Essentials of College Algebra (10th Edition) (The Lial/Hornsby/Schneider College Algebra Series)

The terrific writing trio of Margaret L. Lial, John Hornsby, and David I. Schneider join forces to bring college and university students a foundational resource in their textbook entitled Essentials of College Algebra (10th Edition) (The Lial/Hornsby/Schneider College Algebra Series), ISBN 9780321664990. This text presents readers with a strong background of the fundamental principles of college algebra and their graphs. This version serves as a compact, more concise version for courses not requiring the more advanced topics covered in longer books. With the goal of developing student's comprehension of concepts as well as honing their analytical skills, this text integrates a well-thought-out learning system to actively engage students. The leading expert on this team of writers is that of Margaret L. Lial. Receiving her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from California State University at Sacramento, she currently serves on the faculty of American River College. Lial often integrates her hobbies and experiences in her books to provide students with meaningful applications, exercise sets, and feature sets. Margaret L. Lial, John Hornsby, and David I. Schneider strategically organize the concepts of Essentials of College Algebra (10th Edition) (The Lial/Hornsby/Schneider College Algebra Series) across 5 extensive chapters. The book begins with a section devoted to the 'Review of Basic Concepts' including real numbers and their properties, polynomials, rational expressions and exponents, and radical expressions. Chapter 1 then delves into 'Equations and Inequalities' with information on linear equations, complex numbers, quadratic equations, and absolute value equations and inequalities. Chapter 2 provides coverage of 'Graphs and Functions.' These pages present concepts such as rectangular coordinates and graphs, circles, linear functions, graphs of basic functions, and graphing functions. 'Polynomial and Rational Functions' is the topic of choice in chapter 3. This chapter explores quadratic functions and models, synthetic division, and variation. Chapter 4 investigates 'Inverse, Exponential, and Logarithmic Functions' with topics covered including evaluating logarithms and the change-of-base theorem, exponential and logarithmic equations, as well as applications and models of exponential growth and decay. The final pages appear in chapter 5 devoted to 'Systems and Matrices' with the presentation of matrix solutions of linear systems, determinant solutions of linear systems, partial fractions, nonlinear systems of equations, and properties of matrices.