Mary Jane Sterling

Mary Jane Sterling (Peoria, Illinois) is the author of Algebra I For Dummies, Algebra Workbook For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, Algebra II Workbook For Dummies, and many other For Dummies books. She taught at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for more than 30 years, teaching algebra, business calculus, geometry, and finite mathematics.

Articles & Books From Mary Jane Sterling

Article / Updated 05-30-2024
A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers. Each row has the same number of elements, and each column has the same number of elements. Matrices can be classified as: square, identity, zero, column, and so on.Where did matrices come from? For most of their history, they were called arrays. There are references to arrays in Chinese, French, Italian, and many other mathematical works going back many hundreds of years.
Pre-Calculus All-in-One For Dummies
The easy way to understand and retain all the concepts taught in pre-calculus classes Pre-Calculus All-in-One For Dummies is a great resource if you want to do you best in Pre-Calculus. Packed with lessons, examples, and practice problems in the book, plus extra chapter quizzes online, it gives you absolutely everything you need to succeed in pre-calc.
Article / Updated 08-28-2023
When you want to count up how many things are in a set, you have quite a few options. When the set contains too many elements to count accurately, you look for some sort of pattern or rule to help out. Here, you practice the multiplication property. If you can do task one in m1 ways, task two in m2 ways, task three in m3 ways, and so on, then you can perform all the tasks in a total of m1 · m2 · m3 .
Article / Updated 07-05-2023
In algebra, an improper fraction is one where the numerator (the number on the top of the fraction) has a value greater than or equal to the denominator (the number on the bottom of the fraction) — the fraction is top heavy.Improper fractions can be written as mixed numbers or whole numbers — and vice versa. For example, Practice questions Change the mixed numberto an improper fraction.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 06-22-2023
Here it is. You have this All-in-One reference for concepts and formulas occurring in Algebra II. The material here is grouped by general algebraic content to make it easier to find what you need. The formulas have the standard mathematical format with variables appearing as x, y, and z and the constant numbers appearing as letters at the beginning of the alphabet.
Article / Updated 06-05-2023
In algebra, the distributive property is used to perform an operation on each of the terms within a grouping symbol. The following rules show distributing multiplication over addition and distributing multiplication over subtraction: Practice questions –3(x – 11) = ? Answers and explanations The correct answer is –3x + 33.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-09-2023
Trigonometry is the study of triangles, which contain angles, of course. Get to know some special rules for angles and various other important functions, definitions, and translations. Sines and cosines are two trig functions that factor heavily into any study of trigonometry; they have their own formulas and rules that you’ll want to understand if you plan to study trig for very long.
Algebra II All-in-One For Dummies
Every intermediate algebra lesson, example, and practice problem you need in a single, easy-to-use reference Algebra II can be a tough nut to crack when you first meet it. But with the right tools…well, she's still tough but she gets a heckuva lot easier to manage. In Algebra II All-in-One For Dummies you'll find your very own step-by-step roadmap to solving even the most challenging Algebra II problems, from conics and systems of equations to exponential and logarithmic functions.
Article / Updated 08-11-2022
Even though each trigonometry function is perfectly wonderful, being able to express each trig function in terms of one of the other five trig functions is frequently to your advantage. For example, you may have some sine terms in an expression that you want to express in terms of tangent, so that all the functions match, making it easier to solve the equation.
Article / Updated 08-10-2022
Even though each trigonometry function is perfectly wonderful, being able to express each trig function in terms of one of the other five trig functions is frequently to your advantage. For example, you may have some sine terms in an expression that you want to express in terms of cotangent, so that all the functions match, making it easier to solve the equation.