MATENA1
Numbers, Inequalities and Absolute Values
Appendix A
Complex numbers
Real numbers Imaginary numbers
Rational numbers Irrational numbers
Integers
Natural numbers
I If the number is rational, the correspon-
ding decimal is repeating. For example,
1
= 0.50000... = 0.50
2
2
= 0.666666... = 0.6
3
157
= 0.317171717... = 0.317
495
9
= 1.285714285714... = 1.285714
7
I The bar indicates that the sequence of
digits repeats forever.
I On the other hand, if the number is
irrational, the decimal is non-repeating:
√
2 = 1.414213562373095 . . .
π = 3.141592653589793 . . .
I If we stop the decimal expansion of any
number at a certain place, we get an
approximation to the number.
I On the other hand, if the number is
irrational, the decimal is non-repeating:
√
2 = 1.414213562373095 . . .
π = 3.141592653589793 . . .
I If we stop the decimal expansion of any
number at a certain place, we get an
approximation to the number. For
instance,
π ≈ 3.14159265
We use the order property of R to represent
real numbers as points on a line, which is
called a real number line, or simply a real
line.
3 1 √
−2.63 − 7 2 2 π
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4
The positive direction (to the right) is
indicated by an arrow.
Basic set theory
Example: Find A ∪ B and A ∩ B if A =
{1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {3, 4, 5, 6}.
Example: Let A = {a, b, c}. State whether
each of the following is true or false:
1. a ∈ A
2. {a} ∈ A
3. b ⊆ A
4. {a} ⊆ A
5. {a, b, c} ⊆ A
6. ∅ ⊆ A
Example: List all the elements of the
following sets:
1. {x ∈ R | x2 − 3x = 4}
2. {x ∈ Z | −3 ≤ x ≤ 3 and x2 − 3x 6= 4}
3. {x ∈ N | x is an odd and x < 10}
4. {x ∈ Z | −3 < x < 3 and x2 = 9}
Example: Describe the following sets using
set-builder notation:
1. {2, 4, 6, 8}
2. {0, 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, . . .}
3. {−3, 3}
An interval is a subset of R that contains
all real numbers between two endpoints.
Interval Set description Picture
(a, b) {x ∈ R | a < x < b}
a b
[a, b] {x ∈ R | a ≤ x ≤ b}
a b
[a, b) {x ∈ R | a ≤ x < b}
a b
(a, b] {x ∈ R | a < x ≤ b}
a b
(a, ∞) {x ∈ R | x > a}
a
[a, ∞) {x ∈ R | x ≥ a}
a
(−∞, b) {x ∈ R | x < b}
b
(−∞, b] {x ∈ R | x ≤ b}
b
(−∞, ∞) R
Example:
Consider the following intervals:
A = (1, 4] B = [3, 5)
C = (2, ∞) D = (−∞, 6)
Determine the following intersections and
unions and write the answers in interval
notation:
1. A ∩ C 3. A ∪ B
2. C ∩ D 4. C ∪ D
Inequalities
Rules for inequalities:
1. If a < b, then a + c < b + c.
2. If a < b and c < d, then
a + c < b + d.
3. If a < b and c > 0, then ac < bc.
4. If a < b and c < 0, then ac > bc.
1 1
5. If 0 < a < b, then > .
a b
Example: Solve the inequality
1 + x < 7x + 5.
Example: Solve the inequalities
4 ≤ 3x − 2 < 13.
Example: Solve the inequality
x2 − 5x + 6 ≤ 0.
Example: Solve x3 + 3x2 > 4x.
x2 − x − 6
Example: Solve for x if < 0.
(x + 1)2
Absolute Values
I The absolute value of a number a,
denoted by |a|, is the distance from a to
0 on the real number line.
I Distances are always positive or 0, so we
have
|a| ≥ 0 for every number a.
I The absolute value of a number a,
denoted by |a|, is the distance from a to
0 on the real number line.
I Distances are always positive or 0, so we
have
|a| ≥ 0 for every number a.
I For example,
|3| = 3 | − 3| = 3 |0| = 0
√ √
| 2 − 1| = 2 − 1 |3 − π| = π − 3
In general,
a if a ≥ 0
|a| =
−a if a < 0.
√
Note: Recall that the symbol means “the
√
positive square root of”. Thus r = s means
s√2 = r and s ≥ 0. Therefore, the equation
a2 = a is not always true. It is true only
when a ≥ 0. If a < 0, then −a > 0, so we have
√
a2 = −a. We thus have the equation
√
a2 = |a|
which is true for all values of a.
Example: Express |3x − 2| without using
the absolute-value symbol.
The graph of the absolute value function y = |x|
looks as follows:
y
3
y = |x|
2
x
−3 −2 −1 1 2 3
Note that the y-values are always non-negative
(y ≥ 0).
Properties of absolute values:
Suppose a and b are any real numbers and
n is an integer. Then:
1. |ab| = |a||b|
a |a|
2. = (b 6= 0)
b |b|
3. |an| = |a|n.
Properties of absolute values:
Suppose a > 0. Then:
4. |x| = a if and only if x = ±a
5. |x| < a if and only if −a < x < a
6. |x| > a if and only if x > a or
x < −a.
Example: Solve |3x + 5| = 1 .
Example: Solve |x − 4| < 1.
Example: Solve |2x + 3| ≥ 5.
The Triangle Inequality: If a and b are
any real numbers, then
|a + b| ≤ |a| + |b|.
Example: If |x − 4| < 0.1 and |y − 7| <
0.2, use the Triangle Inequality to estimate
|(x + y) − 11|.
Practice problems from textbook
I Appendix A:
4, 5, 10, 16, 24, 27, 37, 42, 45, 50, 51,
55, 61, 63, 68
