College Algebra Demystified [Paperback]

Rhonda Huettenmueller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0071439285 | ISBN-13: 978-0071439282 | Edition: 1

A BETTER WAY TO COLLEGE ALGEBRA X-PERTISE

One of the most valuable tools acquired in a university education, college algebra is essential for courses from the sciences to computing, engineering to mathematics. It can help you do better on placement exams, even before college, and it's useful in solving the computations of daily life. Now anyone with an interest in college algebra can master it. In College Algebra Demystified, entertaining author and experienced teacher Rhonda Huettenmueller breaks college algebra down into manageable bites with practical examples, real data, and a new approach that banishes algebra's mystery.

With College Algebra Demystified, you master the subject one simple step at a time—at your own speed. Unlike most books on college algebra, general concepts are presented first—and the details follow. In order to make the process as clear and simple as possible, long computations are presented in a logical, layered progression with just one execution per step.

This fast and easy self-teaching course will help you:

• Perform better on placement exams
• Avoid confusion with detailed examples and solutions that help you every step of the way
• Conquer the coordinate plane, lines and intercepts, parabolas, and nonlinear equations
• Get comfortable with functions, graphs of functions, logarithms, exponents, and more
• Master aspects of algebra that will help you with calculus, geometry, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, computing, and engineering
• Reinforce learning and pinpoint weaknesses with questions at the end of every chapter, and a final at the end of the book

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rhonda Huettenmueller (Sanger, TX) has taught mathematics at the college level for over 14 years. Popular with students for her ability to make higher math understandable and even enjoyable, she incorporates many of her teaching techniques in this book. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of North Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (June 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071439285
• ISBN-13: 978-0071439282
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rhonda Huettenmueller has taught mathematics at the college level for over 10 years. Popular with students for her ability to make higher math understandable and even enjoyable, she incorporates many of her teaching techniques in this book. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of North Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best purchase I have ever made!, February 4, 2006

By 

David K. Loving (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: College Algebra Demystified (Paperback)

I was lucky enough to have the writer of this book as my instructor for college alegbra. The math department here requires the course to be taught with a very poorly-written book that often jumps around and expects you to know things that it doesn't cover until later chapters, skips many steps in solving example problems expecting you to figure them out yourself, and is extremely difficult to read. I have severe adult ADD and I can rarely remember to pay attention in class and, I was struggling because not only did I find myself missing major parts of her lecture and having to fill in the gaps with the terrible required textbook and a reading disability but, it had also been 6 years since I last took any form of math. I was badly in need of a supplement and set out to my local major bookstore chain to grab some Starbucks and peruse the math books. I finally came upon Dr. Huettenmueller's book after having carefully looked through every other book in the store. All of the other books that I had found seemed to either insifficiently cover the material I was struggling with or they were very difficult to understand (very often both). I had actually given up on my search when I was walking out and happened to spot College Algebra Demystified. I didn't really have great hopes for it as all of the other books had failed me but, I figured I should at least take a quick look. As soon as I cracked it open I realized that this was the perfect book for me.

This book explains things in a very clear, logical manner. If you read the book and follow the examples that she works for you then by the time you get to the practice problems you should whizz right through them. However, even if you get stuck her explainations of the solution should get you back on track in no time. The book was extremely easy to read even for someone who normally reads at a pace of about 1 page per 13 minutes. The book is full of examples complete with graphs, equations, and and explainations that you will find easy to follow along with however, one of the greatest resources is the final exam at the end. Taking this short practice exam will very quickly help you identify anything that you have forgotten and you should be able to flip back through the book to get up to speed in only a few moments. The night before the final when it comes down to crunch time this book will save you a lot of wasted time and effort by taking you through all of the material neccesary to succede in a concise but effective manner.

So, how did I do in the class? I reviewed with this book up to the moment she started handing out the final exam. I missed only a single problem on the lengthy department final and, after miserably failed the placement exam on the first day of class, I finished the course with a magnificent A.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you're going to buy Pre-Calculus....., January 2, 2008

By 

YSS127 (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: College Algebra Demystified (Paperback)

I felt this book was written with clarity.
Much of it was a review for a subject that I had studied years ago and had forgotten. Its written much better than the book I had back then.

However if you intend to purchase "Pre-Calculus" by the same author, buy that book and by-pass this book. Most of the material is duplicated in "Pre-Calculus" plus the additional material you will need for calculus.

Pre-Calculus is also a well written book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Book to Refresh the Memory, April 19, 2007

By 

Clifford "A yogic practitioner" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: College Algebra Demystified (Paperback)

I plan to become a high school math tutor. I took algebra over 30 years ago and forgot a lot. I used this book as a refresher course and ended up liking it very much. The topics were presented in a very clear and understandable way. One excellent feature was how the author gave step-by-step solutions to all of the homework problems. When doing math problems, it can be very frustrating to find that an answer is wrong and then try to find the error. With this book, one could quickly find the error by checking the author's solutions. In my case, I found out that many of my errors were due to careless mistakes and I have to work slowly and be careful. Also, the amount and difficulty of the work problems were just right. It was enough that after finishing the book, one could feel competent with the subject matter. The author is said to be a popular teacher. I agree. Anyone who writes a such very user-friendly book has to be. A definite five-star book.