Lawrence Neff Stout
Professor of Mathematics
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, IL
Basic algebra is a native language of most mathematicians; many students don't speak it fluently. Fluency comes with many years of practice. This guide is intended to provide a refresher on some algebraic manipulations which arise often in calculus. It doesn't cover everything and it doesn't provide the practice you may need. I've included a subsection on common errors in each of the sections here- try to avoid the pitfalls I've identified.