Carolyn C. WHEATER taught math and computer technology for more than 40 years to students from preschool through college, including 25 years at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City. Now retired, she continues to write about mathematics and test preparation. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Steve SLAVIN has a PhD in economics from New York University, and taught economics for 31 years at New York Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College, and New Jersey's Union County College of Mathematics.

How to Use This Book ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Getting Started 1

2 Essential Arithmetic 3

Addition 3

Multiplication 6

Subtraction 9

Division 11

3 Focus on Multiplication 15

The Multiplication Table 15

Learning the Multiplication Table 16

Testing Your Knowledge 18

About Long Multiplication 19

Practice Exercises with Two Digits 20

Multiplying Three Digits 21

Four-Digit Multiplication 23

Word Problems with Multiplication 25

4 Focus on Division 29

Short Division 29

Long Division 33

Word Problems with Division 36

5 Mental Math 41

Fast Multiplication 41

Fast Division 44

How Are You Doing So Far? 46

Mental Math Tricks 46

6 Positive and Negative Numbers 55

What Are Negative Numbers? 55

Adding Positive and Negative Numbers 56

Subtracting Positive and Negative Numbers 57

Multiplying Positive and Negative Numbers 58

Division with Positive and Negative Numbers 59

7 Fractions 63

Changing the Look of Fractions 63

Adding Fractions 66

Subtracting Fractions 69

Multiplying by Fractions 69

Dividing by Fractions 71

Cancelling 73

8 Decimals 77

Adding and Subtracting with Decimals 77

Multiplying with Decimals 78

Dividing with Decimals 80

9 Converting Fractions and Decimals 83

Converting Fractions into Decimals 83

Converting Decimals into Fractions 84

Simplifying Fractions 86

Repeating Decimals 87

Non-Terminating Decimals 88

10 Ratios and Proportions 91

Ratios 91

Proportions 93

11 Solving Problems 99

Words and Fractions 99

Word Problems with Money 102

12 Area and Perimeter 105

Areas of Rectangles 105

When We Use Area 108

Perimeters of Rectangles 110

Areas of Triangles 113

13 Circumference and Area 119

Circumference of a Circle 119

TheAreaofaCircle 122

14 Percentages 127

Fractions, Decimals, and Percents 127

Percent Change 130

Fast Percent Change 131

Percent Distribution 133

Tipping 135

15 Solving Simple Equations 139

The Care and Treatment of Equations 139

Isolating X 140

Addition and Subtraction with X 140

Multiplication and Division with X 142

Fractions and Decimals in Equations 144

Negative Numbers 145

Multi-Step Equations 147

16 Powers and Roots 153

Exponents 153

Roots 155

Advanced Problems 157

17 Very Large and Very Small Numbers 161

Writing Large Numbers 161

Scientific Notation 164

Millions, Billions, Trillions, and Beyond 166

Multiplying Large Numbers 168

Dividing Large Numbers 170

Scientific Notation for Very Small Numbers 171

18 Algebra Problems 177

Age Problems 177

Finding the Numbers 181

Mixture Problems 184

19 Interest Rates 193

Simple Interest 193

Compound Interest 194

A Word on Continuous Compounding 198

Doubling Time: The Rule of 70 199

Discounting 201

20 Rate, Time, and Distance 205

The Magic Formula 205

The Terms 205

Finding Distance 206

Finding Rate 208

Finding Time 211

Rate, Time, and Distance Problems 214

Speed Limit Problems 215

21 Personal Finance 225

Mark-Down Problems 225

Sales Tax Problems 228

Credit Cards 230

Federal Income Tax 232

Mortgage Interest and Taxes 235

22 Business Math 243

Commissions 243

Mark-Ups 246

Discounting from List Price 248

Quantity Discounts 250

2/10 n/ 30 252

Chain Discounts 256

Profit 257

23 A Taste of Statistics 267

Distributions of Data 267

Measures of Center 272

Measures of Spread 275

Estimating 279

24 Review 285

Index 311