How to Use This Book ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Getting Started 1
2 Essential Arithmetic 3
Addition 3
Multiplication 6
Subtraction 9
Division 11
3 Focus on Multiplication 15
The Multiplication Table 15
Learning the Multiplication Table 16
Testing Your Knowledge 18
About Long Multiplication 19
Practice Exercises with Two Digits 20
Multiplying Three Digits 21
Four-Digit Multiplication 23
Word Problems with Multiplication 25
4 Focus on Division 29
Short Division 29
Long Division 33
Word Problems with Division 36
5 Mental Math 41
Fast Multiplication 41
Fast Division 44
How Are You Doing So Far? 46
Mental Math Tricks 46
6 Positive and Negative Numbers 55
What Are Negative Numbers? 55
Adding Positive and Negative Numbers 56
Subtracting Positive and Negative Numbers 57
Multiplying Positive and Negative Numbers 58
Division with Positive and Negative Numbers 59
7 Fractions 63
Changing the Look of Fractions 63
Adding Fractions 66
Subtracting Fractions 69
Multiplying by Fractions 69
Dividing by Fractions 71
Cancelling 73
8 Decimals 77
Adding and Subtracting with Decimals 77
Multiplying with Decimals 78
Dividing with Decimals 80
9 Converting Fractions and Decimals 83
Converting Fractions into Decimals 83
Converting Decimals into Fractions 84
Simplifying Fractions 86
Repeating Decimals 87
Non-Terminating Decimals 88
10 Ratios and Proportions 91
Ratios 91
Proportions 93
11 Solving Problems 99
Words and Fractions 99
Word Problems with Money 102
12 Area and Perimeter 105
Areas of Rectangles 105
When We Use Area 108
Perimeters of Rectangles 110
Areas of Triangles 113
13 Circumference and Area 119
Circumference of a Circle 119
TheAreaofaCircle 122
14 Percentages 127
Fractions, Decimals, and Percents 127
Percent Change 130
Fast Percent Change 131
Percent Distribution 133
Tipping 135
15 Solving Simple Equations 139
The Care and Treatment of Equations 139
Isolating X 140
Addition and Subtraction with X 140
Multiplication and Division with X 142
Fractions and Decimals in Equations 144
Negative Numbers 145
Multi-Step Equations 147
16 Powers and Roots 153
Exponents 153
Roots 155
Advanced Problems 157
17 Very Large and Very Small Numbers 161
Writing Large Numbers 161
Scientific Notation 164
Millions, Billions, Trillions, and Beyond 166
Multiplying Large Numbers 168
Dividing Large Numbers 170
Scientific Notation for Very Small Numbers 171
18 Algebra Problems 177
Age Problems 177
Finding the Numbers 181
Mixture Problems 184
19 Interest Rates 193
Simple Interest 193
Compound Interest 194
A Word on Continuous Compounding 198
Doubling Time: The Rule of 70 199
Discounting 201
20 Rate, Time, and Distance 205
The Magic Formula 205
The Terms 205
Finding Distance 206
Finding Rate 208
Finding Time 211
Rate, Time, and Distance Problems 214
Speed Limit Problems 215
21 Personal Finance 225
Mark-Down Problems 225
Sales Tax Problems 228
Credit Cards 230
Federal Income Tax 232
Mortgage Interest and Taxes 235
22 Business Math 243
Commissions 243
Mark-Ups 246
Discounting from List Price 248
Quantity Discounts 250
2/10 n/ 30 252
Chain Discounts 256
Profit 257
23 A Taste of Statistics 267
Distributions of Data 267
Measures of Center 272
Measures of Spread 275
Estimating 279
24 Review 285
Index 311
