Synopses & Reviews
David Cohen's PRECALCULUS: A PROBLEMS-ORIENTED APPROACH, Sixth Edition, focuses on teaching mathematics by using a graphical perspective throughout to provide a visual understanding of college algebra and trigonometry. The author is known for his clear writing style and the numerous quality exercises and applications he includes in his respected texts. In this new edition, graphs, visualization of data, and functions are now introduced much earlier and receive greater emphasis. Many sections now contain more examples and exercises involving applications and real-life data. While this edition takes the existence of the graphing calculator for granted, the material is arranged so that one can teach the course with as much or as little graphing utility work as he/she wishes.
Review
"The quantity and quality of the exercises are the reasons why I think that Cohen's book is my favorite algebra and precalculus book ever.... Both the quantity and quality of the exercises of Cohen's book are first class and the problems in each section are reflective of the concepts being taught. As far as I am concerned, the quality of both his algebra text and precalculus text are way above anything on the market that I've seen."
Review
"The mini projects are excellent and can be used for collaborative learning.... I think the writing style of an already well-written book has been improved."
Review
"This text is one of the most challenging precalculus books I have seen, but I like that because it gives students the opportunity to be very well prepared for calculus. The presentations are rigorous, precise, and detailed, but written in a way that students can follow fairly well. The exercises range from simple to complex and include not only applications to other disciplines but to other areas of mathematics as well." "One of the main reasons I continue to use this author's texts is that I receive more compliments from my students on his books than I have on any other texts."
Review
"Overall, the quantity and quality of the exercises in Cohen's texts are outstanding. The different levels of exercises--A, B, and C levels--make an excellent transition from skill development to concept development."
Review
"The new authors have done a nice job in reorganizing the material in Chapter 6. Instructors familiar with earlier editions of Cohen's books will find the transition seamless."
Synopsis
Get a good grade in your precalculus course with Cohen's PRECALCULUS: A PROBLEMS-ORIENTED APPROACH and it's accompanying CD-ROM! Written in a clear, student-friendly style and providing a graphical perspective so you can develop a visual understanding of college algebra and trigonometry, this text provides you with the tools you need to be successful in this course. Preparing for exams is made easy with iLrn, an online tutorial resource, that gives you access to text-specific tutorials, step-by-step explanations, exercises, quizzes, and one-on-one online help from a tutor. Examples, exercises, applications, and real-life data found throughout the text will help you become a successful mathematics student!
About the Author
David Cohen, a senior lecturer at UCLA, was the original author of the successful, well-respected precalculus series--COLLEGE ALGEBRA, ALGEBRA AND TRIGONOMETRY, PRECALCULUS: A PROBLEMS-ORIENTED APPROACH, and PRECALCULUS: WITH UNIT CIRCLE TRIGONOMETRY.
Table of Contents
1. FUNDAMENTALS. Sets of Real Numbers. Absolute Value. Solving Equations (Review and Preview). Rectangular Coordinates. Visualizing Data. Graphs and Graphing Utilities. Equations of Lines. Symmetry and Graphs. Circles. 2. EQUATIONS AND INEQUALITIES. Quadratic Equations: Theory and Examples. Other Types of Equations. Inequalities. More on Inequalities. 3. FUNCTIONS. The Definition of a Function. The Graph of a Function. Shapes of Graphs. Average Rate of Change. Techniques in Graphing. Methods of Combining Function. Iteration. Inverse Functions. 4. POLYNOMIAL AND RATIONAL FUNCTIONS. Applications to Optimization. Linear Functions. Quadratic Functions. Using Iteration to Model Population Growth (Optional Section). Setting up Equations That Define Functions. Maximum and Minimum Problems. Polynomial Functions. Rational Functions. 5. EXPONENTIAL AND LOGARITHMIC FUNCTIONS. Exponential Functions. The Exponential Function y = ex. Logarithmic Functions. Properties of Logarithms. Equations and Inequalities with Logs and Exponents. Compound Interest. Exponential Growth and Decay. 6. TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS OF ANGLES. Trigonometric Functions of Acute Angles. Algebra and the Trigonometric Functions. Right-Triangle Applications. Trigonometric Functions of Angles. Trigonometric Identities. 7. TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS OF REAL NUMBERS. Radian Measure. Radian Measure and Geometry. Trigonometric Functions of Real Numbers. Graphs of the Sine and the Cosine Functions. Graphs of y = A sin(Bx-C) and y = A cos(Bx - C). Simple Harmonic Motion. Graphs of the Tangent and the Reciprocal Functions. 8. ANALYTICAL TRIGONOMETRY. The Addition Formulas. The Double-Angle Formulas. The Product-to-Sum and Sum-to-Product Formulas. Trigonometric Equations. The Inverse Trigonometric Functions. 9. ADDITIONAL TOPICS IN TRIGONOMETRY. The Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines. Vectors in the Plane, a Geometric Approach. Vectors in the Plane, an Algebraic Approach. Parametric Equations. Introduction to Polar Coordinates. Curves in Polar Coordinates. 10. SYSTEMS OF EQUATIONS. Systems of Two Linear Equations in Two Unknowns. Gaussian Elimination. Matrices. The Inverse of a Square Matrix. Determinants and Cramer's Rule. Nonlinear Systems of Equations. Systems of Inequalities. 11. ANALYTIC GEOMETRY. The Basic Equations. The Parabola. Tangents to Parabolas (Optional). The Ellipse. The Hyperbola. The Focus-Directrix Property of Conics. The Conics in Polar Coordinates. Rotation of Axes. 12. ROOTS OF POLYNOMIAL EQUATIONS. The Complex Number System. Division of Polynomials. Roots of Polynomial Equations: The Remainder Theorem and the Factor Theorem. The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra. Rational and Irrational Roots. Conjugate Roots and Descartes' Rule of Signs. Introduction to Partial Fractions. More About Partial Fractions. 13. ADDITIONAL TOPICS. Mathematical Induction. The Binomial Theorem. Introduction to Sequences and Series. Arithmetic Sequences and Series. Geometric Sequences and Series. DeMoivre's Theorem. Appendix 1: Using a Graphing Utility. Appendix 2: Significant Digits and Calculators. Tables. Answers to Selected Exercises. Index.