A rational number (or fraction) is represented as a ratio between two integers, a and b, and has the form \({a \over b}\) where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. An improper fraction (\({5 \over 3} \)) has a numerator with a greater absolute value than the denominator and can be converted into a mixed number (\(1 {2 \over 3} \)) which has a whole number part and a fractional part.

The commutative property states that, when adding or multiplying numbers, the order in which they're added or multiplied does not matter. For example, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 give the same result, as do 3 x 4 and 4 x 3.

Calculate the number of vans needed by dividing the number of people that need transported by the capacity of one van:

vans = \( \frac{77}{14} \) = 5\(\frac{1}{2}\)

So, it will take 5 full vans and one partially full van to transport the entire team making a total of 6 vans.

To multiply fractions, multiply the numerators together and then multiply the denominators together:

\( \frac{3}{7} \) x \( \frac{4}{5} \) = \( \frac{3 x 4}{7 x 5} \) = \( \frac{12}{35} \) = \(\frac{12}{35}\)

To add or subtract terms with exponents, both the base and the exponent must be the same. In this case they are so add the coefficients and retain the base and exponent:

1z² + 8z²
(1 + 8)z²
9z²