Lang, Serge − Basic Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 1st ed., 1971.

COMPLETE ANSWER KEY

T HIS PUBLICATION IS NEITHER OFFICIAL NOR AUTHORIZED .

This is a Complete Answer Key for the book Basic Mathematics by Serge Lang.
It was created with the sole purpose of helping students find a more or
less reliable source for solutions to the exercises proposed in the book.
NO FINANCIAL GAIN IS INTENDED HERE .

Created by Renato de Melo.

Email: [email protected].
Last modified: 2023-12-14

Part One ALGEBRA

1 Numbers
§ 3. RULES FOR MULTIPLICATION
A NSWERS TO S ELECTED E XERCISES
[The exercises with numbers in bold show answers to the 'selected
exercises' from the book itself; the others show my own answers.]
EXERCISES pg 021 (037)
1. Express each of the following expressions in the form 2 m3 na rb s , where m,
n, r, s are positive integers.
a) 8a 2b 3 ( 27a 4 ) ( 25ab ) = 28 33 a 7 b 4
b) 16b 3a 2 ( 6ab 4 ) ( ab )3 = 25 31 a 6 b 10
c) 32 ( 2ab )3 ( 16a 2b 5 ) ( 24b 2a ) = 210 33 a 6 b 10
d) 24a 3 ( 2ab 2 )3 ( 3ab )2 = 26 33 a 8 b 8
e) ( 3ab )2 ( 27a 3b ) ( 16ab 5 ) = 24 35 a 6 b 8
f) 32a 4b 5a 3b 2 ( 6ab 3 )4 = 29 34 a 11 b 19

2. Prove:
( a + b )3 = a 3 + 3a 2b + 3ab 2 + b 3 ,
( a + b )3 = ( a + b )2 ( a + b ) = ( a 2 + 2a b + b 2 ) ( a + b )
= ( a 2 + 2a b + b 2 ) a + ( a 2 + 2a b + b 2 ) b
= a 3 + 2a ba + b 2a + a 2b + 2a b 2 + b 3
= a 3 + 3a 2b + 3b 2a + b 3
( a − b )3 = a 3 − 3a 2b + 3ab 2 − b 3 ,

( a − b )3 = ( a − b )2 ( a − b ) = ( a 2 − 2a b + b 2 ) ( a − b )
= ( a 2 − 2a b + b 2 ) a + ( a 2 − 2a b + b 2 ) b
= a 3 − 2a ba + b 2a − a 2b + 2a b 2 − b 3
= a 3 − 3a 2b + 3ab 2 − b 3

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 Lang, Serge − Basic Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 1st ed., 1971. COMPLETE ANSWER KEY

3. Obtain expansions for ( a + b )4 and ( a − b )4 similar to the expansions for

( a + b )3 and ( a − b )3 of the preceding exercise.
( a + b )4 = ( a + b )3 ( a + b ) = ( a 3 + 3a 2b + 3ab 2 + b 3 ) ( a + b )
= ( a 3 + 3a 2b + 3ab 2 + b 3 ) a + ( a 3 + 3a 2b + 3ab 2 + b 3 ) b
= a 4 + 4a 3b + 6a 2b 2 + 4ab 3 + b 4

( a − b )4 = ( a − b )3 ( a − b ) = ( a 3 − 3a 2b + 3ab 2 − b 3 ) ( a − b )
= ( a 3 − 3a 2b + 3ab 2 − b 3 ) a − ( a 3 − 3a 2b + 3ab 2 − b 3 ) b
= a 4 − 4a 3b + 6a 2b 2 − 4ab 3 + b 4 .

Expand the following expressions as sums of powers of x multiplied by

integers. These are in fact called polynomials. You might want to read, or at
least look at, the section on polynomials later in the book (Chapter 13, §2).

4. ( 2 − 4x )2 = 16x 2 − 16x + 4

5. ( 1 − 2x )2 = 4x 2 − 4x + 1

6. ( 2x + 5 )2 = 4x 2 + 20x + 25

7. ( x − 1 )2 = x 2 − 2x + 1

8. ( x + 1 ) ( x − 1 ) = x 2 − 1

9. ( 2x + 1 ) ( x + 5 ) =
= ( 2x + 1 ) x + ( 2x + 1 ) 5 = 2x 2 + x + 10x + 5 = 2x 2 + 11x + 5

10. ( x 2 + 1 ) ( x 2 − 1 ) = x 4 − 1

11. ( 1 + x 3 ) ( 1 − x 3 ) = 1 − x 6

12. ( x 2 + 1 )2 = x 4 + 2x 2 + 1

13. ( x 2 − 1 )2 = x 4 − 2x 2 + 1

14. ( x 2 + 2 )2 = x 4 + 4x 2 + 4

15. ( x 2 − 2 )2 = x 4 − 4x 2 + 4

16. ( x 3 − 4 )2 = x 6 − 16x 3 + 16

17. ( x 3 − 4 ) ( x 3 + 4 ) = x 6 − 16

18. ( 2x 2 + 1 ) ( 2x 2 − 1 ) = 4x 4 − 1

19. ( − 2 + 3x ) ( − 2 − 3x ) = 4 − 9x 2

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 Lang, Serge − Basic Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 1st ed., 1971. COMPLETE ANSWER KEY

20. ( x + 1 ) ( 2x + 5 ) ( x − 2 ) = 2x 3 + 3x 2 − 9x − 10

21. ( 2x + 1 ) ( 1 − x ) ( 3x + 2 ) =
= [ 2x + 1 − ( 2x + 1 ) x ] ( 3x + 2 ) = ( x + 1 − 2x 2 ) ( 3x + 2 ) =
= ( x + 1 − 2x 2 ) 3x + ( x + 1 − 2x 2 ) 2 = 2 + 5x − x 2 − 6x 3

22. ( 3x − 1 ) ( 2x + 1 ) ( x + 4 ) = 6x 3 + 25x 2 + 3x − 4

23. ( − 1 − x ) ( − 2 + x ) ( 1 − 2x ) =
= [ ( − 1 − x ) ( − 2 ) + ( − 1 − x ) x ] ( 1 − 2x ) =
= ( 2 + 2x − x − x 2 ) ( 1 − 2x ) = ( 2 + x − x 2 ) ( 1 − 2x ) =
= ( 2 + x − x 2 ) 1 − ( 2 + x − x 2 ) 2x =
= 2 + x − x 2 − 4x − 2x 2 + 2x 3 = 2x 3 − 3x 2 − 3x + 2

24. ( − 4x + 1 ) ( 2 − x ) ( 3 + x ) = 4x 3 + 3x 2 − 25x + 6

25. ( 1 − x ) ( 1 + x ) ( 2 − x ) =
=(1−x2)(2−x)=(1−x2)2−(1−x2)x=
= 2 − 2x 2 − x + x 3 = x 3 − 2x 2 − x + 2

26. ( x − 1 )2 ( 3 − x ) =
= ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) ( 3 − x ) = ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) 3 − ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) x =
= 3x 2 − 6x + 3 − x 3 + 2x 2 − x = − x 3 + 5x 2 − 7x + 3

27. ( 1 − x )2 ( 2 − x ) =
= ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) ( 2 − x ) = ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) 2 − ( x 2 − 2x + 1 ) x =
= 2x 2 − 4x + 2 − x 3 + 2x 2 − x = − x 3 + 4x 2 − 5x + 2

28. ( 1 − 2x )2 ( 3 + 4x ) =
= ( 4x 2 − 4x + 1 ) ( 3 + 4x ) = ( 4x 2 − 4x + 1 ) 3 + ( 4x 2 − 4x + 1 ) 4x =
= 12x 2 − 12x + 3 + 16x 3 − 16x 2 + 4x = 16x 3 − 4x 2 − 8x + 3

29. ( 2x + 1 )2 ( 2 − 3x ) =
= ( 4x 2 + 4x + 1 ) ( 2 − 3x ) = ( 4x 2 + 4x + 1 ) 2 − ( 4x 2 + 4x + 1 ) 3x =
= 8x 2 + 8x + 2 − 12x 3 − 12x 2 − 3x = − 12x 3 − 4x 2 + 5x + 2
E XERCISES 30 TO 33: The book gives only the numerical solution to the
exercises (stressed in bold); the extra information is my own.
Probably, contrary to what is stated on the web page:
https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?
title=Solutions_To_Mathematics_Textbooks/Basic_Mathematics/Chapter_1

Chapter 1 - § 3 Page 3 out of 5

 Lang, Serge − Basic Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 1st ed., 1971. COMPLETE ANSWER KEY

&oldid=4316549
at this point of the course, what the author had in mind was only the
practicing of 'manual' calculations, not a formula to solve the problems,
mainly because such a formula could only be proved by induction. However, I
decided to show how to derive it from the first three exercises.

30. The population of a city in 1910 was 50,000, and it doubles every 10
years. What will it be (a) in 1970 (b) in 1990 (c) in 2,000?
1910 = 50,000,
1920 = 100,000 ( 2 × 50,000 → 1 time in 10 years ),
1930 = 200,000 ( 2 × 100,000 = 2 × 2 × 50,000 → 2 times in 20 years ),
1940 = 400,000 ( 2 x 200,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 50,000 → 3 times in 30
years ).
Note that the number of decades is equal to the number of times the
population is doubled; so, if n denotes the number of decades, then the
population grows 2n times the population considered as the starting
point. Hence,
(a) in 1970, the population will be 26 × 50,000 = 3,200,000;
(b) in 1990, it will be 28 × 50,000 = 12,800,000;
(c) in 2000, it will be 29 × 50,000 = 25,600,000.

31. The population of a city in 1905 was 100,000, and it doubles every 25
years. What will it be after (a) 50 years (b) 100 years (c) 150 years?
1905 = 100,000,
1930 = 200,000 ( 2 × 100,000 → 1 time in 25 years ),
1955 = 400,000 ( 2 × 200,000 = 2 × 2 × 100,000 → 2 times in 50
years ),
1980 = 800,000 ( 2 × 400,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 100,000 → 3 times in 75
years ).
Note that the number of quarters is equal to the number of times the
population is doubled; so, if n denotes the number of quarters, then the
population grows 2n times the population considered as the starting
point. Hence, after
(a) 50 years (2 quarters), the population will be 22 × 100,000 =
= 400,000;
(b) 100 years (4 quarters), it will be 24 × 100,000 = 1,600,000;
(c) 150 years (6 quarters), it will be 26 × 100,000 = 6,400,000.

32. The population of a city was 200 thousand in 1915, and it triples every 50
years. What will be the population a) in the year 2215? b) in the year
2165?

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 Lang, Serge − Basic Mathematics. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. 1st ed., 1971. COMPLETE ANSWER KEY

1915 = 200,000,
1965 = 600,000 ( 3 × 200,000 → 1 time in 50 years ),
2015 = 1,800,000 ( 3 × 600,000 = 3 × 3 × 200,000 → 2 times in 100
years ),
2065 = 5,400,000 ( 3 × 1,800,000 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 200,000 → 3 times in
150 years ).
From these last three exercises, it is possible to determine a formula
for calculating such type of problem. Denoting t0 as the starting point of
time, t f the final point of time, f the period of measuring the population
growth (every 20, 25 etc. years), and let n = ( t f − t 0 ) / f , i.e., the
number of frequencies ( f ) within the considered length of time. Then,
denoting r as the constant rate of population growth for each n (it
doubles, triples etc.), and p the starting point of the measured
population; thus, g = r n × p is the formula to measure the population
by the end of the considered length of time.
By applying this formula to the present exercise, follows:
(a) in the year 2215:
t0 = 1915 ; t f = 2215 ; f = 50 ; n = ( 2215 − 1915 ) / 50 = 6

r = 3 (triple) ; p = 200,000 ; g = 36 × 200,000 = 145,800,000

(b) in the year 2165:
t0 = 1915 ; t f = 2165 ; f = 50 ; n = ( 2165 − 1915 ) / 50 = 5

r = 3 (triple) ; p = 200,000 ; g = 35 × 200,000 = 48,600,000

33. The population of a city was 25,000 in 1870, and it triples every 40 years.
What will it be a) in 1990? b) in 2030?
(a) in 1990:
t0 = 1870 ; t f = 1990 ; f = 40 ; n = ( 1990 − 1870 ) / 40 = 3

r = 3 (triple) ; p = 25,000 ; g = 33 × 25,000 = 675,000

(b) in 2030:
t0 = 1870 ; t f = 2030 ; f = 40 ; n = ( 2030 − 1870 ) / 40 = 4

r = 3 (triple) ; p = 25,000 ; g = 34 × 25,000 = 2,025,000

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