Year 9 Higher Maths Revision

Vocabulary flashcards covering the Year 9 Higher Maths curriculum for the assessment on Friday 17th July, including surds, prime factorisation, and recurring decimals.

Prime Factorisation (Including Index Form)

The process of writing a number as a product of its prime factors, often expressed using powers such as $2^3 \times 3 \times 5^2$.

HCF (Highest Common Factor)

The largest factor shared by two or more numbers, which can be found using their prime factorisations.

LCM (Lowest Common Multiple)

The smallest multiple shared by two or more numbers, which can be found using their prime factorisations.

Simplifying Surds

The process of rewriting a surd in the form $a\sqrt{b}$ by finding the largest square factor of the number under the root.

Adding & Subtracting Surds

The process of combining surds with the same value under the square root sign, treated similarly to collecting like terms in algebra.

Multiplying & Dividing Surds

Using the rules $\sqrt{a} \times \sqrt{b} = \sqrt{a \times b}$ and $\frac{\sqrt{a}}{\sqrt{b}} = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}}$ to simplify expressions.

Rationalising Denominators (Single Term)

Removing a surd from the denominator of a fraction by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by that surd.

Rationalising Denominators (Two Terms)

Removing surds from a denominator containing two terms (e.g., $a + \sqrt{b}$) by multiplying the numerator and denominator by the conjugate (e.g., $a - \sqrt{b}$).

Estimation

Finding an approximate answer to a calculation by rounding each number involved to one significant figure.

Change a Recurring Decimal to a Fraction

The algebraic process of converting a decimal with a repeating pattern of digits into its equivalent fraction form.

Change a Fraction to a Recurring Decimal

The process of dividing the numerator of a fraction by its denominator to produce a decimal with a cycle of repeating digits.