Varsity Algebra Questions

Q: Evaluate a permutation of 20 things taking 3 at a time.

A: 6840

Q: Evaluate a permutation of 9 things taking 3 at a time.

A: 504

Q: Evaluate a permutation of 12 things taking 3 at a time.

A: 1320

Q: Compute the value of the permutation 8 P 5.

A: 6720

Q: Compute the value of the combination 6 C 3.

A: 20

Q: What is the probability of rolling a total of 4 in four rolls of a fair ten-sided die?

A: 1/10000

Q: What is the probability of rolling two consecutive pairs of ones on two rolls of a pair of
dice?

A: 1/1296

Q: What is the probability of rolling a total of one or 12 on two rolls of a fair die?

A: 1/36

Q: What is the probability of rolling either a sum of 7 or 11 on two rolls of a fair die?

A: 2/9

Q: Determine the probability of drawing two consecutive hearts, with replacement, from a
deck that includes two jokers but is otherwise standard. Assume the jokers can count
as hearts.

A: 25/324
Q: Determine the probability of drawing a red four followed by a face card in two draws from
a standard deck with replacement.

A: 3/338

Q: Determine the probability of drawing two consecutive spades, with replacement, from a
deck that includes two jokers but is otherwise standard. Assume the jokers can count
as spades.

A: 25/324

Q: What is the product of the roots of the equation: 3x squared + 14x – 99 = 0?

A: -33

Q: What is the product of the roots of the equation: 3x squared + 14x – 102 = 0?

A: -34

Q: What is the product of the roots of the equation: 5x squared + 14x – 60 = 0?

A: -12

Q: What is the product of the roots of the equation: 8x squared + 56x – 120 = 0?

A: -15

Q: What is the sum of the roots of the equation: 4x squared + 324x +5?

A: -8

Q: What is the sum of the roots of the equation: -6x squared + 30 x – 18 = 0?

A: 5

Q: What is the sum of the roots of the equation: 5x squared + 115 - 8x = 3x - 14?

A: 11/5 or 2 1/5

Q: Factor completely: 12 x squared + 47 x + 45.

A: (3x + 5) (4x + 9)

Q: Factor completely: x squared + 33 x + 260.

A: (x + 13) (x + 20)
Q: Factor completely: 4 x squared + 16 x + 7.

A: (2x + 7) (2x + 1)

Q: Factor completely: 4 x squared + 20 x + 21.

A: (2x + 7) (2x + 3)

Q: Factor completely: 4 x squared + 24 x +27.

A: (2x + 9) (2x + 3)

Q: Factor completely: 6 x squared + 5 x – 6.

A: (3x – 2) (2x + 3)

Q: Factor completely: 6 x squared + 25 x + 14.

A: (3x + 2) (2x + 7)

Q: Factor completely: 6 x squared + 25 x + 24.

A: (3x + 8) (2x + 3)

Q: Factor completely: 8 x squared + 26 x + 21.

A: (4x + 7) (2x + 3)

Q: Factor completely: 8 x squared + 18 x + 7.

A: (4x + 7) (2x + 1)

Q: Factor completely: x squared + 35 x - 36 .

A: (x + 36) (x - 1)

Q: Compute the value of the quantity (4 – 6i) squared.

A: 20 -48i (or -48i + 20)

Q: Determine the simplest quadratic equation with roots -4 and 9.

A: x squared – 5x – 36 = 0

Q: Simplify completely: the quantity (4i + 3) times the quantity (3i – 8).

A: -18 + i or (i – 18)
Q: Simplify completely: the quantity (4i + 3) times the quantity (3i – 2).

A: -36 – 23i or -23i - 36

Q: Simplify completely: the quantity (6i + 3) times the quantity (-3i - 2).

A: 12 - 21i or (-21i + 12)

Q: Simplify completely: the quantity (4i + 3) times the quantity (5i - 6), where i is the square
root of negative 1.

A: - 38 + 9 i (or 9 i -38)

Q: Solve for x in the following equation: x cubed - 12 x = 0

A: 0, 2 times the square root of 3, -2 times the square root of 3

Q: Solve for x: log of x base 9 = 2.

A: 81

Q: Given: log of x base 10 equals 0.21. What is the log of 100,000 x?

A: 5.21

Q: Solve the inequality: 7x + 3 is greater than or equal to -3x – 15.

A: x is greater than or equal to -9/5

Q: Solve the following equation for x: x squared - 7 x - 44 = 0. Give all solutions.

A: 11 and -4 (answer must have both)

Q: Solve the following simultaneous equations for x and y: 3x + 2y = 12 and x - y = -1.

A: x=2 y=3

Q: At what point does the graph of 11x + 50y + 14 = 0 cross the x axis?

A: (-14/11, 0) or ( -1 3/11, 0)

Q: Give the fourth term in the following sequence: 56, 30, 17, …?

A: 10 ½ (or 10.5, or 21/2)

Q: The average of seven numbers is 25. Six of the numbers are: 37, 36, 20, 18, 11, and 5.
What is the seventh number?

A: 48

Q: A bus takes 15 minutes longer than twice as long as a car to complete a trip. If the bus
takes 55 minutes, how long does the car take to make the trip?

A: 20 minutes

Q: Three consecutive multiples of three sum to 63. What is the largest of these numbers?

A: 24

Q: Compute the mean of this set of eight numbers: 20, 24, 48, 12, -6, 22, -12, 14.

A: 15 ¼ or 15.25

Q: Compute the mean of this set of six numbers: 22, 29, 47, 12, -16, 14.

A: 18

Q: Compute the mean of this set of nine numbers: 20, 24, 48, 12, -6, 22, -12, 14, 6.
Express your answer as a mixed number.

A: 14 2/9

Q: A bus takes 15 minutes longer than one and a half times a car takes to complete a trip. If
the bus takes 30 minutes, how long does the car take to make the trip?

A: 10 minutes
Q: Compute these permutations.

1. 3P2 1. 6
2. 5P2 2. 20
3. 7P2 3. 42
4. 9P2 4. 72
5. 11 p 2 5. 110
6. 19 P 2 6. 342

Q: Evaluate the following involving combinations and permutations.

1. A permutation of 6 things taking 4 at a time. 1. 360

2. A permutation of 10 things taking 3 at a time. 2. 720
3. A combination of 8 things taking 5 at a time. 3. 56
4. A combination of 52 things taking 48 at a time. 4. 270,725
5. A permutation of 10 things taking 4 at a time. 5. 5040
6. A combination of 52 things taking 49 at a time. 6. 22100
7. A permutation of 7 things taking 4 at a time. 7. 840
8. A permutation of 12 things taking 3 at a time. 8. 1320
9. A combination of 10 things taking 3 at a time. 9. 120
10. A combination of 60 things taking 58 at a time. 10. 1770
11. A permutation of 8 things taking 4 at a time. 11. 1680
12. A permutation of 7 things taking 5 at a time. 12. 2530
13. A combination of 9 things taking 5 at a time. 13. 126
14. A combination of 40 things taking 38 at a time. 14. 780
15. A permutation of 9 things taking 4 at a time. 15. 3024
16. A permutation of 6 things taking 5 at a time. 16. 720
17. A combination of 11 things taking 5 at a time. 17. 462
18. A combination of 33 things taking 31 at a time. 18. 528

Q: Four consecutive integers sum to the following. Identify all four numbers for each:

1. 86 1. 20, 21, 22, 23

2. 166 2. 40, 41, 42, 43
3. 226 3. 55, 56, 57, 58
4. 358 4. 88, 89, 90, 91
5. 90 5. 21, 22, 23, 24
6. 174 6. 42, 43, 44, 45
7. 242 7. 59, 60, 61, 62
8. 366 8. 90, 91, 92, 93
9. 170 9. 41, 42, 43, 44
10. 214 10. 52, 53, 54, 55
11. 322 11. 79, 80, 81, 82
12. 406 12. 100, 101, 102, 103
13. 102 13. 24, 25, 26, 27
14. 182 14. 44, 45, 46, 47
15. 374 15. 92, 93, 94, 95
Q: Determine the inverses of the following functions:

1. f of x equals 2x over 3
2. f of x equals 3x + 2
3. f of x equals negative the square root of the quantity (x + 3)
4. f of x equals x squared – 1 with x > 0

1. 3x over 2
2. 1/3 x – 2/3 or x/3 -2/3 or the quantity (x-2) over 3
3. x squared - 3
4. the square root of the quantity (x + 1)

Q: Given: f of x equals x cubed minus 5, close quantity, over the quantity (x plus 1)

1. find f of 0 1. -5
2. find f of 2 2. 1
3. find f of -2 3. 13
4. find f of -1 4. undefined (no solution; or infinity)

Q: Convert these binary numbers into decimal form.

1. 100001 1. 33
2. 110111 2. 55
3. 1011010 3. 90
4. 10000000 4. 128
5. 100100 5. 36
6. 111010 6. 58
7. 1011100 7. 92
8. 10000001 8. 129
9. 111111 9. 63
10. 1010011 10. 83
11. 100000000 11. 256

Q: Solve the following systems of equations for x and y:

1. x = y =11, xy = 36
2. x = y = 9, 3xy – 42 = 0
3. x – y = 63/8, xy = 1
4. x squared = y squared = 80, xy = 32; x and y are both negative

1. 4 and 9 (x =4 and y=9 or x=9 and y=4)

2. 7 and 2 (x =7 and y=2 or x=2 and y=7)
3. x = 8, y = 1/8
4. -4 and -8 (x = -4 and y= -8 or x= -8 and y= -4)
Q: Factor the following completely:

1. x to the 4th power -81 1. (x squared + 9) (x + 3) (x – 3)

2. 3x squared + 15 x + 18 2. 3 (x + 2) (x + 3)
3. 3x squared + 6x + 3 3. 3 (x + 1) (x + 1)
4. x squared – 15 x – 76 4. (x + 4) (x – 19)

Q: Calculate the following logarithms:

1. Log base 25 of 15625 1. 3

2. Log base 4 of 1 over the square root of 2 2. -1/4
3. Log base 3 of the cube root of 81 3. 4/3 or 1 1/3
4. Log base 1/8 of 128 4. -7/3 or -2 1/3

Q: Calculate the following logarithms:

1. Log base 16 of 512 1. 2.25 or 2 1/4

2. Log base 6 of 1/216 2. -3
3. Log base 2 of 4 to the 9th 3. 18
4. Log base 2a of 4 a squared quantity cubed 4. 6

Q: Given the equation: 2 x squared – 65 x + 360 = 0:

1. How many real roots are there? 1. 2

2. What is the sum of the roots? 2. 65/2 or 32 1/2
3. What is the product of the roots? 3. 180
4. What is the value of the discriminant? 4. 1345

Q: Given the equation: 4x squared – 21 x - 36 = 0:

1. How many real roots are there? 1. 2

2. What is the sum of the roots? 2. 21/4 or 5 1/4
3. What is the product of the roots? 3. -9
4. What is the value of the discriminant? 4. 1017

Q: Given this set of numbers: 12, 5, 8, 15, 43, 9, 33, 18, 12, 47, and 7, find the following:

1. The median 1. 12
2. The mode 2. 12
3. The mean 3. 19
4. The range 4. 42
Q: Simplify the following:

1. i to the 47th power

2. i to the 60th power
3. negative I to the 44th power
4. i to the 10,000,000,000th power (i to the ten billionth power)

1. -i
2. 1
3. 1
4. 1

Q: Evaluate the following complex numbers:

1. i to the 150th power 1. -1

2. -i to the 150th power 2. -1
3. 4 + 3i the quantity squared 3. 7 + 24i (or 24i + 7)
4. 4 + 3i the quantity cubed 4. 117i – 44 (or -44 + 117i)

Q: Two cards are drawn from a standard deck and the first one is replaced before drawing the
second. Find the probability of the following:

1. The first is a nine and the second a five 1. 1 in 169

2. A club is drawn, followed by an ace 2. 1 in 52
3. Both are diamonds 3. 1 in 16
4. Both are tens, but not the same ten 4. 3 in 676

Q: A fair coin is flipped five times. Answer the following:

1. How many possible outcomes are there?

2. In how many ways can at least one tail be obtained?
3. In how many ways can at least two tails be obtained?
4. What is the probability of obtaining exactly one tail?

1. 32
2. 31
3. 26
4. 5/32

Q: Determine the coefficients for each of the terms in the expansion of (6x + 3y) cubed.

1. 216
2. 324
3. 162
4. 27
Q: The binomial (x + 6y) cubed will have four terms in its expansion. Give the coefficients
for the four terms in order from the term with the greatest power of x to the least power
of x.

1. 1
2. 18
3. 108
4. 216

Q: The binomial (x + 9y) cubed will have four terms in its expansion. Give the coefficients
for the four terms in order from the term with the greatest power of x to the least power
of x.

1. 1
2. 27
3. 243
4. 729

Q: Given this sequence 4,6,8,12,20, …, determine the next four terms in order.

1. 30
2. 42
3. 56
4. 72

Q: Given this sequence: 2, 3, 6, 15, 42 …, determine the next four terms in order.

1. 123
2. 366
3. 1095
4. 3282

Q: Given this sequence: 0, 1, 4, 11, 26, … determine the next four terms in order.

1. 57
2. 120
3. 247
4. 502

Q: Given this sequence: 6, 4, 04, -8, … determine the next four terms in order.

1. -24
2. -56
3. -120
4. -248