Bird's Basic Engineering Mathematics, 8th Edition

Author: John Bird

Published: March 2021

Now in its eighth edition, Bird’s Basic Engineering Mathematics has helped thousands of students to succeed in their exams. Mathematical theories are explained in a straightforward manner, supported by practical engineering examples and applications to ensure that readers can relate theory to practice. Some 1,000 engineering situations/problems have been ‘flagged-up’ to help demonstrate that engineering cannot be fully understood without a good knowledge of mathematics.

The extensive and thorough coverage makes this a great text for introductory level engineering courses – such as for aeronautical, construction, electrical, electronic, mechanical, manufacturing engineering and vehicle technology – including for BTEC First, National and Diploma syllabuses, City & Guilds Technician Certificate and Diploma syllabuses, and even for GCSE revision.

Its companion website provides extra materials for students and lecturers, including full solutions for all 1,700 further questions, lists of essential formulae, multiple choice tests, and illustrations, as well as full solutions to revision tests for course instructors.

Table of Contents

1. Basic arithmetic

2. Fractions

3. Decimals

4. Using a calculator

5. Percentages

6. Ratio and proportion

7. Powers, roots and laws of indices

8. Units, prefixes and engineering notation

9. Basic algebra

10. Further algebra

11. Solving simple equations

12. Transposing formulae

13. Solving simultaneous equations

14. Solving quadratic equations

15. Logarithms

16. Exponential functions

17. Straight line graphs

18. Graphs reducing non-linear laws to linear form

19. Graphical solution of equations

20. Graphs with logarithmic scales

21. Angles and triangles

22. Introduction to trigonometry

23. Trigonometric waveforms

24. Non-right angled triangles and some practical applications

25. Cartesian and polar co-ordinates

26. Areas of common shapes

27. The circle and its properties

28. Volumes and surface areas of common solids

29. Irregular areas and volumes and mean values

30. Vectors

31. Methods of adding alternating waveforms

32. Presentation of statistical data

33. Mean, median, mode and standard deviation

34. Probability

35. Introduction to differentiation

36. Standard integration

37. Number sequences

38. Binary, octal and hexadecimal

List of formulae

Answers to Practice Exercises