Computation and Financial Mathematics

Question 1

What can a x a be simplified to?

Answer 1

a*2

Question 2

What can a ÷ b be simplified to?

Answer 2

a/b

Question 3

What does the acronym BODMAS or BIDMAS stand for?

Answer 3

Bracket, Order (Index), Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract

Question 4

What does LCM stand for and what does it mean?

Answer 4

Lowest Common Multiple. The smallest multiple that is shared by two numbers.

Question 5

What does HCF stand for and what does it mean?

Answer 5

Highest Common Factor. Two numbers that share the largest factor.

Question 6

What are the two different numbers?

Answer 6

Composite (more than two factors) and Prime (factors only being 1 and itself)

Question 7

How are decimals rounded?

Answer 7

Decimal: locate the number after the decimal point after the specified number. If it is 4 or below, leave as is, if it is 5 and above round the number up by one.
eg. Round these numbers to 3 decimal places
a) 2.4573
2.457
b) 54.79092
54.791

Question 8

How are significant figures rounded?

Answer 8

Locate the FIRST non-zero number starting from the left. Replace any numbers after the given one as 0.
eg. Round these numbers to 4 significant figures
a) 28573
28570
b) 23.54256
23.54 (unless stated, the 0s aren’t necessary)
c) 0.00030059
0.0003006

Question 9

What are irrational numbers?

Answer 9

Numbers that could not be expressed as fractions. Well-known ones are π and √2.

Question 10

How are ratios used and how are they expressed?

Answer 10

Ratios are used to compare quantities with the same units. It is expressed using a colon (:) eg. a:b

Question 11

How do you use ratios?

Answer 11

Find the required parts, divide the amount by the total parts to find one part, and multiply one part by the required amount in question.
eg. $300 is to be divided into the ratio 2:3. Find the larger portion using the unitary method.
300/2+3
=300/5
=60
60 x 3
= 180
∴ (Therefore) the larger portion consists of $180

Question 12

How do you find a percentage of a quantity?

Answer 12

𝑥/100 x 𝑦
25 % of 60
25/100 x 60
= 15

Question 13

How do you calculate a percentage increase or decrease?

Answer 13

((Increase or decrease amount)/original amount) x 100%

Question 14

What does profit mean?

Answer 14

Amount of money made on the sale

Question 15

How do you calculate percentage profit?

Answer 15

% profit/loss = ((profit/loss)/cost price) x 100%

Question 16

What are wage earners?

Answer 16

Wage earners are paid a fixed rate per hour

Question 17

What are salary earners?

Answer 17

Salary earners are paid a fixed amount of money per year. This is often paid fortnightly or monthly.

Question 18

What is the simple interest formula?

Answer 18

I=PRN
I = amount of simple interest (in $)
P = principal amount borrowed or invested “
R = Interest rate per time period (fraction or decimal)
N = number of time periods