50/495 ∴ 𝑥 = R789,50

9. a) Let: x = total value of sales for number of units

y = total cost of producing number of units

Then:

𝑥≥𝑦

b) For the sale of 23 500 units at R65,75 each:

𝑥 = 23 500 × R65,75 = R1 545 125

The cost of this number of units will be:

𝑦 = 650 000 + (23 500 × R37,85) = R1 539 475

As R1 545 125 > R1 539 475, one of the conditions of

the previously stated inequality is satisfied and therefore
the inequality is valid.

As the total value of sales is greater than the total costs,

the company will make a profit.

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10. As cost is dependent on the number of units produced:

x = no. of units produced; and

y = cost

The two cost/production scenarios can be expressed as

(x, y) coordinates. In other words, (100, 950) and (200,
1550). Therefore:

𝑦2 − 𝑦1 1550 − 950 600

𝑏= = = =6
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 200 − 100 100

And:

950 = 𝑎 + 6(100) = 𝑎 + 600

∴ 𝑎 = 950 − 600 = 350

Thus, the linear equation will be:

𝑦 = 350 + 6𝑥

If x = 500, then:

𝑦 = 350 + 6𝑥 = 350 + 6(500) = 3 350

It would therefore cost R3 350 to produce 500 units of

this product.

11. Let: x = number of cows

y = number of chickens

A cow has four legs, so there will be 4x cow legs on the

farm. A chicken has two legs, so there will be 2y chicken
legs on the farm.

∴ 4𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 1390

A cow has one head, so there will be x cow heads on the

farm. A chicken has one head, so there will be y chicken
heads on the farm.

∴ 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 402

Bringing these two algebraic expressions together gives

us a set of simultaneous equations:

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4𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 1 390 (equation one)

𝑥 + 𝑦 = 402 (equation two)

We multiply equation two by 2 and then subtract the new

equation three from equation one:

4𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 1 390 (equation one)

2𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 804 (equation three)

∴ 2𝑥 = 586 ∴ 𝑥 = 293

Substitute 293 into equation two:

293 + 𝑦 = 402 ∴ 𝑦 = 402 − 293 = 109

Therefore, there are 293 cows and 109 chickens on the

farm.

12. Let: x = the total number of votes

Then:

𝑥 = 0,39𝑥 + (0,39𝑥 − 924) + 0,10𝑥 + (0,10𝑥 + 1 848)

∴ 𝑥 = 0,39𝑥 + 0,39𝑥 − 924 + 0,10𝑥 + 0,10𝑥 + 1 848
∴ 𝑥 = 0,98𝑥 + 924
∴ 𝑥 − 0,98𝑥 = 924
∴ 0,02𝑥 = 924
924
∴𝑥= = 46 200
0,02

Therefore, there were 46 200 votes in total. The votes

obtained by each candidate were as follows:

The DA: 0,39 × 46200 = 18 018 votes

The ANC: 18 018 − 924 = 17 094 votes
The EFF: 0,10 × 46 200 = 4 620 votes
COPE: 4 620 + 1 848 = 6 468 votes

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Learning Unit 3: Using Tables and

Graphs
Learning Objectives: My notes

• Distinguish between qualitative

(non-numerical) and quantitative
(numerical) data types;
• Use tables and graphs to illustrate
qualitative data and quantitative
data;
• Find suitable numerical and
graphical summaries for each data
type;
• Construct a frequency distribution
tables;
• Summarise the data in the form of
charts;
• Illustrate word problems using
tables and graphs;
• Explain how tables and graphs
enhance ethical business reports.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises in the
learning unit.

1 Introduction
The science of statistics:

“… is … defined as a set of mathematically based

tools and techniques to transform raw
(unprocessed) data into a few summary
measures that represent useful and useable
information to support effective decision
making.”

Such data may be of a qualitative or quantitative nature. We

will primarily focus upon quantitative data in this module.

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2 Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is data that takes numerical form.

2.1 Discrete and Continuous Data

Quantitative data may be discrete or continuous:

• A variable which generates discrete data is one where

the data generated can only take on whole number
values (0, 1, 2, 3 and so on). The data value obtained for
the number of children in a household is an example of
discrete data. Another example is the number of cars in a
car park. We say that discrete data takes on specific
values and that these values are counted (e.g. we would
count the number of children in the household, or count
the number of cars in the car park);
• A variable which can take on any value in an interval
generates continuous data. The time taken for a student
to complete an intelligence test, or the weight of a student,
are both examples of continuous data. In contrast to
discrete data, we measure the value of continuous data.
Because continuous data can always be measured more
accurately, it has to be treated differently from discrete
data.

2.2 Interval-Scale and Ratio-Scale Data

In addition to differentiating between quantitative data that is
discrete or continuous, we can also differentiate between
quantitative data that is measured using an interval scale or a
ratio scale.

2.2.1 Interval-Scale Data

If the relevant quantitative random variable can generate

negative numerical values, we say that it has no absolute zero.
If this is the case, then we are dealing with interval-scale data.

Such data can take on numerical values that indicate order and
distance, but because the variable has no absolute zero,
multiple comparisons have no meaning.

Temperature is an example of an interval-scaled variable. If we

measure the temperature at midday on two consecutive days
and find that it is 10 degrees on the first day and 20 degrees on
the second day, we can state that:

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• It is warmer on the second day than on the first day

(“order”); and
• It is 10 degrees warmer on the second day than on the
first day (“distance”).

However, we cannot say that it was “half as warm” on the first

day as it was on the second day, or that it was “twice as warm”
on the second day as it was on the first day. Such multiple
comparisons are meaningless.

2.2.2 Ratio-Scale Data

If the relevant quantitative random variable cannot generate

negative numerical values, we say that it has an absolute zero.
If this is the case, then we are dealing with ratio-scale data.
Such data can take on numerical values that indicate order and
distance and allow for meaningful multiple comparisons.

Weight is an example of a variable that generates ratio-scaled

data. If my daughter weighs 40kg and I weigh 80kg, then:

• I am heavier than my daughter (“order”);

• I am 40kg heavier than my daughter (“distance”); and
• I am twice as heavy as my daughter (multiple
comparison).

3 Tables and Graphs: An Introduction

Raw data is a list of the observations obtained for the variable
being studied. In itself, raw data provides little useful
information. However, through the use of statistical
techniques, raw data can be summarised so that useful
information is obtained. For example, summarising data using
tables and graphs increases our ability to detect patterns and
meaning in the data.

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4 Tables and Graphs: Qualitative Data

4.1 Frequency Distribution Tables for
Qualitative Data
A frequency distribution table for qualitative data displays the
possible response categories for the relevant random variable
and how often (or the frequency) each category appears in the
data set. These frequencies are referred to as absolute
frequencies and are indicated using the symbol f. The relative
frequency for a particular category is the proportion of the total
number of observations that fall within that category.

The graphs most commonly used to represent qualitative data

include simple bar charts and pie charts.

4.1.1 Steps in the Construction of a Frequency

Distribution Table for Qualitative Data

a) In the first column, classify the variable according to the

relevant category;
b) In the second column, allocate the responses obtained
to the relevant category using the tally method;
c) In the third column, translate the tallies obtained for each
category into frequency (f) values (these are referred to
as absolute frequencies);
d) Total the frequencies in the third column. The total
should be the same as the sample size, n;
e) In the fourth column, calculate the relative frequency
values for each category, using the formula f/n. The sum
of the relative frequency values will be equal to 1;
f) In the fifth column, we express the relative frequencies
for each category as percentages, by multiplying the
values in the fourth column by 100. The sum of these
percentage frequency values will be equal to 100;
g) Give the table a relevant, descriptive title.

Example of a Frequency Distribution Table for Qualitative

Data: Eye Colour of Employee

Eye Tally Number Of Relative Percentage

Colour Employees Frequency Frequency
(f)
Blue //// 5 0,25 25
Green //// 5 0,25 25
Brown //// //// 10 0,50 50
Total 20 1,00 100

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4.2 Constructing a Bar Chart for Qualitative

Data

a) Mark the categories of the variable on the horizontal

axis, representing each category by the same width and
leaving a small gap between each category;
b) Mark the frequencies on the vertical axis;
c) Draw a bar for each category, so that the height of the
bar is equal to the frequency of the associated category;
d) Clearly label both axes and give the graph a relevant,
descriptive title.

Example of a Bar Chart for Qualitative Data: Eye Colour of

Employees

Eye Colour of Employees

12
10
Number of Employees

10
8
6 5 5
4
2
0
Blue Green Brown
Eye Colour

4.3 Constructing a Pie Chart for Qualitative

Data
a) Draw a circle (which consists of 360 degrees). The entire
circle represents the total sample size;
b) Determine the size of the angle for each category by
multiplying the relative frequency by 360 degrees;
c) Starting from the midpoint of the circle, draw the relevant
angle size for each category;
d) Indicate what category each portion of the circle
represents;
e) Give the chart a relevant, descriptive title.

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Example of a Pie Chart for Qualitative Data: Eye Colour of

Employees

Eye Colour of Employees

Blue
25%
Brown
50% Green
25%

5 Tables and Graphs: Quantitative

Data
5.1 Frequency Distribution Tables for
Quantitative Data
A frequency distribution for quantitative data is a summary of
numerical data prepared by dividing raw data into several
non-overlapping class intervals and counting how many
observations (frequency) of the variable fall into each class.

Data organised into a frequency distribution in this way is

referred to as grouped data.

Working with grouped data inevitably means losing some

information regarding the original data set. You will know how
many values fall within each class, but not what the exact values
of those observations were.

5.1.1 Steps in the Construction of a Frequency

Distribution Table for Quantitative Data

a) For most test/exam questions relating to this topic, you

will be given the first two classes for the frequency table.
From these, you will then be able to ascertain the main
characteristics of the table that you have been asked to
create (e.g. class width, etc.).
b) Add further classes to those that you have initially been
given, until your last class includes the largest value in
the given data set.

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c) Now allocate each value in the data set to the relevant

class. You may find it useful to include a tally column in
your table for this purpose.
d) Using the results in the tally column, create an absolute
frequency (f) column to the right of the tally column;
e) You may also find it useful to include columns for relative
and percentage frequency in your table.

5.1.2 Midpoints and Cumulative Less than Frequency

Values

To obtain the midpoint of a class:

• Divide the class width by two and then add the result to
the lower limit of the class.

To obtain the cumulative less than frequency value for a

class:

• Determine the number of values in the data set that are

less than the upper limit of the class.

5.2 Histograms, Frequency Polygons and

Cumulative Less than Frequency
Polygons
A grouped data set may be graphically illustrated using a
histogram, a polygon or a cumulative polygon.

5.2.1 Histogram

A histogram is a continuous series of rectangles of equal width

but of different height, the latter being determined by the class
frequencies obtained from a grouped frequency distribution
table. The overall pattern of the histogram can be described by
its shape, centre and spread. In contrast to a bar graph, there
are no gaps between the bars in a histogram.

To construct a histogram:

a) Mark the class intervals on the horizontal axis and the

frequencies on the vertical axis. The vertical axis should
start at zero, with the maximum frequency obtained
suggesting the top value for the vertical axis;
b) Draw a vertical bar for each class interval of height
equivalent to the frequency value obtained for that class;
c) Label both axes clearly and give the chart a relevant title.

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5.2.2 Frequency Polygon

A frequency polygon is a line graph that plots frequency using

the midpoint of the class interval. It can be used to portray the
shape of the distribution in terms of highs, lows and point of
concentration and provides similar information to the histogram.

To construct a polygon:

a) Plot the class midpoints along the horizontal axis and the
frequencies along the vertical axis;
b) Place a dot at the midpoint of each class equal to the
frequency of each class;
c) Add an extra class below and an extra class above the
existing class intervals and place a dot on the midpoints
of each of these classes at a frequency of zero;
d) Join the dots together with a series of straight lines;
e) Again, relevant axis labels and a title should be given.

5.2.3 Cumulative Frequency Polygon (Ogive)

An ogive or less than ogive or cumulative frequency

polygon can be used to estimate how many of the values in a
data set lie below or above a given value.

To construct a less than ogive:

a) Plot the class intervals along the horizontal axis and the
cumulative frequencies on the vertical axis;
b) Every less than ogive starts with a value of zero at the
lower boundary of the lowest class interval;
c) Mark dots at the upper boundary of each class, at a
height corresponding to the cumulative frequency for
that class;
d) Join the dots together with a series of straight lines;
e) Relevant axis labels and a title should be given.

5.2.4 Example: Grouped Frequency Distribution Table,

Histogram, Frequency Polygon and Cumulative
Frequency Polygon (Ogive)

The following grouped frequency distribution table indicates the

amount of rainfall (in mm) experienced by a small Karoo town
over a randomly selected period of 50 days.

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Rainfall No. Of Class Cumulative Less

(mm) Days (f) Midpoint Than Frequencies
(x) (F)
0,7 - < 1,4 3 0,65 3
1,4 - < 2,1 9 1,35 12
2,1 - < 2,8 16 2,05 28
2,8 - < 3,5 11 2,75 39
3,5 - < 4,2 7 3,45 46
4,2 - < 4,9 2 4,15 48
4,9 - < 5,6 2 4,85 50
n = 50

Below, we give the histogram, frequency polygon and

cumulative less than frequency polygon for this grouped data
set.

Histogram: Rainfall per Day (mm)

20
16
Number of Days

15
11
10 9
7

5 3
2 2

0
0.7 - < 1.4 1.4 - < 2.1 2.1 - < 2.8 2.8 - < 3.5 3.5 - < 4.2 4.2 - < 4.9 4.9 - < 5.6
Rainfall (mm)

Frequency Polygon - Rainfall per Day

(mm)
18
16 16
14
No. of Days

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
4
3 2 2
2
0 0 0
0.0 - < 0.7 0.7 - < 1.4 1.4 - < 2.1 2.1 - < 2.8 2.8 - < 3.5 3.5 - < 4.2 4.2 - < 4.9 4.9 - < 5.6 5.6 - < 6.3
Rainfall (mm)

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Cumulative Less than Frequency

Polygon: Rainfall per Day (mm)
60

50 50
46 48
40
No. of Days

39
30 28
20

10 12
0 3
0
0.7 1.4 2.1 2.8 3.5 4.2 4.9 5.6
Rainfall per Day (mm)

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6 Activities
6.1 Activity 1
1. Determine whether the following are examples of
discrete or continuous data:

a) The number of students in a lecture hall;

b) The age of the students in a lecture hall;
c) The height of students in a lecture hall;
d) The number of socks on a washing line.

Solution:

a) Discrete;
b) Continuous;
c) Continuous;
d) Discrete.

2. Determine whether the following are examples of

interval-scale or ratio-scale data:

a) The number of customers who visit a

supermarket on a Saturday morning;
b) The temperature of the water in a local lake;
c) The weight of a grapefruit.

Solution:

a) Ratio-scale;
b) Interval-scale;
c) Ratio-scale.

3. The following data set indicates the favourite soccer

team as chosen by a sample of Gauteng residents.

Pirates Chiefs Sundowns Sundowns Pirates

Chiefs Pirates Pirates Chiefs Chiefs
Sundowns Pirates Chiefs Chiefs Pirates
Pirates Chiefs Sundowns Chiefs Pirates

Construct a frequency distribution table for this data set.

The table should include absolute and percentage
frequency columns, with the relevant total values being
displayed.

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Solution:

Soccer Team f %f
Chiefs 8 40
Pirates 8 40
Sundowns 4 20
Total 20 100

4. Construct a bar chart for the frequency distribution table

obtained in the previous question, using the absolute
frequency values.

Solution:

Favourite Soccer Team of

Gauteng Residents
10 8 8
No. of Residents

8
6 4
4
2
0
Chiefs Pirates Sundowns
Soccer Team

5. Construct a pie chart for the frequency distribution table

obtained in question 3, using the percentage frequency
values.

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Solution:

Favourite Soccer Team of

Gauteng Residents

Sundowns
20% Chiefs
40%

Pirates
40%

6. The following data set indicates the scores obtained by

a random sample of 25 employees on an intelligence
test. Construct a grouped frequency distribution table for
this data set, using the classes 95 - < 100, 100 - < 105
and so on. Your table should indicate the number of
employees for each class and the percentage
frequencies for each class.

98 95 108 115 118

113 100 112 109 115
119 105 116 108 114
101 110 114 110 116
106 115 112 107 107

Solution:

Score Tally No. of employees (f) %f

95 - < 100 // 2 8
100 - < 105 // 2 8
105 - < 110 //// // 7 28
110 - < 115 //// // 7 28
115 - < 120 //// // 7 28
Total n = 25 100

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7. Given the following grouped frequency distribution table,

determine the relevant class midpoints and the
cumulative less than frequency values:

Age (Years) No. of passengers (f)

15 - < 25 14
25 - < 35 19
35 - < 45 27
45 - < 55 33
55 - < 65 7
n = 100

Solution:

Age No. of Midpoint

(Years) passengers (f) (x) F
15 - < 25 14 20 14
25 - < 35 19 30 33
35 - < 45 27 40 60
45 - < 55 33 50 93
55 - < 65 7 60 100
n = 100

8. Construct the following graphs for the solution in the

previous question:

a) A histogram;
b) A frequency polygon;
c) A cumulative less than frequency polygon.

Solution:

a)

Age of Passengers
35 33
Number of Passengers

30 27
25
19
20
14
15
10 7
5
0
15 - < 25 25 - < 35 35 - < 45 45 - < 55 55 - < 65
Age (Years)

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b)

Age of Passengers
35
33
Number of Passengers

30
27
25
20 19
15 14
10
7
5
0 0
0
5 - < 15 15 - < 25 25 - < 35 35 - < 45 45 - < 55 55 - < 65 65 - < 75
Age (Years)

c)

Age of Passengers - Less than Ogive

120
(Cumulative Less than Frequency)

100 100
Number of Passengers

93
80

60 60
40
33
20
14
0
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Age (Years)

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7 Revision Exercises
7.1 Revision Exercise 1

1. You are hired by the owner of an SME to do a

presentation on the importance of new clients. The
audience for this presentation will be the company
salesmen and the production line managers. The owner
tells you that 55% of the company’s annual turnover
comes from new clients. Create a bar chart and a pie
chart to visually represent this information to the
intended audience.

2. A local company produces canvas camping tents for the

4×4 market. The following data set indicates the types of
tents that were sold over the last month. Construct a
frequency distribution table for this data set, indicating
the number sold of each tent type, in both absolute and
percentage terms. Then construct a bar graph to
represent the absolute frequency information
graphically.

Senior Senior Traveller Senior Senior

Junior Junior Senior Junior Junior
Traveller Senior Junior Traveller Senior
Senior Junior Traveller Traveller Senior
Senior Traveller Senior Junior Junior
Senior Junior Senior Senior Traveller

3. A company is having problems meeting its production

targets. As a senior analyst, you have been asked to
investigate the number of machine breakdowns per
week in the company factory. A random sample of the
number of breakdowns per week over 30 different weeks
is given below.

7 11 13 6 12
17 12 14 9 11
29 10 12 14 9
8 8 16 14 13
5 6 11 21 13
19 9 27 22 14

Construct a grouped frequency distribution table for this

data set, using the classes 5 - < 10, 10 - < 15 and so on.
Your table should include columns for the absolute and
percentage frequencies, the midpoints and the

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cumulative less than frequencies. You should create a

histogram based on the percentage frequency results
obtained from the table.

4. The following grouped frequency distribution table

indicates the time taken by a sample of potential
employees to complete a psychometric test:

Time No. of Potential

(minutes) Employees (f) %f x %F
5-<8 3 12
8 - < 11 5 20
11 - < 14 8 32
14 - < 17 9 36
Total n = 25 100

a) Copy this table and then insert the correct values for the
midpoint (x) and cumulative less than percentage
frequency (%F) columns;
b) Draw a frequency polygon for the number of potential
employees in each class;
c) Draw a cumulative less than frequency polygon for the
percentage frequency values.

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8 Solutions to Revision Exercises

8.1 Revision Exercise 1

1. Given that 55% of annual turnover comes from new

clients, it follows that 45% of the annual turnover must
come from existing clients. Therefore:

Source of % Of Annual
Annual Turnover Turnover
New clients 55
Existing clients 45
Total 100

The bar chart will resemble the following:

% of Annual Turnover by Client Type

60 55
% of Annual Turnover

50 45
40
30
20
10
0
New Clients Existing Clients
Type of Client

% of Annual Turnover by Client Type

Existing
Clients
45% New Clients
55%

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2. The table should resemble the following:

Tent Type Tally No. of Tents %f

(f)
Senior //// //// //// 14 46,67
Junior //// //// 9 30,00
Traveller //// // 7 23,33
Total n = 30 100,00

Likewise, the bar chart should be similar to that given below:

Tent Sales by Type

15 14
Number of Sales

10 9
7

0
Senior Junior Traveller
Type of Tent

3. The grouped frequency distribution table should be as

follows:

No. of No. of
Breakdowns Tally Weeks (f) %f x F
5 - < 10 //// //// 9 30,00 7,5 9
10 - < 15 //// //// //// 14 46,67 12,5 23
15 - < 20 /// 3 10,00 17,5 26
20 - < 25 // 2 6,67 22,5 28
25 - < 30 // 2 6,67 27,5 30
Total n = 30 100,00

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The histogram should resemble the following:

No. of Breakdowns per Week

50,00% 46,67%
Number of Weeks

40,00%
30,00%
30,00%
20,00%
10,00%
10,00% 6,67% 6,67%

0,00%
5 - < 10 10 - < 15 15 - < 20 20 - < 25 25 - < 30
Breakdowns per Week

4. The completed table should be as follows:

Time No. of Potential

(minutes) Employees (f) %f x %F
5-<8 3 12 6,5 12
8 - < 11 5 20 9,5 32
11 - < 14 8 32 12,5 64
14 - < 17 9 36 15,5 100
Total n = 25 100

The frequency polygon should resemble the following figure:

Time Taken by Potential Employees to

Complete Psychometric Test
10
No. of Potential Employees

9
8 8
6
5
4
3
2
0 0
0
2-<5 5-<8 8 - < 11 11 - < 14 14 - < 17 17 - < 20
Time (Minutes)

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The cumulative frequency polygon should resemble the

following:

Cumulative Less than Percentage Frequency

Polygon: Time Taken by Potential Employees to
Complete Psychometric Test
120
% of Potential Employees

100 100
80
60 64
40
32
20
0 12
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (Minutes)

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Learning Unit 4: Introduction to Excel

Learning Objectives: My notes

• Enter, edit and format data in cells;

• Learn how to construct formulas
(syntax) in excel;
• Perform basic arithmetic using
relative and absolute references;
• Use Excel to do basic arithmetic
calculations;
• Use Excel built-in functions to do
calculations;
• Use Excel to draw graphs;
• Convert a real-world situation into
an Excel file and do relevant
calculations;
• Write a simple ethical report to
interpret your Excel findings.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises in the
learning unit.

1 Introduction
In this learning unit, we discuss how to perform a variety of
rudimentary calculations using Microsoft Excel.

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2 Arithmetic Operations
2.1 Addition
There are two main ways to add values together in Excel:

Using the + Sign

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the total of the
values to be added together.
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Click on the cell containing the first value of those that
you wish to add together;
d) Select the plus sign (+) on the keyboard;
e) Click on the cell containing the second value of those
that you wish to add together;
f) Select the plus sign (+) on the keyboard;
g) Repeat this process until you have selected all of the
values that you wish to add together;
h) Press the Enter key. The total of the selected values will
then appear in the cell selected in step a).

Using the SUM Function

The SUM function is a useful method by which to obtain the total

of a series of values which are located adjacent to one another
in a row or column in an Excel worksheet.

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the total of the
values to be added together.
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word SUM after the equals sign. A drop-
down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-click on
the SUM option. The word SUM with an open bracket
will appear in the cell after the equals sign;
d) Highlight the range of cells containing the values that
you wish to add together. You will see this range of cells
appearing after the open bracket;
e) Insert a close bracket into the cell after the cell range;
f) Press the Enter key. The total of the selected values will
then appear in the selected cell.

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Example:

1. Based on the following worksheet, you wish to determine

the total number of units produced by all of the
employees in the list:

2. First type “TOTAL” into cell A14 and press Enter. Now
select cell B14. Press the equals key on the keyboard.
Start typing the word SUM. The drop-down menu in the
following figure will appear.

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3. Double-click on the SUM option. Notice that =SUM

(appears in the selected cell. Now highlight all of the data
values (i.e. highlight the cells B2 to B13). This range of
cells will now appear after the open bracket in cell B14.

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4. Press the closed bracket key on your keyboard and then

press Enter. The total of the range of cells will now
appear in cell B14.

2.2 Subtraction
Using the - Sign

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the result of

the subtraction;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Click on the cell containing the value that you wish to
subtract a value from;
d) Select the minus sign (-) on the keyboard;
e) Click on the cell containing the value that you wish to
subtract from the value in step 3;
f) Press the Enter key. The result of the subtraction will
then appear in the selected cell.

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Example:

1. Based on the following worksheet, we wish to determine

the difference between the total number of units
produced by employees 1221 to 1232 and the total
number of units produced by employees 992 to 1003.

2. Type “Difference =” into cell E16 and press Enter. Then

select cell F16 and press the equals key on the
keyboard. Click on cell F14, enter a minus sign and then
click on cell B14.

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3. Press the Enter key on the keyboard. The difference

between the two total values will now appear in cell F16.

2.3 Multiplication
Using the * Sign

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the result of

the multiplication;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Click on the cell containing the first value that you wish
to multiply;
d) Select the * symbol on the keyboard;
e) Click on the cell containing the value by which you wish
to multiply the value in step 3;
f) Press the Enter key. The result of the multiplication will
then appear in the selected cell.

Using the PRODUCT Function

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the result of

the multiplication;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word PRODUCT after the equals sign. A
drop-down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-
click on the PRODUCT option. The word PRODUCT

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with an open bracket will appear in the cell after the

equals sign;
d) Click on the cell containing the first value that you wish
to multiply, and then press the; key on the keyboard;
e) Click on the cell containing the value by which you wish
to multiply the value in step 4 and then insert a close
bracket;
f) Press the Enter key. The result of the multiplication will
then appear in the selected cell.

Example:

1. The following worksheet indicates the cost of all of the

raw materials used in the production of a single unit of a
particular item. We wish to determine the total cost of all
raw materials used for a single unit of this item and what
the total cost of the raw materials will be if we
manufacture 118 units of this item.

2. Using the steps previously discussed, we first obtain the

total cost per unit indicated in the following figure.

3. Type “Total Cost Of 118 Units =” into cell D6. Type

“(Rands)” into cell E5. Select cell E6. Enter an equal’s
sign into the cell. Click on cell B6, press the * key on the
keyboard, and then type 118.

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4. Press Enter. The total cost of the raw materials for 118
units of this item will now appear in cell E6.

2.4 Division
Using the / Sign

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the result of

the division;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Click on the cell containing the value that you wish to be
divided;
d) Select the / symbol on the keyboard;
e) Click on the cell containing the value by which you wish
to divide the value in step 3;
f) Press the Enter key. The result of the division will then
appear in the selected cell.

Example:

1. The following worksheet indicates the monthly fixed

costs involved in operating a small factory that produces
high quality standing lamps. We wish to know what the
fixed costs will be per lamp, if the factory produces 200
lamps in a particular month.

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2. Type “Total Fixed Costs” into cell A7. Using the SUM
function, determine the total fixed costs value in cell B7.

3. Type “Fixed Costs Per Lamp =” into cell D7. Type

“(Rands)” into cell E6. Select cell E7. Enter an equals
sign into the cell. Click on cell B7, press the / key on the
keyboard, and then type 200.

4. Press Enter. The fixed costs per lamp if 200 lamps are
manufactured will now appear in cell E7.

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3 Computation of Statistical Values

Before performing the computations given below in Excel, first
enter the values in the relevant data set into a column. Do not
leave any spaces between the values in the column.

3.1 The Mean

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the mean
value;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word AVERAGE after the equals sign. A
drop-down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-
click on the AVERAGE option. The word AVERAGE with
an open bracket will appear in the cell after the equals
sign;
d) Highlight all of the cells containing the values in the data
set, and then insert a close bracket;
e) Press the Enter key. The mean value will then appear in
the selected cell.

3.2 The Mode

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the mode
value;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word MODE after the equals sign. A
drop-down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-
click on the MODE option. The word MODE with an open
bracket will appear in the cell after the equals sign;
d) Highlight all of the cells containing the values in the data
set, and then insert a close bracket;
e) Press the Enter key. The value of the mode will then
appear in the selected cell.

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3.3 The Median

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the median

value;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word MEDIAN after the equals sign. A
drop-down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-
click on the MEDIAN option. The word MEDIAN with an
open bracket will appear in the cell after the equals sign;
d) Highlight all of the cells containing the values in the data
set, and then insert a close bracket;
e) Press the Enter key. The value of the median will then
appear in the selected cell.

3.4 The Variance

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the variance
value;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word VAR after the equals sign. A drop-
down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-click on
the VAR option. The word VAR with an open bracket will
appear in the cell after the equals sign;
d) Highlight all of the cells containing the values in the data
set and then insert a close bracket;
e) Press the Enter key. The value of the variance will then
appear in the selected cell.

3.5 The Standard Deviation

a) Select the cell in which you wish to place the value of the
standard deviation;
b) Select the equals sign on the keyboard;
c) Start typing the word STDEV after the equals sign. A
drop-down menu will appear next to the cell. Double-
click on the STDEV option. The word STDEV with an
open bracket will appear in the cell after the equals sign;
d) Highlight all the cells containing the values in the data
set, and then insert a close bracket;
e) Press the Enter key. The value of the standard deviation
will then appear in the selected cell.

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3.6 Computing Measures of Central

Tendency and Variability: An Example
using Excel
1. You are given the ages of a sample of employees of
company Z, as indicated in the worksheet in the
following figure. You have been asked to determine the
mean, mode, median, variance and standard deviation
for this data set and to interpret the values that you
obtain for the mean, mode and median.

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2. To obtain the mean: Type “Mean” into cell A23. Select

cell B23. Enter an equals sign into the cell, and then start
typing the word AVERAGE. A drop-down menu will
appear. Double-click on the AVERAGE option and then
highlight all values in the data set from B2 to B22. Enter
a close bracket into the cell.

3. Press Enter. The mean value of 35,90 will appear in the

cell (format cell B23 so that it gives the number to two
decimal places). The average age of the employees in
the sample is therefore 35,90 years.

4. To obtain the mode: Type “Mode” into cell A24. Select

cell B24. Enter an equals sign into the cell and then start
typing the word MODE. A drop-down menu will appear.
Double-click on the MODE option and then highlight all
values in the data set from B2 to B22. Enter a close
bracket into the cell.

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5. Press Enter. The mode value of 26,00 will appear in the

cell (format cell B24 so that it gives the number to two
decimal places). The most frequently occurring age of
employees in the sample is 26,00 years.

6. To obtain the median: Type “Median” into cell A25.

Select cell B25. Enter an equals sign into the cell and
then start typing the word MEDIAN. A drop-down menu
will appear. Double-click on the MEDIAN option and then
highlight all values in the data set from B2 to B22. Enter
a close bracket into the cell.

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7. Press Enter. The median value of 36,00 will appear in

the cell (format cell B25 so that it gives the number to
two decimal places). Thus, half of the employees in the
sample are of age 36,00 years or less.

8. To obtain the variance: Type “Variance” into cell A26.

Select cell B26. Enter an equals sign into the cell and
then start typing the word VAR. A drop-down menu will
appear. Double-click on the VAR option, and then
highlight all values in the data set from B2 to B22. Enter
a close bracket into the cell.

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9. Press Enter. The variance value of 87,19 will appear in

the cell (format cell B26 so that it gives the number to
two decimal places).

10. To obtain the standard deviation: Type “Std. Deviation”

into cell A27. Select cell B27. Enter an equals sign into
the cell and then start typing the word STDEV. A drop-
down menu will appear. Double-click on the STDEV
option, and then highlight all values in the data set from
B2 to B22. Enter a close bracket into the cell.

11. Press Enter. The standard deviation value of 9,34 will

appear in the cell (format cell B27 so that it gives the
number to two decimal places).

12. The final summary of the values computed will be as

follows:

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4 Creating a Bar Chart in Excel: An

Example
Bar charts are figures used to indicate how often each particular
category of a qualitative (non-numerical) variable occurs.

Example:

1. A clothes store has gathered data from a sample of 400

customers with regard to the latter’s preferred method of
payment. The survey results are given in the following
worksheet.

2. We wish to create a bar chart to display the results of

this survey. First, highlight the area indicated in the
following figure (do not include the Total row):

3. Now select the Insert tab from the menu at the top of the
screen, click on the Column chart option and then click
on the first 2-D column option from the drop-down menu
that appears:

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4. The following chart will now appear on the worksheet:

5. This chart is very simplistic and does not have all of the
features that we require of a good bar chart. We
therefore need to make some changes to the chart.

6. Go to Chart Layout and select Layout 9. Your chart will

now resemble the following:

7. Click on the Number of Customers legend on the right-

hand side of the chart and press Delete.

8. Click on the horizontal Axis Title and type “Method of

Payment”. Press Enter.

9. Click on the vertical Axis Title and type “Number of

Customers”. Press Enter.

10. Click on the Number of Customers title at the top of the

chart and type “Preferred Method of Payment by
Customers”. Press Enter.

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11. Your chart should now look like the one in the following
figure:

12. Right-click your mouse on one of the columns in the

chart. A drop-down menu will appear. Select Add Data
Labels. The number of customers who chose each of the
methods of payment will now appear at the top of each
respective column.

13. Click on one of the inner gridlines on your chart and

press Delete – the grid lines will disappear, and your
chart will now resemble the following:

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5 Creating a Pie Chart in Excel: An

Example
Pie charts provide an alternative to bar charts as a means by
which to indicate how often each particular category of a
qualitative (non-numerical) variable occurs.

Example:

1. We will use the same initial data given in the previous

bar chart example.

2. We wish to create a pie chart to display the results of this

survey. First, highlight the area indicated in the following
figure (do not include the Total row):

3. Now select the Insert tab from the menu at the top of the
screen, click on the Pie chart option and then click on
the first 2-D column option from the drop-down menu
that appears (see the following figure).

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4. The following chart will now appear on the worksheet.

5. This chart is very simplistic and does not have all of the
features that we require of a good pie chart. We
therefore need to make some changes to the chart.

6. Go to Chart Layout and select Layout 1. Your chart will

now resemble the following figure.

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7. Click on the Number of Customers title at the top of the

chart and type “Preferred Payment Method by
Customers” and press Enter.

8. Click on the category label in one of the pie segments,

and then change the font size to eleven. Make the font
Bold and the colour of the font White. The chart should
now resemble the following figure.

9. Note that Excel has automatically changed the

frequency values for each category into percentages. If
necessary, use the resize handles on the four edges and
the corners of the chart box to make the chart the desired
size.

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6 Creating a Histogram in Excel: An

Example
A histogram provides a graphical means by which to indicate
how often a number or a grouped class of numbers occurs.

Example:

1. The following table indicates the number of customer

complaints received by a company per week for a
sample of fifty randomly selected weeks.

2. We wish to create a histogram to display these results.

First, highlight the entire area containing data.

3. Now select the Insert tab from the menu at the top of the
screen, click on the Column chart option, and then click
on the first 2-D column option from the drop-down menu
that appears (see the following figure).

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4. The following chart will now appear on the worksheet.

5. This chart is very simplistic and does not yet resemble a

histogram. We therefore need to make some changes to
the chart.

6. Go to Chart Layout and select Layout 9. Your chart will

now resemble the following:

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7. Click on the Number of Weeks legend on the right-hand

side of the chart and press Delete.

8. Click on the horizontal Axis Title, and type “Number of

Complaints Per Week”. Press Enter.

9. Click on the vertical Axis Title and type “Number of

Weeks”. Press Enter.

10. Click on the Number of Weeks title at the top of the chart
and type “Number of Complaints Per Week”. Press
Enter.

11. Right-click your mouse on one of the columns in the

chart. A drop-down menu will appear. Select Add Data
Labels. The relevant number of weeks will now appear
at the top of each respective grouped class column.

12. Right-click your mouse again on one of the columns in

the chart. The same drop-down menu will appear.
Select Format Data Series. In the Format Data Series
dialog box that appears, drag the slider in the Gap Width
option all the way to the left, signifying that there should
be no gap between the bars in the chart.

13. Now click on the Border Colour option in the Format

Data Series dialog box. Choose the Solid Line Border
Colour option. Click on the drop-down menu next to the
Colour option and choose the colour black. Click on the
Close button on the dialog box.

14. Click on one of the inner gridlines on your chart and

press Delete – the grid lines will disappear, and your
chart will now resemble the following figure.

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15. If necessary, use the resize handles on the four edges

and the corners of the chart box to make the chart the
desired size.

7 Activities
7.1 Activity 1
1. Create the following table in an Excel worksheet. This
table indicates the VAT-exclusive prices of four items
that have just been purchased by a customer.

2. We wish to determine the VAT amounts that will be

added to the VAT-exclusive prices given for each item.
Select cell C2 and press the equals sign on the
keyboard. Now click on cell B2, which contains the price
of the first item, press the * sign on the keyboard and
then type 15%. Press Enter. The value 120 should
appear in cell C2.

3. Click on C2. Press the CTRL and C keys on the

keyboard. You have now copied the formula in C2. Click
on C3 and press the CTRL and V keys. You will see the
value 150 appear in the cell. Now click on C4 and press
the CTRL and V keys. Do the same for cell C5. The VAT
values for each of the items will appear in the selected
cells, as per the figure below. Press the Esc key.

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4. We now wish to determine the VAT-inclusive prices for

each item. Click on D2 and press the equals sign on the
keyboard. Select B2, press the + key on the keyboard
and then select C2. Press Enter. The VAT-inclusive
price for the shirt will then appear in D2.

5. Click on D2. Press the CTRL and C keys on the

keyboard. You have now copied the formula in D2. Click
on D3 and press the CTRL and V keys. You will see the
value 1150 appear in the cell. Now click on D4 and press
the CTRL and V keys. Do the same for cell D5. The VAT-
inclusive prices for each item will appear in the selected
cells, as per the figure below. Press the Esc key.

6. Finally, we wish to determine the total VAT-inclusive cost

of purchasing the four items. Select D6. Press the equals
sign, and then start typing the word SUM. A drop-down
menu will appear. Select the SUM option. Highlight cells
D2 to D5, enter a close bracket using the keyboard and
then press Enter. The total cost of the four items will now
appear in D6.

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7.2 Activity 2
1. The following table gives the VAT-inclusive prices
currently being charged by East-Pak for children’s tables
and chairs. Create this table in an Excel worksheet.

2. We first wish to determine the VAT-exclusive prices for

the chair and table. Select C2 and press the equals sign.
Click on B2, press the forward slash key and then type
1,15 and press the Enter key. The VAT-exclusive price
for the chair will now appear in C2.

3. Click on C2. Press the CTRL and C keys on the

keyboard. You have now copied the formula in C2. Click
on C3 and press the CTRL and V keys. You will see the
value 120 appear in the cell. We now have the
VAT-exclusive prices for the two items. Press the Esc
key.

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4. We now wish to enter the difference between the

VAT-exclusive and -inclusive prices for chairs in D2.
Click on D2 and press the equals sign. Click on B2, type
the minus sign, click on C2 and then press Enter. You
will see the value 6 appear in the cell.

5. Click on D2. Press the CTRL and C keys on the

keyboard. You have now copied the formula in D2. Click
on D3 and press the CTRL and V keys. You will see the
value 18 appear in the cell. Press the Esc key.

6. We now want to determine the total cost of the chair and

table, both for the VAT-inclusive and -exclusive
scenarios. We also want to determine the total VAT
charged for both items. Click on B4, press the equals
sign, and start typing the word SUM. A drop-down menu
will appear. Select the SUM option. Highlight cells B2 to
B3, enter a close bracket using the keyboard and then
press Enter. The total VAT-inclusive cost of the chair and
table will now appear in B4.

7. Click on B4. Press the CTRL and C keys on the

keyboard. You have now copied the formula in B4. Click
on C4 and press the CTRL and V keys. You will see the
value 160 appear in the cell. Now click on D4 and press
the CTRL and V keys. You will see the value 24 appear
in the cell. We now have the total for the VAT-exclusive

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prices for the two items and the total for the VAT charged
on both items. Press the Esc key.

8 Revision Exercises
8.1 Revision Exercise 1
The following data set indicates the final marks obtained by a
class of students. Enter this data into Excel and then determine
the mean, mode, median, variance and standard deviation for
the data set.

8.2 Revision Exercise 2

1. The following frequency distribution table indicates the

number of students who registered yesterday with the
various departments of a local institution of higher
education. Construct a bar chart in Excel to graphically
illustrate this information.

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Department No. of Students

Law 15
Maths 5
Accountancy 10
Total 30

8.3 Revision Exercise 3

1. An employee receives a commission of 12,5% on sales

that she makes in any particular month. The sales per
month for a period of one year are indicated in the
following excerpt from an Excel worksheet. Use Excel to
determine the commission the employee earned each
month, and the total sales and commission for the entire
year.

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9 Solutions to Revision Exercises

9.1 Revision Exercise 1

9.2 Revision Exercise 2

Student Registrations Per Department

20
15
No. Of Students

15
10
10
5
5

0
Law Maths Accountancy
Department

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9.3 Revision Exercise 3

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Learning Unit 5: Statistical Measures

Learning Objectives: My notes

• Explain measures of central

tendencies, location and
variability;
• Calculate measures of central
tendencies - the mean mode and
median for ungrouped data;
• Calculate variability – the standard
deviation, variance, quartiles and
percentiles for continuous data;
• Calculate measures of location -
the quartiles and percentiles in an
ordered data set;
• Interpret results;
• Use statistical measures to
understand real-word problems;
• Express word problems using
statistical measures;
• Calculate measure of variability
using the interquartile range, the
quartile deviation, the variance
and the standard deviation;
• Use Excel built-in functions for
descriptive statistics to calculate;
mean, mode, median and
standard deviation;
• Use descriptive statistics for
ethical report writing;
• Explain how descriptive statistics
are used to summarise data.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises in the
learning unit.

1 Introduction
In this learning unit, we discuss some of the most commonly
used measures in statistics.

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2 Measures of Central Tendency,

Location and Variability
The mean, median and mode are statistical measures that
provide alternative ways by which to determine the central
value of a data set – that is, a single value that is held to be the
best representation of all of the values in a data set.

Quartiles and percentiles are referred to as measures of

location, as they indicate which value lies at a particular
location in an ordered data set.

The range, the interquartile range, the quartile deviation, the

variance and the standard deviation are all referred to as
measures of variability, as they indicate the extent to which
values in a data set vary from one another.

In this module, the formulae and methods used to obtain these

measures are discussed for ungrouped data sets only.

3 Measures of Central Tendency

3.1 The Mean
The mean is the average value of a data set. It is calculated
using the following formula:

∑𝑥
𝑥̅ =
𝑛

Where: 𝑥̅ = the mean of the data set

∑ 𝑥 = the sum of the values in the data set
𝑛 = the number of values in the data set

Example:

Consider the following data set:

12 14 17 21 28 31

There are six values in the data set, therefore 𝑛 = 6. The sum
of the values, ∑ 𝑥 = 123. It follows that:

∑ 𝑥 123
𝑥̅ = = = 20,50
𝑛 6

Interpretation: The average value for the data set is 20,50.

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3.2 The Mode

The mode is the most frequently occurring value in a data set.
For an ungrouped data set, we find the mode 𝑀𝑜 by observation.

If there are two numbers that occur most frequently in a data

set, then we say that the data set has two modes and is
bimodal. If a data set has more than two modes, then we tend
not to use the mode as the measure of central tendency for that
data set.

Example:

Consider the following data set:

22 34 47 47 58 61

From observation, we can see that, the Mode 𝑀𝑜 = 47.

Interpretation: the number 47 occurs most frequently in the data

set.

3.3 The Median

The median is the middle value of an ordered data set. Half of
the values in the data set are less than or equal to the median,
while half of the values in the data set are greater than or equal
to the median.

Before we can determine the value of the median 𝑀𝑒 , we first

have to lay out the data set in ascending order and then find
the median position in the data set.

𝑛+1
𝑀𝑒 position =
2

Example 1 (Odd-Numbered Data Set):

Consider the following odd-numbered data set:

73 22 47 34 58 52 61

Laid out in ascending order, this data set becomes:

22 34 47 52 58 61 73

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For this data set, 𝑛 = 7. Therefore:

𝑛+1 7+1 8
𝑀𝑒 position = = = =4
2 2 2

Counting in from the lowest value in the ordered data set, the
median is the value that lies at the 4th position from the left, i.e.
𝑀𝑒 = 52. Interpretation: half of the values in the data set are less
than or equal to 52.

Example 2 (Even-Numbered Data Set):

Consider the following even-numbered data set, which we have

already laid out in ascending order:

122 135 157 162 168 181

For this data set, 𝑛 = 6. Therefore:

𝑛+1 6+1 7
𝑀𝑒 position = = = = 3,5
2 2 2

The position 3,5 means that the median value lies halfway
between the 3rd and 4th values in the data set, i.e. between 157
and 162. We therefore add these values together and then
divide the result by two in order to obtain the median value:

157 + 162
𝑀𝑒 = = 159,50
2

Interpretation: half of the values in the data set are less than or
equal to 159,50.

3.4 Quartiles
In the same way that the median “cuts” the ordered data set into
two equal halves, quartiles cut the data set into four equal
quarters. The first quartile, 𝑄1 (also referred to as the lower
quartile), is the value below which one quarter of the values in
the data set lie. The second quartile, 𝑄2 , is the same as the
median. The third quartile, 𝑄3 (also referred to as the upper
quartile) is the value below which three quarters of the values
in the data set lie.

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Example:

Consider the following ordered data set:

12 13 15 18 21 26 31 35 37 39 44 50

To obtain the 𝑄1 position, we use:

𝑛+1
𝑄1 position =
4

For this data set, 𝑛 = 12. Therefore:

𝑛 + 1 12 + 1
𝑄1 position = = = 3,25
4 4

Thus, 𝑄1 can be found at the 3,25th position in the ordered data

set. To find this value, we determine the value at the 3rd position
(15 in this example). We then take the decimal extension of the
position (0,25), multiply it by the difference between the value at
the 3rd position and the value immediately to its right (18 - 15),
and add it to the value at the 3rd position. In other words:

𝑄1 = 15 + (0,25 × (18 − 15)) = 15 + (0,25 × 3)

= 15 + 0,75 = 15,75

Interpretation: one quarter of the values in the data set are less
than or equal to 15,75.

To obtain the 𝑄3 position, we use:

3(𝑛 + 1)
𝑄3 position =
4

Therefore:

3(𝑛 + 1) 3(12 + 1)
𝑄3 position = = = 9,75
4 4

Thus, 𝑄3 can be found at the 9,75th position in the ordered data

set. To find this value, we determine the value at the 9th position
(37 in this example). We then take the decimal extension of the
position (0,75), multiply it by the difference between the value at
the 9th position and the value immediately to its right (39 - 37),
and add it to the value at the 9th position. In other words:

𝑄3 = 37 + (0,75 × (39 − 37)) = 37 + (0,75 × 2)

= 37 + 1,50 = 38,50

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Interpretation: three quarters of the values in the data set are

less than or equal to 38,50.

3.5 Percentiles

In the same way that quartiles split a data set into four equal
portions, percentiles split the data set into one hundred equal
portions. The 25th percentile is the same as 𝑄1 , as they both
represent the value below which 25% (or one quarter) of the
values in the data set lie. The 50th percentile is the same as 𝑄2
and the median, being the value below which 50% (or one half)
of the values in the data set lie. The 75th percentile is the same
as 𝑄3 , as they both represent the value below which 75% (or
three quarters) of the values in the data set lie.

To obtain the value for a percentile, we first have to find the

percentile position in the ordered data set. To do this, we
express the percentile as a decimal and then multiply the result
by (𝑛 + 1).

For example, to find the position of the 15th percentile, 𝑃15 :

𝑃15 position = 0,15 × (𝑛 + 1)

To find the position of the 65th percentile, 𝑃65 :

𝑃65 position = 0,65 × (𝑛 + 1)

Example:

Consider the following ordered data set (𝑛 = 13), for which we

wish to obtain the 83rd percentile, 𝑃83 :

112 114 115 128 131 136 142 155 167 189 204 205 210

𝑃83 position = 0,83 × (13 + 1) = 11,62

We now follow the exact same procedure that we used above

to obtain the value for a quartile. The 11th value in the ordered
data set is 204. The decimal extension of the position is 0,62.
The difference between the value at the 11th position and the
value immediately to its right is (205 − 204 = 1). Therefore:

𝑃83 = 204 + (0,62 × (205 − 204)) = 204 + (0,62 × 1)

= 204 + 0,62 = 204,62

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Interpretation: 83% of the values in the data set are less than or
equal to 204,62.

4 Measures of Variability
4.1 The Range
The range is the difference between the maximum value and
the minimum value in a data set:

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

Example:

Consider the following data set:

112 114 115 128 131 136 142 155 167 189 204 205 210

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

= 210 − 112 = 98

Interpretation: The difference between the maximum value and

the minimum value in the data set is 98.

4.2 The Variance

The variance, 𝑠 2 , measures the average squared deviation of

the values in a data set from the mean:

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
𝑠2 =
𝑛−1

A variance value of zero means that there is no variance

between the values in the data set, i.e. all of the values in the
data set are the same. The more the values in a data set vary
from one another, the greater will be the value of the variance.

4.3 The Standard Deviation

The standard deviation, 𝑠, is the positive square root of the

variance and is the most commonly used measure of variability
in statistical analysis:

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
𝑠 = √𝑠 2 = √
𝑛−1

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A standard deviation value of zero means that there is no

variance between the values in the data set, i.e. all of the values
in the data set are the same. The more the values in a data set
vary from one another, the greater will be the value of the
standard deviation.

Example:

Consider the following data set, where 𝑛 = 6 and we wish to

obtain the value of the variance and the standard deviation:

12 14 17 21 28 31

𝑥 𝑥2
12 144
14 196
17 289
21 441
28 784
31 961
∑ 𝑥 = 123 ∑ 𝑥 2 = 2 815

∑ 𝑥 123
𝑥̅ = = = 20,50
𝑛 6

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 2 815 − 6(20,502 )

𝑠2 = = = 58,7
𝑛−1 6−1

𝑠 = √𝑠 2 = √58,7 = 7,66

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5 Activities
5.1 Activity 1
1. The following data set indicates the ages of a sample of
ten employees of company Z:

34 21 43 34 47 29 33 28 51 46

Compute the following statistical measures:

a) The mean. Interpret your answer.

b) The mode. Interpret your answer.
c) The median. Interpret your answer.
d) The first quartile. Interpret your answer.
e) The third quartile. Interpret your answer.
f) The 33rd percentile. Interpret your answer.
g) The range. Interpret your answer.
h) The variance.
i) The standard deviation.

Solution:

∑𝑥 366
a) 𝑥̅ = = = 36,60
𝑛 10

The average age of the employees in the sample is

36,60 years.

b) From observation, we can see that the mode for the data
set is 34. Therefore, the most frequently occurring age
of employees within the sample is 34 years.

c) We must first set the data set out in ascending order:

21 28 29 33 34 34 43 46 47 51

We have an even number of values in the data set:

𝑛 + 1 10 + 1 11
𝑀𝑒 position = = = = 5,5
2 2 2

34 + 34
∴ 𝑀𝑒 = = 34
2

Therefore, half the employees in the sample are of age

34 years or less.

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𝑛+1 10+1
d) 𝑄1 position = = = 2,75
4 4

∴ 𝑄1 = 28 + (0,75 × 1) = 28,75

Therefore, one quarter of the employees in the sample

are of age 28,75 years or less.

3(𝑛+1) 3(10+1)
e) 𝑄3 position = = = 8,25
4 4

∴ 𝑄3 = 46 + (0,25 × 1) = 46,25

Therefore, three quarters of the employees in the sample

are of age 46,25 years or less.

f) 𝑃33 position = 0,33 × (𝑛 + 1) = 3,63

∴ 𝑃33 = 29 + (0,63 × 4) = 31,52

Therefore, thirty-three percentage of the employees in

the sample are of age 31,52 years or less.

g) Range = Maximum value − minimum value

∴ Range = 51 − 21 = 30

Therefore, the difference in age between the oldest and

youngest employees in the sample is 30 years.

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h) Before we can obtain the variance, must first determine

the value of ∑ 𝑥 2 :

𝑥 𝑥2
21 441
28 784
29 841
33 1 089
34 1 156
34 1 156
43 1 849
46 2 116
47 2 209
51 2 601
∑ 𝑥 = 366 ∑ 𝑥 2 = 14 242

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 14 242 − 10(36,602 )

𝑠2 = = = 94,04
𝑛−1 10 − 1

i) 𝑠 = √𝑠 2 = √94,04 = 9,70

2. The following data set indicates the scores obtained on

an intelligence test by a sample of thirteen employees of
company Z:

83 86 87 88 89 91 92 93 95 95 96 98 99

Compute the following statistical measures:

a) The mean. Interpret your answer.

b) The mode. Interpret your answer.
c) The median. Interpret your answer.
d) The first quartile. Interpret your answer.
e) The third quartile. Interpret your answer.
f) The 63rd percentile. Interpret your answer.
g) The range. Interpret your answer.
h) The variance.
i) The standard deviation.

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Solution:

∑𝑥 1192
a) 𝑥̅ = = = 91,692
𝑛 13

The average score obtained by the employees in the

sample was 91,692.

b) From observation, we can see that the mode for the data
set is 95. Therefore, the most frequently occurring score
obtained by employees in the sample was 95.

c) The data set was given in ascending order:

83 86 87 88 89 91 92 93 95 95 96 98 99

We have an odd number of values in the data set:

𝑛 + 1 13 + 1 14
𝑀𝑒 position = = = =7
2 2 2

∴ 𝑀𝑒 = 92

Therefore, half the employees in the sample obtained a

score of 92 or less.

𝑛+1 13+1
d) 𝑄1 position = = = 3,50
4 4

∴ 𝑄1 = 87 + (0,50 × 1) = 87,50

Therefore, one quarter of employees in the sample

obtained a score of 87,50 or less.

3(𝑛+1) 3(13+1)
e) 𝑄3 position = = = 10,50
4 4

∴ 𝑄3 = 95 + (0,50 × 1) = 95,50

Therefore, three quarters of the employees in the sample

obtained a score of 95,50 or less.

f) 𝑃63 position = 0,63 × (𝑛 + 1) = 8,82

∴ 𝑃63 = 93 + (0,82 × 2) = 94,64

Therefore, sixty-three percentage of the employees in

the sample obtained a score of 94,64 or less.

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g) Range = Maximum value − minimum value

∴ Range = 99 − 83 = 16

Therefore, the difference between the highest and

lowest scores obtained on the test was 16.

h) Before we can obtain the variance, must first determine

the value of ∑ 𝑥 2 :

𝑥 𝑥2
83 6 889
86 7 396
87 7 569
88 7 744
89 7 921
91 8 281
92 8 464
93 8 649
95 9 025
95 9 025
96 9216
98 9 604
99 9 801
∑ 𝑥 = 1 192 ∑ 𝑥 2 = 109 584

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 109 584 − 13(91,6922 )

𝑠2 = = = 23,96
𝑛−1 13 − 1

i) 𝑠 = √𝑠 2 = √23,96 = 4,89

6 Revision Exercise
6.1 Revision Exercise 1
1. The following data set indicates the number of units of a
particular product that were sold per day, for a sample of
seven days randomly selected from the last two months:

283 266 274 259 289 291 243

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Compute the following statistical measures:

a) The mean. Interpret your answer.

b) The mode. Interpret your answer.
c) The median. Interpret your answer.
d) The first quartile. Interpret your answer.
e) The third quartile. Interpret your answer.
f) The 83rd percentile. Interpret your answer.
g) The range. Interpret your answer.
h) The variance.
i) The standard deviation.

7 Solution to Revision Exercise

7.1 Revision Exercise 1
∑𝑥 1 905
1. a) 𝑥̅ = = = 272,143
𝑛 7

The average number of units of the product sold

per day for those days in the sample was
272,143.

b) From observation, we can see that there is no

mode for this data set.

c) The data set in ascending order:

243 259 266 274 283 289 291

We have an odd number of values in the data set:

𝑛+1 7+1 8
𝑀𝑒 position = = = =4
2 2 2

∴ 𝑀𝑒 = 274

Therefore, on half of the days in the sample, 274

units or less were sold.

𝑛+1 7+1 8
d) 𝑄1 position = = = =2
4 4 4

∴ 𝑄1 = 259

Therefore, on one quarter of the days in the

sample, 259 units or less were sold.

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3(𝑛+1) 3(7+1)
e) 𝑄3 position = = =6
4 4

∴ 𝑄3 = 289

Therefore, on three quarters of the days in the

sample, 289 units or less were sold.

f) 𝑃83 position = 0,83 × (𝑛 + 1) = 6,64

∴ 𝑃83 = 289 + (0,64 × 2) = 290,28

Therefore, on eighty-three percent of the days in

the sample, 290,28 units or less were sold.

g) Range = Maximum value − minimum value

∴ Range = 291 − 243 = 48

Therefore, the difference between the highest

and lowest amounts sold over the days in the
sample was 48.

h) Before we can obtain the variance, must first

determine the value of ∑ 𝑥 2 :

𝑥 𝑥2
283 80 089
266 70 756
274 75 076
259 67 081
289 83 521
291 84 681
243 59 049
∑ 𝑥 = 1 905 ∑ 𝑥 2 = 520 253

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 520 253 − 7(272,1432 )

𝑠2 = = = 303,39
𝑛−1 7−1

i) 𝑠 = √𝑠 2 = √303,39 = 17,42

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Learning Unit 6: Basic Geometry

Learning Objectives: My notes

• Explain different geometrical

expressions such as perimeter,
area, circumference etc;
• Explain relationships between the
side lengths, perimeters, areas
and volumes;
• Calculate the perimeter of
assorted shapes;
• Calculate the area of assorted
shapes;
• Find the circumference of circles;
• Calculate the volume for assorted
shapes;
• Solve word problems involving
perimeter, area and volume;
• Use geometry to solve real-life
problems.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises in the
learning unit.

1 Introduction
In this learning unit, we learn how to compute the area and
volume of a number of geometrical shapes.

2 Perimeter and Circumference

The term perimeter refers to the length of the outline of a shape.
The shape could be a square, rectangle, triangle and so forth.

The only shape excluded from the above list is a circle. In the
case of a circle, the length of the outline is referred to as the
circumference.

With regard to circles, students should familiarise themselves

with the following terms:

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• Radius: this is the distance from the midpoint of a circle

to any point on its outer edge;
• Diameter: this is the line that goes through the midpoint
of the circle and cuts it exactly in half. It stretches from
the outline of the circle through its midpoint, extending to
the outline again. Its length is always double that of the
radius.

Formulae to compute the perimeter/circumference for a

number of different shapes are given in the following table.

SHAPE FORMULA FOR

PERIMETER/CIRCUMFERENCE
Square Given that the length of one side of a square
is 𝑎, it follows that the formula for the
perimeter (𝑃) of the square will be:

𝑃 = 4 × 𝑎 = 4𝑎
Rectangle Given that a rectangle has two equal sides,
both of length 𝑙, and two equal sides, both of
width 𝑤, it follows that the formula for the
perimeter (𝑃) of the rectangle will be:

𝑃 = 2𝑙 + 2𝑤 = 2(𝑙 + 𝑤)
Triangle Given that a triangle has three sides of length
𝑎, 𝑏 and 𝑐, it follows that the formula for the
perimeter (𝑃) of the triangle will be:

𝑃 =𝑎+𝑏+𝑐
Circle Given that a circle has a diameter 𝑑 and a
radius 𝑑 ⁄2 = 𝑟, it follows that the
circumference (𝐶) of the circle will be:

𝐶 = 𝜋𝑑 = 2𝜋𝑟

Example:

We wish to determine the perimeter of a square field, if the

length of one of the sides of the field is 25 metres.

𝑃 = 4 × 25 = 100 metres

Example:

We wish to determine the perimeter of a soccer field of length

105 metres and width of 70 metres.

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𝑃 = 2(𝑙 + 𝑤) = 2(105 + 70) = 350 metres

Example:

We wish to determine the perimeter of a triangle that has one

side of length 30 metres, and two equal sides of length 12
metres.

𝑃 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 30 + 12 + 12 = 54 metres

Example:

We wish to determine the circumference of a circle of radius

35 cm.

𝐶 = 2𝜋𝑟 = 2 × 𝜋 × 35 = 219,91cm

3 Area
The area of a shape describes the size of its surface. Area is
measured in units squared. Formulae to compute the area for
a number of different shapes are given in the following table.

SHAPE FORMULA FOR AREA

Square Given that the length of one side of the square
is 𝑎, it follows that the formula for the area (𝐴)
of a square will be:

𝐴 = 𝑎 × 𝑎 = 𝑎2
Rectangle Given that a rectangle has two equal sides,
both of length 𝑙, and two equal sides, both of
width 𝑤, it follows that the formula for the area
(𝐴) of a rectangle will be:

𝐴=𝑙×𝑤
Triangle Given that an equilateral triangle has an
internal height of ℎ and a base length of 𝑏, it
follows that the formula for the area (𝐴) of a
triangle will be:

1
𝐴= 𝑏ℎ
2
Circle Given that a circle has a radius 𝑟, it follows that
the area (𝐴) of a circle will be:

𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2

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Example:

We wish to determine the area of a square, where the length of

one side of the square is 15 metres.

𝐴 = 𝑎2 = 152 = 225 metres squared

Note that the answer can be written as 25m2.

Example:

We wish to determine the area of the soccer field that we

previously encountered. The field has a length of 105 metres
and a width of 70 metres.

𝐴 = 𝑙 × 𝑤 = 105 × 70 = 7 350m2

Example:

A triangle has a base length of 50cm and an internal height of

30cm. The area of the triangle is therefore:

1 1
𝐴= 𝑏ℎ = × (50 × 30) = 750cm2
2 2

Example:

What is the area of the centre circle of a soccer field, if the radius
of the circle is 9,15m? Applying the relevant formula:

𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2 = 𝜋 × 9,152 = 263,02m2

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4 Volume
The term volume refers to the amount of space that is occupied
by a three-dimensional object. Volume is measured in units
cubed.

SHAPE FORMULA FOR VOLUME

Cube Given that the length of one side of the cube
is 𝑎, it follows that the formula for the
volume (𝑉) of a cube will be:

𝑉 = 𝑎3
Cuboid Given that a cuboid has sides of length 𝑙,
width 𝑤 and height ℎ, it follows that the
formula for the volume (𝑉) of a cuboid will
be:

𝑉 =𝑙×𝑤×ℎ
Triangular Given that a triangular prism has an internal
Prism height of ℎ, a base of width 𝑏 and a side of
length 𝑙, it follows that the formula for the
volume (𝑉) of a triangular prism will be:

1
𝑉= 𝑏ℎ𝑙
2
Sphere Given that a sphere has a radius 𝑟, it follows
that the volume (𝑉) will be:

4 3
𝑉= 𝜋𝑟
3

Example:

We wish to determine the volume of a cube, where one side of

the cube is of length 50cm. Applying the formula:

𝑉 = 𝑎3 = 503 = 125 000 metres cubed

The result can also be written as 125 000m3.

Example:

We have a rectangular box (another name for a cuboid) which

is of length 120cm, width 60cm and height 50cm. We wish to
determine the volume of this box. Applying the formula:

𝑉 = 𝑙 × 𝑤 × ℎ = 120 × 60 × 50 = 360 000cm3

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Example:

A triangular prism has an internal height of 50cm, a base of

width 45cm, and a side of length 30cm. Applying the formula,
the volume of this prism will be:

1 1
𝑉= 𝑏ℎ𝑙 = × 45 × 50 × 30 = 33 750cm3
2 2

Example:

We wish to determine the volume of a sphere with radius 1,3

metres. Applying the formula:

4 3 4
𝑉= 𝜋𝑟 = × 𝜋 × 1,33 = 9,20m3
3 3

5 Activities
5.1 Activity 1
1. Determine the perimeter of a square with one side of
length of 73,5cm.

Solution:

𝑃 = 4𝑎 = 4 × 73,5 = 294cm

2. Determine the perimeter of a rectangle of length 73,5cm

and width 44,5cm.

Solution:

𝑃 = 2(𝑙 + 𝑤) = 2(73,5 + 44,5) = 236cm

3. Determine the perimeter of a triangle with two sides of

length 44,5cm, and a third side of length 35,5cm.

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Solution:

𝑃 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 44,5 + 44,5 + 35,5 = 124,50cm

4. A circle has a diameter of 68cm. What is the

circumference of the circle?

Solution:

𝐶 = 𝜋𝑑 = 𝜋 × 68 = 213,63cm

5. What is the area of a square piece of canvas with one

side of length 85cm?

Solution:

𝐴 = 𝑎2 = 852 = 7 225cm2

6. What is the area of a rectangle with two sides of length

85cm, and two sides of width 65cm?

Solution:

𝐴 = 𝑙 × 𝑤 = 85 × 65 = 5525cm2

7. What is the area of an equilateral rectangle with an

internal height of 75cm and a base of length 42cm?

Solution:

1 1
𝐴= 𝑏ℎ = × 42 × 75 = 1 575cm2
2 2

8. What is the area of a circle with a diameter of 90cm?

Solution:

If the circle has a diameter of 90cm, then it has a radius of 90/2

= 45cm. Therefore:

𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2 = 𝜋 × 452 = 6 361,73cm2

9. What is the volume of a cube with one side of length

1,45m?

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Solution:

𝑉 = 𝑎3 = 1,453 = 3,05m3

10. What is the volume of a cuboid with one side of length

1,85m, one side of width 2,10m and one side of height
0,90m?

Solution:

𝑉 = 𝑙 × 𝑤 × ℎ = 1,85 × 2,10 × 0,90 = 3,50m3

11. What is the volume of a triangular prism with an internal

height of 1,30m, a base of width 0,75m and a side of
length 0,55m?

Solution:

1 1
𝑉= 𝑏ℎ𝑙 = × 0,75 × 1,30 × 0,55 = 0,27m3
2 2

12. What is the volume of a sphere with a diameter of

0,96m?

Solution:

If the diameter is 0,96m, then the radius will be 0,96/2 = 0,48m.

Then:

4 3 4
𝑉= 𝜋𝑟 = × 𝜋 × 0,483 = 0,46m3
3 3

6 Revision Exercises
6.1 Revision Exercise 1
1. A square field has a perimeter of 80m. What is the length
of one side of the field?

2. If a rectangular hall has a perimeter of 90m and the

length of the hall is 30m, what is the width of the hall?

3. A triangle has a perimeter of 75cm. If one of its sides is

of length 30cm and the other two sides are of equal
length, determine the length of one of the latter sides?

4. A circle has a circumference of 157,08cm. What is the

radius of the circle?

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5. The area of a square car park is 3 306,25m2. What is the

length of one of its sides?

6. A rectangular swimming pool requires a protective cover

which covers an area of 3 850,75m2. If the width of the
cover is 36,5m, what is the length of the cover?

7. The end of an A-frame house, which takes the shape of

an equilateral triangle, has an area of 30m2. If the base
of the end of the house is 6m in width, what is the height
of the house?

8. A circular piece of glass has an area of 0,7854m2. What

is the diameter of the piece of glass?

9. A water tank in the shape of a cube has a volume of

1,95m3. What is the height of the water tank?

10. A swimming pool is 50m long and 18m wide. It has a

volume of 1 980m3. If the pool has a consistent depth,
then how deep is the pool?

11. An architect decides to place a triangular prism at the

centre of the roof of a house that she is designing. The
prism has a base of 2m and a side of length 1,5m. If the
volume of the prism is 3,75m3, what is the internal height
of the prism?

12. A whisky processing plant includes a copper sphere with

a volume of 87,11m3. What is the diameter of the sphere
(to two decimal places)?

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7 Solutions to Revision Exercises

7.1 Revision Exercise 1
1. The perimeter of the square field is 80m.

80 = 4𝑎 ∴ 𝑎 = 80/4 = 20

The length of one side is therefore 20m.

2. The rectangular hall has a perimeter of 90m, and length

of the hall is 30m.

90 = 2(30) + 2𝑤 ∴ 2𝑤 = 90 − 60 = 30 ∴ 𝑤 = 15

The width of the hall is therefore 15m.

3. The triangle has a perimeter of 75cm. One of its sides

is of length 30cm, and the other two sides are of equal
length.

∴ 75 = 30 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ∴ 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 75 − 30 = 45

And as b = c:

∴ 𝑏 = 𝑐 = 45/2 = 22,50

The length of the remaining sides is therefore 22,50cm.

4. The circle has a circumference of 157,08cm.

∴ 157,08 = 2𝜋𝑟 ∴ 𝑟 = 157,08/2𝜋 = 25

The radius of the circle is therefore 25cm.

5. The area of the square car park is 3 306,25m2.

3 306,25 = 𝑎2 ∴ 𝑎 = √3 306,25 = 57,5

The length of one side of the car park is therefore

57,50m.

6. The cover for the rectangular swimming pool has an

area of 3 850,75m2. The width of the cover is 36,5m.

∴ 3 850,75 = 𝑙 × 36,50 ∴ 𝑙 = 3 850,75/36,50 = 105,50

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The length of the cover is therefore 105,50m.

7. The equilateral triangle shape has an area of 30m2.

The base of the end of the house is 6m in width.

1 30
30 = ×6×ℎ ∴ℎ = = 10
2 1
×6
2

The height of the house is therefore 10m.

8. The circular piece of glass has an area of 0,7854m2.

0,7854
0,7854 = 𝜋𝑟 2 ∴ 𝑟 = √ = 0,50
𝜋

∴ The diameter is 2 × 0,50 = 1,00

The diameter is therefore 1,00m.

9. The water tank in the shape of a cube has a volume of

1,95m3.

3
1,95 = 𝑎3 ∴ 𝑎 = √1,95 = 1,25

The height is therefore 1,25m.

10. The swimming pool is 50m long and 18m wide and has
a volume of 1 980m3.

1 980 = 50 × 18 × ℎ ∴ ℎ = 1 980 ÷ (50 × 18) = 2,2

The depth is therefore 2,20m.

11. The triangular prism has a base of 2m, a side of length

1,5m and a volume of 3,75m3.

1 1
3,75 = × 2 × 1,5 × ℎ ∴ ℎ = 3,75 ÷ ( × 2 × 1,5) = 2,5
2 2

The internal height is therefore 2,50m.

12. The copper sphere has a volume of 87,11m3.

4 3 3 87,11
87,11 = 𝜋𝑟 ∴ 𝑟 = √ = 2,75
3 4
𝜋
3

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∴ the diameter = 2 × 𝑟 = 5,50m

The diameter of the sphere is therefore 5,50m.

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Learning Unit 7: Financial Calculations

Learning Objectives: My notes

• Calculate VAT for any given

percentage and interpret the
result;
• Calculate commission for a given
percentage;
• Calculate mark up, margin, mark
down and discount
• Calculate interest rates;
• Explain when interest is paid or
earned;
• Use the formula for calculating
simple interest;
• Use the formula for calculating the
total amount of a loan or total
value of an investment at the end
of a specified term;
• Use algebra to manipulate the
interest formulas to solve for
different variables;
• Use Excel Built-in functions and
operators to calculate commission,
mark up, markdown or VAT based
on real world data;
• Use Excel to create and modify
charts;
• Use Excel to solve real world
finance problems.
How to prepare for this learning unit:

• Work through the examples,

activities and exercises in the
learning unit.

1 Introduction
In this learning unit, we discuss how to perform a variety of
different financial calculations.

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2 Determining VAT-Inclusive and

VAT-Exclusive Values
For this module, the current VAT rate of 15% is used.

2.1 Adding VAT to A VAT-Exclusive Price

To add VAT to a price exclusive of VAT, multiply the price by
1,15.

Example:

The VAT-exclusive price for a good is R163,75. The VAT-

inclusive price will be:

163,75 × 1,15 = R188,31

2.2 Subtracting VAT from A VAT-Inclusive

Price
To subtract VAT from a price inclusive of VAT, divide the price
by 1,15.

Example:

The VAT-inclusive price of an item is R557,75. The VAT-

exclusive price will be:

557,75 ÷ 1,15 = R485,00

3 Calculating Commission
Commission is a method of compensation for services
rendered, such as selling products or services (e.g. insurance,
real estate, etc.) It is a type of compensation that is usually
associated with sales representatives, agents or brokers.

Salespeople are often paid on a straight commission basis. This

means that their total earnings are computed as a percentage
of sales. This percentage of sales is referred to as the
commission rate. The basic equation for computing
commission is as follows:

Commission = Sales × Commission rate

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The commission rate should be converted from a percentage to

a decimal fraction before being entered into the above equation.
Students should note that the equation can also be manipulated
to determine the relevant value of sales or applicable
commission rate, given that the values of the other two factors
are known.

Example:

A salesperson is paid a commission of 27% of the total value of

all sales that she makes in a particular month. If the total value
of sales that she makes in a particular month is R95 000, then:

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 = R95 000 × 0,27 = R25 650

4 Mark-Up
The term mark-up refers to, for example, the additional
percentage amount that a shopkeeper adds to the wholesale
price of a product, in order to cover his expenses and to make
a profit. Adding the mark up as a percentage of the wholesale
price to the original wholesale price gives the selling price of
the product in the shop.

Either of the following equations may be used:

𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 𝑊ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒

+ 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑢𝑝 (𝑎𝑠 % 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒)

Or

𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 𝑊ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 × (100% + 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑢𝑝%)

For example, if the wholesale price of a product is R1 820, and

the mark up percentage is 53%, then:

𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = R1 820 + (53% × R1 820)

= R1 820 + (0,53 × R1 820) = R1 820 + R964,60
= R2 784,60

or

𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = R1 820 × (100% + 53%) = R1 820 × 153%

= R1 820 × 1,53 = R2 784,60

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Students may also be asked to determine the mark-up

percentage, or the original wholesale price, given the values of
the other two factors.

5 Mark-Down and Discount

A mark-down is a reduction in the original price to a new and
lower ‘sale’ price, such reduction not having been influenced by
method of payment or volume purchased.

A discount is a reduction in the original invoice amount to a new

and lower settlement amount because of method of payment
(cash), or due to volumes purchased, or early settlement of
debtor accounts.

Mathematically, we deal with mark-downs and discounts in the

same way. The basic equations are:

𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 − % 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒

and

𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡
= 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 (𝑂𝐼𝐴)
− % 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝐼𝐴

Example (Mark-Down):

The original price of a good is R875. The price is marked down

by 27% in a sale. What is the sale price?

𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = R875 − (27% 𝑜𝑓 R875) = R875 − R236,25

= R638,75

Example (Discount):

Company X offers a discount of 1,35% on all invoices paid within

30 days of issue. If you purchase R325 000 of equipment from
Company X and pay your obligation within 30 days, how much
do you actually pay to settle your account?

Settlement amount = R325 000 − (1,35% 𝑜𝑓 R325 000)

= R325 000 − R4 387,50
= R320 612,50

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As with mark-ups, students may also be asked to determine the

mark down/discount percentage, or the original price/settlement
amount, given the values of the other two factors.

6 Interest Calculations
6.1 Introduction
The cost of borrowing money, or the reward obtained from
lending money, is referred to as interest.

The borrower repays the lender the amount borrowed, plus an

additional amount. This additional amount represents the
interest on the borrowed amount.

Interest is calculated as a percentage of the amount borrowed.

This percentage is referred to as the interest rate.

The amount borrowed or invested is referred to as the principal

or present value and is denoted by the symbol Pv.

The principal is normally borrowed or invested for a specific

period of time, referred to as the term. The interest is calculated
for the total number of periods of the term.

In the case of simple interest, these periods are measured in

years, with the term being denoted by the symbol n.

The amount due at the end of a term of n interest periods

consists of the original principal, together with all applicable
interest.

This amount is often referred to as the future value and is

denoted by the symbol Fv.

The future value of the principal indicates the value of the loan
or investment at the end of the term.

The interest rate is usually expressed as a percentage per year

(e.g. 11% per annum).

The interest rate is denoted by the symbol i and must be

changed into decimal fraction form before being incorporated
into the relevant equations given below.

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6.2 Simple Interest

In the case of simple interest, interest is only paid on the original

principal amount. The basic equation is:

𝐹𝑣 = 𝑃𝑣 (1 + 𝑖𝑛)

This formula may then be manipulated to give the following

additional formulae:

𝐹𝑣
𝑃𝑣 =
(1 + 𝑖𝑛)

𝐹𝑣
−1
𝑃𝑣
𝑖=
𝑛

𝐹𝑣
−1
𝑃𝑣
𝑛=
𝑖

Example:

You borrow R150 000 from the bank for a period of five years,
at a simple annual interest rate of 11%. How much do you
need to pay back to the bank at the end of this period?

𝐹𝑣 = 𝑃𝑣 (1 + 𝑖𝑛)

∴ 𝐹𝑣 = R150 000 × (1 + 0,11 × 5) = R232 500

You therefore have to pay the bank R232 500 at the end of the
five years.

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7 Activities
7.1 Activity 1
1. The VAT-exclusive price of a product is R300. What will
the price of the product be, inclusive of VAT?

Solution:

300 ×1,15= R345

2. The VAT-inclusive price of a product is R747,50. What

will the price of the product be, exclusive of VAT?

Solution:

747,50 ÷ 1,15 = R650

3. A salesman earns a commission of 18% on the total

value of all sales that he makes in a month. How much
commission will he earn in a month where the total value
of all sales that he made is R854 000?

Solution:

Commission = R854 000 × 0,18 = R153 720

4. Last month, a saleswoman earned a commission

amount of R24 500 on total sales of R196 000. What
commission rate does she earn?

Solution:

R24 500 = R196 000 × Commission rate

R24 500
∴ Commission rate = = 0,125 or 12,50%
R196 000

5. A saleswoman who earns a commission of 14,5% on the

total value of all sales that she makes earned a
commission amount of R12 194,50 last month. What
was the total value of all sales that she made that
month?

Solution:

R12 194,50 = Sales × 0,145

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R12 194,50
∴ Sales = = R84 100
0,145

6. The wholesale price of a product is R540. If a mark-up

of 63% is then applied, what is the selling price of the
product?

Solution:

Selling price = 1,63 × 540 = R880,20

7. The wholesale price of a product is R260. If the selling

price of the same product is R410,80, what percentage
mark-up was applied?

Solution:

R410,80 − R260
% Mark up = × 100 = 58%
R260

8. The selling price of a product is R56,34. If a percentage

mark up of 56,5% was applied, what was the wholesale
price?

Solution:

Selling price = 1,565 × Wholesale price

Selling price
∴ Wholesale price =
1,565

If the selling price was R56,34, then:

R56,34
Wholesale price = = R36,00
1,565

9. The original price of a jacket was R1 325. If a percentage

mark down of 34,5% is applied, what is the sale price of
the jacket?

Solution:

Sale price = R1 325 × (100% − 34,5%)

∴ Sale price = 1325 × (1,00 − 0,345)

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= 1325 × 0,655 = R867,88

10. The original price of a shirt was R425. If the sale price of
the shirt is R233,75. what was the percentage mark
down?

Solution:

R425 − R233,75
% Mark down = × 100 = 45%
R425

11. The sale price of a pair of jeans is R550. If the

percentage mark down was 28,5%, what was the
original price of the pair of jeans?

Solution:

Sale price = (100 − 28,5)% × Original price

∴ Sale price = 71,50% × Original price

∴ Sale price = 0,715 × Original price

Sale price R550

∴ Original price = = = R769,23
0,715 0,715

12. You purchase R871 500 worth of equipment from

Pretoria Engineering. This company offers a discount of
1,65% on all invoices paid within 30 days of issue. You
decide to settle your account before the end of this
period. How much will you pay for the equipment?

Solution:

Settlement amount = 871500 − (1,65% 𝑜𝑓 871500)

= 871500 − 14379,75
= R857120,25

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13. You purchase equipment from Sandton Steel. This

company offers a discount on the full value of all
purchases made over R400 000. The original invoice
amount for your purchase was R557 320. The
settlement amount was R547 288,24. What was the
percentage discount applied by this company?

Solution:

R557 320 − R547 288,24

Percentage discount = × 100 = 1,80%
R557 320

14. You purchase equipment from East London Copper.

This company offers a discount of 0,95% on the full
value of all invoices settled within 30 days. You decide
to take advantage of this discount and pay a settlement
amount of R451 172,75. What was the original invoice
amount?

Solution:

Settlement amount = (100 − 0,95)% × Original invoice amount

= 99,05% × Original invoice amount
= 0,9905 × Original invoice amount

Settlement amount
∴ Original invoice amount =
0,9905

R451 172,75
= = R455 500
0,9905

15. You borrow R275 000 from the bank for a period of eight
years, at a simple annual interest rate of 9,50%. How
much do you owe the bank at the end of this period?

Solution:

𝐹𝑣 = 275000 × (1 + 0,095 × 8) = R484000

16. You wish to have R1 000 000 eleven years from now.
Given a prevailing simple annual interest rate of 11,75%,
how much do you need to invest today to reach your
target?

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Solution:

𝐹𝑣 R1 000 000
𝑃𝑣 = = = R436 205,02
(1 + 𝑖𝑛) (1 + 0,1175 × 11)

17. How long will it take in years for an investment of

R300 000 to grow to R500 000, given a prevailing simple
annual interest rate of 8,35%?

Solution:

𝐹𝑣
− 1 R500 000 − 1
𝑃𝑣
𝑛= = R300 000 = 7,98 years
𝑖 0,0835

18. What simple annual interest rate is required to make an

investment of R50 000 grow to R85 000 in six years?

Solution:

𝐹𝑣
− 1 R85 000 − 1
𝑃𝑣
𝑖= = R50 000 = 0,1167 or 11,67%
𝑛 6

8 Revision Exercises
8.1 Revision Exercise 1
1. The following table lists the VAT-exclusive prices for a
group of items sold in a local supermarket. Complete the
table, by determining the VAT-inclusive price for each
item.

Item VAT-exclusive VAT-inclusive

price price
Dishwashing liquid R21,50
Hand soap R8,50
Domestos bleach R23,75
Energy bar R7,35

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2. The following table lists the VAT-inclusive prices for a

group of items sold in a local clothing store. Complete
the table, by determining the VAT-exclusive price for
each item.

Item VAT-inclusive VAT-exclusive

price price
Branded t-shirt R350,00
Dress shirt R850,00
Formal trousers R1 050,00
Silk tie R335,00

3. Your total monthly income consists of a fixed salary of

R15 000 per month, and a commission rate of 15% on
the value of all sales that you make in that month. Your
total monthly income last month was R32 500. What is
the value of the sales that you made that month?

4. You receive a commission rate of 14,75% on the value

of all sales that you make in a month. If the value of the
sales that you made last month is R325 000, how much
commission did you earn?

5. Last month, you earned commission of R12 750 on total

sales with a value of R250 000. What commission rate
do you receive?

6. If a shopkeeper applies a 65% mark-up on all goods

available in his shop, and the selling price of a good is
R875, what is the wholesale price of this good?

7. If a shopkeeper buys a product wholesale for R17,50,

and sells it in his shop for R22,75. What percentage
mark-up does this shopkeeper apply?

8. If a shopkeeper buys a product wholesale for R127,50

and applies a percentage mark-up of 57,75%, determine
the selling price of the product.

9. A shop is having a sale. The price of all products has

been reduced by 37,50%. If the sale price of a good is
R656,75, what is its original price before the sale?

10. A shop is having a sale. The original price of an item was

R11 999,99. The sale price is now R7 499,99. What is
the percentage mark-down applied in the shop?

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11. A shop is having a sale. All items have been reduced in

price by 31,75%. If the original price of an item is
R13 450, what is the sale price?

12. A company offers a 0,85% discount on all invoiced

amounts, if the invoice is paid within thirty days of issue.
If settlement was made within this time period and the
settlement amount was R689 789, what is the original
invoice amount?

13. You purchase R995 455 worth of equipment and

materials from Kingston Tungsten. You receive a
discount, because of the size of your order. As a result,
you only pay R927 860. What is the percentage discount
extended to you by the company?

14. Your company places an order with Copper Kettle Pty

for R255 000 worth of raw material. The salesperson at
Copper Kettle informs you that if you settle your bill
within thirty days, you will receive a 1,05% discount on
the original cost of the order. How much does your
company then pay for the order?

15. You have been given a gift of R500 000. You would like
to see this grow into R800 000 within a period of five
years. What is the lowest simple annual interest rate
required to achieve this?

16. You need to have R20 000 in nine months’ time, in order
to pay for a holiday. Given a simple annual interest rate
of 13,75%, how much do you need to invest today in
order to achieve your goal?

17. How long will it take in years for an amount of R9 000,

invested in a bank account paying a simple annual
interest rate of 8,65%, to grow into R17 000?

18. If I invest R20 000 today, at a simple annual interest rate

of 7,95%, how much will it be worth in 54 months?

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9 Solutions to Revision Exercises

9.1 Revision Exercise 1
1.

Item VAT-exclusive VAT-inclusive

price price
Dishwashing liquid R21,50 R21,50 × 1,15 =
R24,73
Hand soap R8,50 R8,50 × 1,15 =
R9,78
Domestos bleach R23,75 R23,75 × 1,15 =
R27,31
Energy bar R7,35 R7,35 × 1,15 =
R8,45

2.

Item VAT-inclusive VAT-exclusive

price price
Branded t-shirt R350,00 R350,00 ÷ 1,15 =
R304,35
Dress shirt R850,00 R850,00 ÷ 1,15 =
R739,13
Formal trousers R1 050,00 R1 050,00 ÷ 1,15 =
R913,04
Silk tie R335,00 R335,00 ÷ 1,15 =
R291,30

3. Commission = R32 500 − R15 000 = R17 500

R17 500
0,15 × Sales = R17 500 ∴ Sales =
0,15
= R116 666,67

4. Commission = 0,1475 × R325 000 = R47 937,50

5. R12 750 = Commission rate × R250 000

R12 750
∴ Commission rate = = 0,051 or 5,10%
R250 000

6. 1,65 × Wholesale price = R875

R875
∴ Wholesale price = = R530,30
1,65

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R22,75−R17,50
7. % mark up = × 100 = 30%
R17,50

8. Selling price = 1,5775 × R127,50 = R201,13

9. (100 − 37,50)% = 62,50% = 0,6250

∴ 0,6250 × Original Price = R656,75

R 656,75
Original Price = = R1 050,80
0,6250

R11 999,99−R7 499,99

10. % mark down = × 100 = 37,50%
R11 999,99

11. (100 − 31,75)% = 68,25% = 0,6825

∴ Sale price = 0,6825 × R13 450 = R9 179,63

12. (100 − 0,85)% = 99,15% = 0,9915

0,9915 × invoice amount = R689 789

R689 789
∴ invoice amount = = R695 702,47
0,9915

R995 455−R927 860

13. % discount = × 100 = 6,79%
R995 455

14. (100 − 1,05)% = 98,95% = 0,9895

∴ Settlement amount = 0,9895 × R255 000

= R252 322,50

R800 000
−1
R500 000
15. 𝑖= = 0,12 or 12%
5

R20 000
16. 𝑃𝑣 = = R18 130,31
(1+0,1375×0,75)

R17 000
−1
R9 000
17. 𝑛= = 10,28 years
0,0865

18. 𝐹𝑣 = R20 000 × (1 + 0,0795 × 4,5) = R27 155

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Bibliography

Fractions made Easy. [Online]. Available at:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/fracTut1.swf [Accessed 20
December 2019].

Johnson, RR and Kuby, PJ. 2011. Elementary statistics. 11th edition. Pacific Grove
(CA): Duxbury.

Lombaard, C, Van der Merwe, L, Kele, T and Mouton, S. 2010. Elementary statistics
for business and economics. 1st edition. Cape Town: Heinemann Pearson Publishing.

Model Algebra. [Online]. Available at:

http://www.mathplayground.com/AlgebraEquations.html [Accessed 20 December
2019].

Order of Operations - BODMAS. [Online]. Available at:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/operation-order-bodmas.html [Accessed 20 December
2019].

Ratio, Rate and Proportion 1. 2009. [Video online]. Available at:

http://youtube/avjovNP60Nk [Accessed 24 May 2014].

Sullivan, M. 2010. Fundamentals of statistics. 3rd edition. Boston (MA): Pearson’s

Education.

Triola, MF. 2009. Elementary statistics. 11th edition. Boston (MA): Pearson’s
Education.

Wegner, T. 2020. Applied business statistics methods and Excel-based applications.

5th edition. Pretoria: JUTA. ISBN: 9781485130499.

Zegarelli, M. 2014. Basic Math and Pre-Algebra workbook for dummies. 2nd edition.
Hoboken: Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-118-82804-5.

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Intellectual Property
Plagiarism occurs in a variety of forms. Ultimately though, it refers to the use of the
words, ideas or images of another person without acknowledging the source using the
required conventions. The IIE publishes a Quick Reference Guide that provides more
detailed guidance, but a brief description of plagiarism and referencing is included
below for your reference. It is vital that you are familiar with this information and the
Intellectual Integrity Policy before attempting any assignments.

Introduction to Referencing and Plagiarism

What is ‘Plagiarism’?

‘Plagiarism’ is the act of taking someone’s words or ideas and presenting them as your
own.

What is ‘Referencing’?

‘Referencing’ is the act of citing or giving credit to the authors of any work that you
have referred to or consulted. A ‘reference’ then refers to a citation (a credit) or the
actual information from a publication that is referred to.

Referencing is the acknowledgment of any work that is not your own but is used by
you in an academic document. It is simply a way of giving credit to and acknowledging
the ideas and words of others.

When writing assignments, students are required to acknowledge the work, words or
ideas of others through the technique of referencing. Referencing occurs in the text at
the place where the work of others is being cited, and at the end of the document, in
the bibliography.

The bibliography is a list of all the work (published and unpublished) that a writer has
read in the course of preparing a piece of writing. This includes items that are not
directly cited in the work.

A reference is required when you:

• Quote directly: when you use the exact words as they appear in the source;
• Copy directly: when you copy data, figures, tables, images, music, videos or
frameworks;
• Summarise: when you write a short account of what is in the source;
• Paraphrase: when you state the work, words and ideas of someone else in your
own words.

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It is standard practice in the academic world to recognise and respect the ownership
of ideas, known as intellectual property, through good referencing techniques.
However, there are other reasons why referencing is useful.

Good Reasons for Referencing

It is good academic practice to reference because:

• It enhances the quality of your writing;

• It demonstrates the scope, depth and breadth of your research;
• It gives structure and strength to the aims of your article or paper;
• It endorses your arguments;
• It allows readers to access source documents relating to your work, quickly and
easily.

Sources

The following would count as ‘sources’:

• Books,
• Chapters from books,
• Encyclopaedias,
• Articles,
• Journals,
• Magazines,
• Periodicals,
• Newspaper articles,
• Items from the Internet (images, videos, etc.),
• Pictures,
• Unpublished notes, articles, papers, books, manuscripts, dissertations, theses,
etc.,
• Diagrams,
• Videos,
• Films,
• Music,
• Works of fiction (novels, short stories or poetry).

What You Need to Document from the Hard Copy Source You
are Using
(Not every detail will be applicable in every case. However, the following lists provide
a guide to what information is needed.)

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You need to acknowledge:

• The words or work of the author(s),

• The author(s)’s or editor(s)’s full names,
• If your source is a group/ organisation/ body, you need all the details,
• Name of the journal, periodical, magazine, book, etc.,
• Edition,
• Publisher’s name,
• Place of publication (i.e. the city of publication),
• Year of publication,
• Volume number,
• Issue number,
• Page numbers.

What You Need to Document if you are Citing Electronic

Sources

• Author(s)’s/ editor(s)’s name,

• Title of the page,
• Title of the site,
• Copyright date, or the date that the page was last updated,
• Full Internet address of page(s),
• Date you accessed/ viewed the source,
• Any other relevant information pertaining to the web page or website.

Referencing Systems
There are a number of referencing systems in use and each has its own consistent
rules. While these may differ from system-to-system, the referencing system followed
needs to be used consistently, throughout the text. Different referencing systems
cannot be mixed in the same piece of work!

A detailed guide to referencing, entitled Referencing and Plagiarism Guide is available

from your library. Please refer to it if you require further assistance.

When is Referencing Not Necessary?

This is a difficult question to answer – usually when something is ‘common knowledge’.

However, it is not always clear what ‘common knowledge’ is.

Examples of ‘common knowledge’ are:

• Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990;

• The world’s largest diamond was found in South Africa;
• South Africa is divided into nine (9) provinces;
• The lion is also known as ‘The King of the Jungle’.

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• 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2
• The sky is blue.

Usually, all the above examples would not be referenced. The equation 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2 is
Einstein’s famous equation for calculations of total energy and has become so familiar
that it is not referenced to Einstein.

Sometimes what we think is ‘common knowledge’, is not. For example, the above
statement about the sky being blue is only partly true. The light from the sun looks
white, but it is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. Sunlight reaches the Earth's
atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air.
The smallest particles are by coincidence the same length as the wavelength of blue
light. Blue is scattered more than the other colours because it travels as shorter,
smaller waves. It is not entirely accurate then to claim that the sky is blue. It is thus
generally safer to always check your facts and try to find a reputable source for your
claim.

Important Plagiarism Reminders

The IIE respects the intellectual property of other people and requires its students to
be familiar with the necessary referencing conventions. Please ensure that you seek
assistance in this regard before submitting work if you are uncertain.

If you fail to acknowledge the work or ideas of others or do so inadequately this will be
handled in terms of the Intellectual Integrity Policy (available in the library) and/ or the
Student Code of Conduct – depending on whether or not plagiarism and/ or cheating
(passing off the work of other people as your own by copying the work of other students
or copying off the Internet or from another source) is suspected.

Your campus offers individual and group training on referencing conventions – please
speak to your librarian or ADC/ Campus Co-Navigator in this regard.

Reiteration of the Declaration you have signed:

1. I have been informed about the seriousness of acts of plagiarism.

2. I understand what plagiarism is.
3. I am aware that The Independent Institute of Education (IIE) has a policy
regarding plagiarism and that it does not accept acts of plagiarism.
4. I am aware that the Intellectual Integrity Policy and the Student Code of Conduct
prescribe the consequences of plagiarism.
5. I am aware that referencing guides are available in my student handbook or
equivalent and in the library and that following them is a requirement for
successful completion of my programme.
6. I am aware that should I require support or assistance in using referencing guides
to avoid plagiarism I may speak to the lecturers, the librarian or the campus ADC/
Campus Co-Navigator.
7. I am aware of the consequences of plagiarism.

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Please ask for assistance prior to submitting work if you are at all unsure.

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