CONTENT OF MATH 152A, 152B & 154

The following sections are covered from the book "Algebra for College Students" by Daniel Auvil. The Publisher is McGraw-Hill and the ISBN # is 0-07-003106-1.

MATH 152A (Begins Fall, 1998)

1) Chapter 1: All sections

2) Chapter 2: Sections 2.1, 2.3 - 2.7*

* In section 2.7, cover only absolute-value equations, the inequalities are covered

in Math 152B.

3) Chapter 3: Sections 3.1 - 3.5

4) Chapter 4: Section 4.7

5) Chapter 7: Sections 7.1*, 7.2 - 7.5

* In section 7.1, cover only the rectangular coordinate system; do not cover the distance formula or the midpoint formula.

6) Chapter 8: Sections 8.1 & 8.2**

** In section 8.2, do not cover composition of functions.

CALCULATORS: In Math 152A, calculators are generally not allowed. The one exception is to use them for the calculations in some word problems. If you would like to use them in any other case, please discuss this with the current department chairperson.

MATH 152B (Begins Winter, 1999)

1) Chapter 2: Sections 2.2 & 2.7*

* In section 2.7, review absolute-value equations from Math 152A and also cover the inequalities.

2) Chapter 3: Sections 3.6 - 3.10

3) Chapter 4: Sections 4.1 - 4.6

4) Chapter 5: All Sections

5) Chapter 6: Sections 6.1 - 6.3

6) Chapter 7: Section 7.6

7) Chapter 11: Sections 11.1 - 11.3, 11.9**

** Section 11.9 has only a few problems covering linear inequalities which is all that we cover in Math 152B. Most of the section concerns second-degree inequalities which we do not cover. You may want to cover this topic by xeroxing section 5.6 from our previous book "Understanding Algebra for College Students" by Hirsch. If you do not have this book, ask Jane or Larry for a copy of this section.

CALCULATORS: In Math 152B, calculators are generally not allowed. The one exception is to use them for the calculations in some word problems. If you would like to use them in any other case, please discuss this with the current department chairperson.

OVER FOR MATH 154

MATH 154 (Begins Spring, 1999)

1) Chapter 6: Sections 6.4 - 6.6

2) Chapter 7: Section 7.1 (The rectangular coordinate system will be a review from

Math 152B).

3) Chapter 8: Sections 8.1 - 8.7*

*Section 8.1 & part of section 8.2 will be a review from Math 152A.

* Sections 8.5 & 8.6: Cover only ellipses and hyperbolas which are centered at the origin.

* Section 8.7: Do not cover the greatest integer function.

4) Chapter 10: All sections

5) Chapter 11: Sections 11.4 & 11.8

6) Chapter 12 Sections 12.1 - 12.5

CALCULATORS: Scientific calculators are needed in Math 154, in particular for logarithms. If a student if going on to Math 103A, they may want to go ahead and get the Texas Instrument 85 (which the instructor is using) or a comparable graphing calculator. A graphing calculator is required for Math 103A and higher.