Customer Reviews

501 Algebra Questions

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The detailed solutions are full of errors, many more than mentioned in the previous review. I pity the beginner that tries to learn from the solutions.

Avoid this book, it is not a good practice or study guide.

This book is rife with errors. A few examples: page 25 has an error in the fourth example to demonstrate the distributive property of multiplication. Problems 131 and 134 are the same (making it 500 Algebra Questions). A variable is missing from problem 135. A symbol is missing from problem 211. Problems 205, 214, and 221 have = signs as a solution to an INEQUALITY. Problem 243 has a solid line in the solution (should be dotted). Missing parentheses in problems 270 and 272. Improper use of the distributive property in solution for problem 306 (either that, or the parentheses are incorrectly placed-hard to tell their intent). Etc...etc...etc...

It is well organized and would have been a great way to review the subject, if the editing wasn't lacking. If they fix the errors and reprint the book, it might be a great tool to use to learn the subject as well as review it. Until then, avoid this book unless you are already comfortable with the subject.

If you look at my review history, you might ask: why would I be working on basic algebra?

Well, I need to practice the basic manipulations in order to do well on the GRE's which I plan to take, as well as brush up on the basics before I take up advanced calculus, probability, statistics, etc. I noticed I made many idiotic errors when doing the problems in this book.

There are a lot of outlines for algebra, but this was what I wanted--a brief outline of the manipulations, with lots of practice. I now know where I'm making my errors. Factoring was my particular weak spot. But with the explanations here, it makes much more sense.

But how can I give this 4 stars, even though some say the solutions have erros?

It is true, some solutions do have printing errors in them (I'd say maybe 5% of all problems). But the explanation of the basic manipulations is better than I've seen in other books.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND a visit to the free site www.algebrahelp.com, if you think some of the solutions in the book are wrong. I wish this site was around when I was learning this stuff--the calculators are wonderful, and cover every topic in this book.

This book, combined with the website above, should help you, or your child, master the essential skills in algebra.

This book gives additional exercises in each topic. My 12- yr old found it helpful.

I'm a parent of middle school kids and have looked at dozens of Algebra prep books and this is the best. Each chapter has basic explanations, then 25 problems in increasing difficulty. Then turn the page and each problem is worked out step by step. Kids who can basically "get" algebra, don't need a lot of explanation, and can learn from worked-out solutions could blow through this book and be very solid in a very short time.