1.

1 Sets
A set is a collection of things that have been
grouped together in some way, and the things are
called elements or members of the set.
Roster form just lists out the elements of a set between two
set brackets.
For example, {January, June, July}.
Set builder notation describes the members of the set
without listing them.
It is also written between two set brackets.
For example,
{x| x is a month that begins with J}, or {x: x is a month
that begins with J}.
Number types

Natural (or counting) numbers: N= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5…}

Integers: Z={…,-5,-4,-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,4,5…}

Even integers: 2, 4, 6, …, 2n. n is any integer

Odd integers: 1, 3, 5, …, 2n+1. n is any integer
0 is an even integer.
Rational numbers: all numbers that can be
expressed as the ratio of two integers,
Q={a/b︱a and b are integers and b0}.
In decimal form , rational numbers have no
decimal or have a terminating or repeating decimal,
for example,
1
2，3.5，, 0.3333=
3
Irrational numbers: all real numbers that are not
rational,
I={xx is a real number that is not rational}.
For example, 15,  , 3 5 etc.

Real numbers: all numbers on the number line,

R={xx corresponds to point on the number line}.
Real number line
A number line is used to graphically represent the
relationships between numbers:
A B C
integers, decimal, or fractions.

The line shows nicely how the real numbers are ordered:

As we move to the right on the line, real numbers increase.

The tick marks are always equally spaced, but
the distance between tick marks on a number
line do not have to be measured in whole units.
If a<b, then the open interval (a,b) is

(a, b)  x : a  x  b
the closed interval [a,b] is
[a, b]  x : a  x  b
the half-open intervals
[a, )   x : x  a ,(, a]   x : x  a ,
(a, )   x : x  a ,(, a)   x : x  a.
1.2 XY---plane
The coordinate plane is a two-
first quadrant
dimensional surface on which we
can plot points, lines and curves. It
has two scales, called the x-axis
and y-axis, at right angles to each
other. The intersection of two axes
is called the origin.

anticlockwise
A Cartesian coordinate system in two dimensions
(also called a rectangular coordinate system or
an orthogonal coordinate system) is defined by an
ordered pair of perpendicular lines (axes), a single
unit of length for both axes, and an orientation for
each axis. The point where the axes meet is taken as
the origin for both, thus turning each axis into a
number line. For any point P, a line is drawn
through P perpendicular to each axis, and the
position where it meets the axis is interpreted as a
number. The two numbers, in that chosen order, are
the Cartesian coordinates of P. The reverse René Descartes
(31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
construction allows one to determine the point P was a French philosopher, mathematician,
given its coordinates. and scientist.
 first quadrant x  0, y  0

second quadrant x  0, y  0

third quadrant x  0, y  0

x-coordinate fourth quadrant x  0, y  0

Horizontal coordinate
y-coordinate
Vertical coordinate
The coordinates of a point are a pair
of numbers that define its exact
location on a two-dimensional plane.
The coordinates of a given point
represent how far along each axis the
point is located.
The coordinates of points are written as
an "ordered pair" as shown below.
The letter P is simply the name of the point
and is used to distinguish it from others.
 y
5
4 ( 2，3 )
A
( -2，1 )
3
2
· ·B ( 3，2 )
C
· 1
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 x
-1
-2 ·E ( 1，- 2 )
D
· ( -4，- 3 )
-3
-4
 Which one is XY-Plane（ 3D ）
2 Y
Y
1
-3 -2 -10 0 1 2 3
-3 -2 -1 O 1 2 3 X X
-1
-2
（B）
（A） Y
3 3
2 Y 2
1
-3 -2 -11 1 2 3 X
O
-1
O
-3 -2 -1-1 1 2 3 X
-2
-2 -3
（D）
-3（C）
 y
Find location of the following points
4
in the XY-plane. 3
2D
1 B
o
-4 -3 -2 -1-1 1 2 3 4
x
-2 C
A -3
-4

A (-2，-1 ) B( 2，1)
C ( 1，-2 ) D(-1，2)
 y

3 D
2 E

A 1 B C
-4 -3 -2 -1 o 1 2 3 4 x
-1
A (- 3, 0) D (0, 3 )
B ( 1, 0) -2 F E (0 , 2)
C ( 4 , 0) F (0 , -2)
-3
（ x,0） （ 0,y）
 What is the distance between points A and B?
A
By Pythagoras’ Theorem

B
C AB2  AC 2  CB2 AB  29

 (3  1)2 (2  (3))2

 4  25
x-coordinate of B
y-coordinate of A

y-coordinate of B x-coordinate of A
 A B

AB  2  (1)  3 A( x1 , y1 ), B( x2 , y2 )

AB  ( x1  x2 )2  ( y1  y2 )2
AB  ( x1  x2 )  ( y1  y2 )
2 2

A(2,3), B(1,1)
AB  (2  1)  (3  1)  5
2 2
1.3 XYZ---three-dimensional space
The right-handed coordinate system

coordinates (x, y, z) of a point P in space are

the values at which the planes through P
perpendicular to the axes cut the axes.
 What is the distance between points A and B? By Pythagoras’ Theorem

 AP  PN  NB ,
2 2 2
A( x1 , y1 , z1 ), B( x2 , y2 , z2 ) AB 2

AP  x2  x1 ,
z R
 B PN  y2  y1 ,
A  Q
P N NB  z2  z1 ,
o y
x
 x2  x1    y2  y1    z2  z1  .
2 2 2
AB 
 1.4 Vector
An object , comprised of
a magnitude and a direction
is a vector.
  
a, v, F or a, v, F
The vector represented by the directed

line segment AB has initial point A
and terminal point B 
and its length is denoted by AB .
There is a subtlety involved in the definition of a
vector as consisting of a magnitude and a
direction—these

are equal, even though they start in different

places. They are equal because they have equal
lengths and equal directions.

Again: those vectors are not just alike,

they are equal.
How can things that are in different places be equal?
Think of a vector as representing a displacement (the word ‘vector’ is
Latin for “carrier” or “traveler”).

When we want to emphasize this property vectors have of

not being anchored we refer to them as free vectors.
DEFINITION
If v is a two-dimensional vector in the plane equal to the vector with
initial point at the origin and terminal point (a, b)
then the component form of v is
v  (a, b)
If v is a three-dimensional vector equal to the vector with initial
point at the origin and terminal point (a, b, c)
then the component form of v is

v  (a, b, c)
The numbers a, b, c are the components of vector v .
 A P( x1 , y1 ), Q( x2 , y2 )

B PQ  ( x2  x1 , y2  y1 )

QP  ( x1  x2 , y1  y2 )

B(3,1), A(2,3)

BA  (2  (3), 3  1)  (5, 2)

AB  (3  2, 1  3)  (5, 2)
 
The magnitude or length of the vector PQ  (a, b, c) is the length of any
of its equivalent directed line segment representations.

PQ  a 2  b 2  c 2 .

BA  (2  (3),3  1)  (5, 2)
A 
BA  52  22  29
B 
CB  (3  (1.5),1  (2.5))
 (1.5,3.5)
C 
CB  1.52  3.52  14.5
 Vector Algebra Operations
vector addition and scalar multiplication
 
u  (u1 , u2 , u3 ), v  (v1 , v2 , v3 )
 
u  v  (u1  v1 , u2  v2 , u3  v3 )

ku  (ku1 , ku2 , ku3 ), k is a real number.

(1)v  (v1 , v2 , v3 )
   
u  v  u  (v)  (u1  v1 , u2  v2 , u3  v3 )
The parallelogram law for addition of vectors

D b C
a a a a a a a a a a a+b a
q B
A b
b b
b
 
a  b called the resultant vector, is the diagonal of the parallelogram.
 If k  0, then ku has the same
direction as u;

If k  0, then the direction of ku is

opposite to that of u


ku  (ku1 , ku2 , ku3 ), k is a real number.

ku  (ku1 )2  (ku2 ) 2  (ku3 ) 2

 k (u1 )2  (u2 ) 2  (u3 ) 2  k u
Law of distribution
abba;

Law of association

(ab)ca(bc).