Description of the extract

The extract below consists of Sections 1 and 2 of Unit 5, Algebra, which has five sections in total and is scheduled to be started after about two months' work on the module - see the Outline study calendar. These sections are expected to take at least four hours to study, plus additional time on the corresponding assignment questions. The whole of Unit 5 is scheduled to take about 16 hours to study, spread over two weeks.

This extract, which contains the first introduction to algebra in the module, is relatively self-contained and should be reasonably easy to understand for someone who has not studied any of the previous texts in the module. A few techniques and definitions taught earlier in the module are present in the extract without explanation. However the extract isn't entirely representative of the module materials because there are no explicit references to use of the MU123 software or to video content.       

The first document below contains the main extract and the second contains comments to the activities in the extract. (Comments on activities are provided at the back of each MU123 unit.)

The extract is a small part (probably around 2%) of a large module that is studied over about eight months and so can give only an approximate indication of the level and content of the module. In this extract some illustrations have been removed due to copyright restrictions.