The best magazine
- 1). Review the order of operations. You should know in what order to deal with numbers and variables in situations using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents and parentheses. Try practice problems that include all of these mathematical operations.
- 2). Study how exponents are applied to numbers and variables. Knowing how to take the exponent of a single number or variable is not enough; you should know how to take the exponent of numbers being added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. There should be practice problems of this sort in the "exponents" section of an introductory algebra textbook.
- 3). Reread sections on factoring from your text. There are multiple ways factoring can be taught; find the way that is easiest for you to remember. Practice factoring problems in multiple ways to see which method is fastest and most accurate for you.
- 4). Go over methods for solving linear equations. The solution of linear equations can employ multiple methods. In this case, you should be familiar with the three most important methods -- substitution, elimination and graphing.
- 5). Go through the ratios and proportions section in your algebra text. You should be able to convert ratios to proportions and vice versa. Try practicing these conversions until you are correct for most attempts. In addition, review the conversion of proportions to percentages.
- 6). Look over graphs of common functions. You should be familiar with what graphs of linear functions in slope-intercept form look like, as well as how changes to the slope and intercept change the graph. You also should review quadratic graphs, knowing how the first coefficient (the one next to x^2) and the intercept alter a quadratic graph's shape.
- 7). Re-examine inequalities. Understand how the inequality sign reverses when negative numbers are multiplied to both sides on an equation. Know how to indicate inequalities on a graph through the use of shading. Practice problems of this sort will be located in the inequalities section of your text.
Source: ...