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Maths skills essential reading
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This document contains essential reading for the maths skills required for physics on this course.
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DistanceLearningCentre.comLEARNING MATERIALS
Subject: Physics
Unit: Mathematical skills for scientists
Topic 0: Mathematical skills for scientists
Level: 3
Essential reading
Mathematical skills in the sciences is important as they form part of the
subject especially in physics. You may already be familiar with many of the
concepts included in this file but a review of these will hopefully help you
complete some of the tasks in the units with more confidence and skill.
Recommended reading:
There is no recommended reading for this section although if you do find
you would like to review or read more about a certain topic area, GCSE
Bitesize website for Maths is a useful place to start.
Equipment:
You will need a scientific calculator for some of the activities in this
topic. The calculator we will discuss is the Casio scientific calculator
Casio FX-83 or FX85 as these are the most common one used. You
can buy these on line and they cost around £10.00. However, you can
use an online calculator – just make sure you are comfortable on how
it works.
Further resources:
Get to know your calculator - CASIO fx-83GT plus & similar
You only need to watch up to 1:22 mins
Display modes on your calculator from: 2:57- 3.52
Important points:
We do not expect you to go through the whole of this unit but rather,
you should use it as a help document if you find some of the maths
questions difficult or you need to brush up on your mathematical
skills. You can always review this document at any point of your
course.
© DistanceLearningCentre.com, 2022
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© DistanceLearningCentre.com, 2022
, Subject: Physics
Topic 0: Mathematical Skills for Science
Level: 3
LEARNING MATERIALS
Contents
Press CTRL/⌘ + Click in the contents list to go to the relevant page
Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
1. Arithmetic and numerical computation ............................................... 2
1.1 Recognise and use expressions in decimal form ..................................... 2
1.2 Recognise expressions in standard form ................................................. 3
1.3 Use ratios, fractions and percentages ...................................................... 4
1.3.1 Proportions................................................................................. 4
1.3.2 Fractions .................................................................................... 5
Convert a fraction to a decimal ......................................................................... 5
Convert a decimal to a fraction ......................................................................... 5
Calculate a fraction of a quantity ....................................................................... 6
Reciprocals ....................................................................................................... 6
1.3.3 Percentages ............................................................................... 7
Convert a percentage to a fraction .................................................................... 7
Convert a percentage to a decimal ................................................................... 7
Convert a fraction to a percentage .................................................................... 7
Calculating a percentage of an amount ............................................................. 8
Calculating percentages using a calculator ....................................................... 8
Percentage increase/decrease ......................................................................... 9
Using a multiplier .............................................................................................. 9
Finding the original amount ............................................................................... 9
Using function machines ................................................................................... 9
Percentage change ......................................................................................... 10
1.3.4 Converting between fractions, decimals and percentages ........ 11
Percentage to fraction to decimal .................................................................... 11
Decimal to percentage .................................................................................... 11
Percentage to decimal .................................................................................... 11
Simple fractions to percentages ...................................................................... 11
Convert a fraction to a percentage .................................................................. 12
1.3.5 Ratios....................................................................................... 13
Simplifying ratios............................................................................................. 13
Writing in the form 1 : n (sometimes called a unit ratio .................................... 13
Writing in the form n : 1 ................................................................................... 13
Comparing ratios ............................................................................................ 14
© DistanceLearningCentre.com, 2022
, Subject: Physics
Topic 0: Mathematical Skills for Science
Level: 3
LEARNING MATERIALS
Ratio and proportion ....................................................................................... 14
1.4 Powers and roots ................................................................................... 15
2. Handling Data ...................................................................................... 17
2.1 Use an appropriate number of significant figures ................................... 17
2.2 Mean, median and mode ....................................................................... 18
2.2.1 Mean ........................................................................................ 18
Calculating the mean from a frequency table .................................................. 18
Algebraic symbols ........................................................................................... 19
2.2.2 Median and quartiles ................................................................ 20
2.2.3 Mode ........................................................................................ 21
3. Algebra ................................................................................................. 22
3.1 Equations............................................................................................... 22
Solving simple algebraic equations ............................................................ 23
Equations you can use for physics ............................................................. 27
4. Geometry and trigonometry ............................................................... 31
4.1 Using Sine, Cosine and Tangent ........................................................... 31
Calculating Sine .............................................................................................. 32
Calculating Cosine .......................................................................................... 32
Calculating Tangent ........................................................................................ 32
Answers to SAQs ......................................................................................... 35
Sources and credits..................................................................................... 40
Sources for these learning materials ............................................................... 40
Image credits .................................................................................................. 40
© DistanceLearningCentre.com, 2022
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