Symbols

 Is equal to
苷 Is not equal to
艐 Is approximately equal to
 Is greater than
 Is greater than or equal to
 Is less than
 Is less than or equal to
axb a is less than x and x is less than b
0.34 The repeating decimal 0.343434 . . .
LCD Least common denominator
{a, b} The set whose elements are a and b
{x 0 x  2} The set of all x such that x is greater than or equal to 2
 Null set
a苸B a is an element of set B
aⰻB a is not an element of set B
A債B Set A is a subset of set B
A債B Set A is not a subset of set B
A傽B Set intersection
A傼B Set union
冟 x冟 The absolute value of x
bn nth power of b
n
2a nth root of a
2a Principal square root of a
i Imaginary unit
a  bi Complex number
Plus or minus
(a, b) Ordered pair: first component is a and second component is b
f, g, h, etc. Names of functions
f (x) Functional value at x
f°g The composition of functions f and g
f 1 The inverse of the function f
logb x Logarithm, to the base b, of x
ln x Natural logarithm (base e)
log x Common logarithm (base 10)

c d
a1 b1 c1
Two-by-three matrix
a2 b2 c2

` `
a1 b1
Determinant
a2 b2
an nth term of a sequence
Sn Sum of n terms of a sequence
n

a Summation from i  1 to i  n
i1
Sq Infinite sum
n! n factorial
area A width w base b volume V
perimeter P surface area S circumference C area of base B
length l altitude (height) h radius r slant height s

Rectangle Triangle Square

1
A  lw P  2l  2w A  bh A  s2 P  4s
2

h s
w s s
e s
b

Parallelogram Trapezoid Circle

1
A  bh A  h(b1  b2) A  pr 2 C  2pr
2

b1
h h r

b b2

30°–60° Right Triangle Right Triangle Isosceles Right Triangle

a2  b2  c2

2x
60° c x
x√2
x b
30°
x√3 a x

Right Circular Cylinder Sphere Right Circular Cone

4 1
V  pr 2h S  2pr 2  2prh S  4pr 2 V  pr 3 V  pr2h S  pr 2  prs
3 3

r
r
h s
h

Pyramid Prism
1
V  Bh V  Bh
3

h
h

Base Base
Properties of Absolute Value Interval Notation Set Notation

0a 0  0 (a, q) {x 0 x  a}

0a 0  0 a 0 ( q, b) {x 0 x  b}

0a b 0  0b a0 (a, b) {x 0 a  x  b}

0 a2 0  0 a 0 2  a2 [a, q) {x 0 x  a}

( q, b] {x 0 x  b}
Properties of Exponents
(a, b] {x 0 a  x  b}
bn · b m  bnm
bn [a, b) {x 0 a  x  b}
 bn m
bm
[a, b] {x 0 a  x  b}
(bn)m  bmn

(ab)n  anbn
n
an
冢冣
a

b bn

Multiplication Patterns

(a  b)2  a2  2ab  b2

(a b)2  a2 2ab  b2

(a  b)(a b)  a2 b2

(a  b)3  a3  3a2b  3ab2  b3

(a b)3  a3 3a2b  3ab2 b3

Factoring Patterns

a2 b2  (a  b)(a b)
a3 b3  (a b)(a2  ab  b2)
a3  b3  (a  b)(a2 ab  b2)

Properties of Logarithms
logb b  1
logb 1  0

logb rs  logb r  logb s

冢 s冣  log r
r
logb b logb s

logb r p  p(logb r)
Formulas

Quadratic formula: The roots of ax 2  bx  c  0 where a 苷 0, are

b  2b2  4ac
2a
Distance formula for 2-space: d  2(x 2  x1)2  (y2  y1)2
x1  x2 y1  y2
Midpoint of a line segment: 冢 2
,
2 冣
y2  y1
Slope of a line: m
x2  x1

Point-slope form: y  y1  m(x  x1)

Simple interest: i  Prt and A  P  Prt

nt

冢 冣
r
Compound interest: AP 1 and A  Pe rt
n
nth term of an arithmetic sequence: an  a1  (n  1)d

n(a1  an)
Sum of n terms of an arithmetic sequence: Sn 
2
nth term of a geometric sequence: an  a1r n1
a1r n  a1
Sum of n terms of a geometric sequence: Sn 
r1
a1
Sum of infinite geometric sequence: S
1r
9 5
Temperature: F C  32 and C (F  32)
5 9

Equations Determining Functions

Linear function: f(x)  ax  b

Quadratic function: f(x)  ax 2  bx  c
Polynomial function: f(x)  anx n  an1 x n1  . . .  a1 x  a0 where n is a whole number

g(x)
Rational function: f (x)  where g and h are polynomials; h(x) ⬆ 0
h(x)
Exponential function: f(x)  bx where b  0 and b 苷 1
Logarithmic function: f(x)  logb x where b  0 and b 苷 1