Introduction to Basic Algebra

Algebra is a branch of mathematics which was originated by an early Muslim mathematician named Muhammad Bin Musa Al-Khwarizmi.

He wrote a book on algebra called “Al Jabar-wa-Al-Muqabalah”. The word algebra is taken from the title of this book, “Al Jabar”. In arithmetic we deal with specific numbers $$ \ldots , – 3, – 2, – 1,0,1,2,3, \ldots $$ while in algebra we deal with numbers as well as letters of the alphabet $$a,b,c, \ldots ,x,y,z, \ldots $$, where alphabets represent unspecified numbers. The same basic operations of arithmetic $$ + , – , \times , \div $$ are also used in algebra.