Republic of the Philippines

BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

CPG North Avenue, Tagbilaran City, 6300, Bohol, Philippines
Office of the Instruction
Balance I Integrity I Stewardship I Uprightness

SUBJECT: ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS PLUS

INSTRUCTOR: ENGR. SHEILAMAE S. BERSANO
TOPIC: FUNDAMENTAL OPERATIONS WITH NUMBERS

SUBTOPICS:
• Four Operations
• System of Real Numbers
• Graphical Representation of Real Numbers
• Properties of Addition and Multiplication of Real Numbers
• Rules of Signs
• Exponents and Numbers
• Operations with Fractions

1.1 FOUR OPERATIONS

No. Operation Sign/Symbol Output Formula

1 Addition + Sum 𝑎+𝑏
2 Subtraction - Difference 𝑎−𝑏
𝑎 × 𝑏,
3 Multiplication ×,(),⦁ Product 𝑎 ∙ 𝑏,
𝑎(𝑏)
𝑎 ÷ 𝑏,
𝑎
4 Division ÷, / Quotient 𝑏
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑑
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑟

Order of Operations
Order of operations are the rules that emphasizes the sequence in which one can solve an
expression with multiple operations

PEMDAS
Parenthesis
Exponent
Multiplication
Division
Addition
Subtraction

1.2 SYSTEMS OF REAL NUMBERS

The system of real numbers as we know it today is a result of gradual process, as the following
indicates.

(1) Natural Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . (three dots means “and so on”) are also known as the
positive integers. A positive integer can be odd or even, prime or composite numbers.

Even – a positive integer which is a multiple of 2 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 . . .)

Odd – a positive integer which is not a multiple of 2 (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 . . .)
 Factor – if 𝑚 is a multiple of 𝒏, then we can say that 𝑛 is a factor of 𝑚
Composite Number – a natural number that has at least one factor other than itself and
1 (one)
Prime Number – a natural number that is larger than 1 and has no factor other than 1 and
itself

(2) Positive Rational Numbers or positive fractions are the quotients of two positive
integers, such as 2/3, 8/5, with the exception that division by zero is not defined. The positive
rational numbers include the set of natural numbers. Thus, the rational number 3/1 is the
natural number 3. Rational number is either repeating or terminating decimal.

(3) Positive Irrational Numbers are numbers which are not rational such as √2 , and 𝜋.

(4) Zero, written as 0, arose in order to enlarge the number system so as to permit such
operations as 6 − 6 𝑜𝑟 10 − 10

Any number multiplied by zero is zero.

Zero divided by any number not equal to zero is zero
Any number divided by zero is not defined.
(5) Negative Integers, negative rational and irrational numbers such as -3 and -√2 ,
respectively, arose in order to enlarge the number system as to permit such operations as
2 − 8 𝑜𝑟 2 − 2√2 .

Note: When no sign is placed before a number, a plus sign is understood. Thus, 5 is +5. Zero is
considered a rational number without a sign.

1.3 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF REAL NUMBERS

It is often useful to represent real numbers by points on a line. To do this, we choose a point on the
line to represent the real number zero and call this point the origin.

It can be proved that corresponding to each real number there is one and only one point on the
line; and conversely, to every point on the line there corresponds one and only one real number.

The position of real numbers on the line establishes the order to the real number system. If a point
A lies to the right of another point B on the line, we say that the number corresponding to
A is greater or larger than the corresponding number B, or that the number corresponding
to B is less or smaller than the number corresponding to A. The symbols for greater than
(>) and less than (<) are called “inequality signs”.

By the absolute value or numerical value of a number is meant the distance of the
number from the origin on a number line. Absolute value is indicated by two vertical
lines surrounding the number. Thus, |−𝟔| = 𝟔, |+𝟒| = 𝟒

1.4 PROPERTIES OF ADDITION AND MULTIPLICATION OF REAL NUMBERS

(1) Commutative property for addition. The order of addition of two numbers does not
affect the value of the result.

Thus,
𝒂 + 𝒃 = 𝒃 + 𝒂, 𝟓+𝟑 =𝟑+𝟓 =𝟖
 (2) Associative property for addition. The terms of sum may be grouped in any manner
without affecting the result.

Thus,
𝒂 + 𝒃 + 𝒄 = 𝒂 + (𝒃 + 𝒄) = (𝒂 + 𝒃) + 𝒄,

𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟏 = 𝟑 + (𝟒 + 𝟏) = (𝟑 + 𝟒) + 𝟏 = 𝟖

(3) Commutative property for multiplication. The order of the factors of a product does
not affect the result.

Thus,
𝑎 ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑏 ∙ 𝑎, 2 ∙ 5 = 5 ∙ 2 = 10

(4) Associative property for multiplication. The factors of a product may be grouped in
any manner without affecting the result.

Thus,
𝒂𝒃𝒄 = 𝒂(𝒃𝒄) = (𝒂𝒃)𝒄,

𝟑 ∙ 𝟒 ∙ 𝟔 = 𝟑(𝟒 ∙ 𝟔) = (𝟑 ∙ 𝟒)𝟔 = 𝟕𝟐

(5) Distributive property for multiplication over addition. The product of a number
𝒂 by the sum of two numbers (𝒃 + 𝒄)𝒊s equal to the sum of the products 𝒂𝒃 and 𝒂𝒄.

Thus,
𝒂(𝒃 + 𝒄) = 𝒂(𝒃) + 𝒂(𝒄) = 𝟒(𝟑 + 𝟐) = 𝟒(𝟑) + 𝟒(𝟐) = 𝟐𝟎

1.5 RULES OF SIGNS

(1) To add two numbers with like signs, add their absolute values and prefix the common
sign.

Thus, 3+4=7

(−3) + (−4) = −7

(2) To add two numbers with unlike signs, find the difference between their absolute values
and prefix the sign of the number with greater absolute value.

Examples: 17 + (−8) = 9

(−3) + (1) = −2

(3) To subtract one number 𝒃 from another number 𝒂, change the operation to addition and
replace 𝒃 by its opposite, −𝒃.

Examples: 12 − 7 = 12 + (−7) = 5

(−9) − (4) = −9 + (−4) = −13

(4) To multiply (or divide) two numbers having like signs, multiply (or divide) their absolute
values and prefix a plus sign or no sign.

Examples: (5)(3) = 15
(−5)(−3) =15
 (5) To multiply (or divide) two numbers having unlike signs, multiply (or divide) their absolute
values and prefix a minus sign or a negative sign.

Examples: (−3)(3) = −9

(5)(−3) = −15

1.6 EXPONENTS AND POWERS

When a number 𝑎 is multiplied by itself 𝑛 times, the product 𝒂 ∙ 𝒂 ∙ 𝒂 ∙ ∙ ∙ 𝒂 (𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔) is indicated by

the symbol 𝒂𝒏 which is referred to as “the 𝒏th power of 𝒂”

Examples: 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 = 25 = 32
𝑎 ∙ 𝑎 ∙ 𝑎 ∙ 𝑏 ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑎3 𝑏 2

In 𝒂”, the number 𝒂 is called the 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 and the positive integer 𝒏 is called the exponent.

If 𝒑 and 𝒒 are positive integers, then the following are the laws of exponent

(1) 𝒂𝒑 ∙ 𝒂𝒒 = 𝒂𝒑+𝒒
(2)
𝒂𝒑 𝒑−𝒒
𝟏
= 𝒂 =
𝒂𝒒 𝒂𝒒−𝒑

(3) (𝒂𝒑 )𝒒 = 𝒂𝒑𝒒

(4) (𝒂𝒃)𝒑 = 𝒂𝒑 ∙ 𝒃𝒑
(5)
𝒂 𝒑 𝒂𝒑
( ) = 𝒑 𝒊𝒇 𝒃 ≠ 𝟎
𝒃 𝒃

1.7 OPERATIONS WITH FRACTIONS

Operations with fractions may be performed according to the following rules.

(1) The value of a fraction remains the same if its numerator and denominator are both multiplied
or divided by the same number provided the number is not zero.

(2) Changing the sign of the numerator or the denominator of a fraction changes the sign of the
fraction.

(3) Adding two fractions with a common denominator yields a fraction whose numerator is the
sum of the numerators of the given fractions and whose denominator is the common
denominator.

(4) The sum or difference of two fractions having different denominators may be found by writing
the fractions with common denominator.

(5) The product of two fractions is a fraction whose numerator and denominators are the product
of the respective numerators and denominators of the given fractions.
(6) The reciprocal of a fraction is a fraction whose numerator becomes the denominator and
vice versa.

(7) To divide two fractions, multiply the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction.