College Algebra with Trigonometry

This text is written for the combined college algebra and trigonometry course at the freshman level. The first two chapters furnish a review of fundamental topics from intermediate algebra that is presented so it can be covered thoroughly, briefly reviewed, or skipped completely, depending on the needs of the students. Trigonometry is covered in Chapters 7-9 and is introduced through the right-triangle approach in Sec. 7. 1. The emphasis of the text is to help students think critically and to discover how algebra applies to the world around them. In order to make the material more relevant, an abundance of applications can be found in the examples as well as the exercises sets. A full-colour design highlights key equations, rules and procedures for problem solving. The colour of a graph corresponds to the colour of its equation so students can clearly distinguish between the graphs of more than one equations, The authors' treatment of functions is unusually rich in applications. Inverse functions (Sec. 4.6) are introduced after conic sections so that students will have had more experience with graphing and can more easily visualise this concept.
In response to the AMATYC and MAA guidelines and the NCTM standards, several features involving writing, critical thinking, discussion, exploration and technology appear in College Algebra with Trigonometry. Notes discussing the usefulness of technology can be found in the margins at appropriate points to invite further exploration. Graphing calculator exercises appear throughout the problem sets. These exercises, which are noted with an icon, encourage the student to interpret what they are seeing on the calculator. Every chapter opens with a brief discussion of the significance of the material in the chapter and how it can be applied. Each chapter closes with a feature entitled ENCORE which is an interesting example that illustrates the chapter. These features help students appreciate the connection of mathematics, specifically algebra, to the real world.