Excerpt from Elementary Algebra In preparing a new algebra for secondary schools, the author has provided a new set of examples throughout the book. These examples have been selected and graded with great care. There are nearly four thousand of them, surely a sufficient number for practice in fixing in the minds of pupils the principles of elementary algebra. At the request of many teachers a sufficiently full treatise on graphs and several pages of exercises in physics have been introduced. The first chapter contains the necessary definitions and illustra tions of the commutative, associative, and distributive laws of algebra. This chapter should be read carefully at first, and later particular attention should be given to the principal definitions. The second chapter treats of simple equations and is designed to lead the beginner to see the advantages of algebraic methods before he encounters negative numbers. Only positive numbers are involved in the first two chapters, and the recognition of the fact that the true nature of subtraction is counting backward, and that the true nature of multiplication is forming the product from the multipli cand in the same way as the multiplier is formed from unity, leads to an easy explanation in the third chapter of all the elementary processes with negative numbers. All the rules of this chapter are illustrated and enforced by examples that involve simple algebraic expressions only. The more common Operations with compound expressions, including resolution into factors and the treatment of fractions, follow the third chapter. The immediate succession Of topics that require similar work is of the greatest importance to the beginner, and it is expected that the exercises in compound expressions will give sufficient practice in the use of symbols. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.