Glossary

Glossary
The Glossary defines all vocabulary words indicated in this unit. It includes the mathematical terms that may be new to students, as well as words having to do with the contexts introduced in the unit. (Note: The Student Book has no Glossary. Instead, students are encouraged to construct their own definitions, based on their personal experiences with the unit activities.) The definitions below are specific for the use of the terms in this unit. The page numbers given are from the Student Book.

mantissa (p. 9) the decimal part of scientific

notation, equal to or greater than 1 and less than 10. The characteristic is the exponent portion of scientific notation.

mixed number (p. 31) the sum of a whole

number and a fraction

natural number (p. 45) any of the numbers

1, 2, 3, and so on, which are also called the counting numbers

algorithm (p. 27) a predetermined set of rules

used to perform computations

rate (p. 2) the ratio of two different measuring

units, written as a single number

associative property (p. 41) of addition:

a (b c) ( a b) c, of multiplication: a (b c) ( a b) c

real number (p. 51) a rational or irrational

number

rational number (p. 50) a number that can

be expressed as a fraction integers and b is not zero
a _ _ b,

arrow language (p. 18) a way of writing a series

of operations with input at one side of the arrow, and output at the other side; the operation to be performed is indicated by the arrow

where a and b are

scientific notation (p. 9) a mathematical

notation in which numbers are expressed as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of ten with a positive or negative exponent

average speed (p. 1) the speed required to

move between two points during a given period of time, often calculated as distance time

commutative property (p. 40) of addition: a b b a, of multiplication: a b b a dilute (p. 17) to decrease the concentration of
one liquid by mixing it with another liquid (usually water)

square root (p. 50) a factor of a number that when multiplied by itself gives the number whole number (p. 45) any of the natural numbers and zero: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on

distributive property (p. 40) of multiplication

over addition: a (b c) a b a c ; of multiplication over subtraction: a (b c) abac

exponent (p. 19T) a number written above and

to the right of another number to indicate the operation of raising to a power; a number indicating how many times the base is multiplied by itself

integer (p. 46) any of the natural numbers, the

negatives of these numbers, or zero

irrational number (p. 50) a number that cannot

be written in the form and b is not zero
a _ _ b,

where a and b are integers

76

Revisiting Numbers

Glossary