MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

IMPORTANCE OF LANGUA GE

 Language facilitates communication and clarifies meaning.

 It allows people to express themselves and maintains their identity.
 Language bridges the gap among people from varying origins and culture without
prejudice to their background and upbringing.

SECTION 2.1:

THE LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS

Characteristics of the Mathematics language

Mathematics language is:

 Precise, it is able to make very fine distinctions or definitions.
 Concise, if someone can say things in long expositions or sentences, a
mathematician can say it briefly.
 Powerful i.e., one can express complex thoughts with relative ease.

MATHEMATICS HAS SYMB OLS

 That only those who study it understand these symbols.
 Some of these symbols are

 , , , , , ,  ,, , , 
FOR EXAMPLE
“The sum of any two real numbers is also a real number”.

 a,b,a b 
MEANING OF SOME MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS

, the sum of , if- and- only- if

, there exists , or

, for every or for any , and

, element of or member of , infinity

, not an element of or not a member N, set of natural numbers

of
, set of natural numbers
, subset
, set of real numbers
, if-then

MATHEMATICS DESCRIBE S
 The real world
 Abstract structures

MATHEMATICS IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE

 sciences,  architecture,
 business,  the arts,
 economics,  even politics
 music,

Mathematics since is a universal

language. It is the common language of
the world.
 SECTION 2.2 EXPRESSIONS VS. SENTENCES

 A sentence must contain a complete thought.

 A mathematical sentence must state a complete thought as well.

 An expression is a name given to a mathematical object of interest. “1+2” is a

mathematical expression but is not a mathematical sentence.

TRUTH OF SENTENCES
• Mathematical sentences may either be true, false, and sometimes true/false

Examples:

1. 𝑥2 + 2𝑥 = 𝑥 (𝑥 + 2)
2. 𝑥 + 2 < 𝑥 − 3
3. 𝑓 (2) = 3

EXAMPLES OF MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS:

 An ordered pair (a,b)

1 4
𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 [ ]
−2 3
 A function f(x)
 The set {1,3,5}

EXPRESSIONS IN MATHE MATICS

 3
 F(x)
 𝑎2 + 𝑏2
 {3}
 The sum of A and B
A+B
SENTENCE IN MATHEMAT ICS
 The sum of 2 & 3 is 5
 10 < -15
 2 ∈ {1, 2, 3}
 {2} ⊆ {1, 2, 3}
 {2} ∈ {1, 2, 3}

TRUTH OF SENTENCES
 Mathematical sentences may either be true, or false.

Example 1
Write as English sentences and say whether they are true or false.

a.x   ,x2  0
b. x, y   ,(x + y)2 =x2 + 2xy + y2
c. m, n  Z, m  n   m + n
d.  a ,b  Q, ab= 0 a 0  b 0

EXAMPLE 2
Write as mathematical sentences. Discuss how the word “is” is used.

a) 10 is the square root of 100.

b) 10 is greater than 9.
c) 10 is an even number.
d) 10 is a multiple of 5.

REMARKS
Numbers may be used as Examples of nominal numbers are:

 cardinal numbers (used for The number at the back of the Michael
counting) Jordan is “23”.
 ordinal number (shows order) The postal zip code of Marilao is 3019.
 nominal number (used as name) The name of the shop is “680”
SECTION 2.3 UNARY AN D BINARY OPERATIONS

 A unary operation accepts only one value or operand.

 The plus and the minus signs before a number may not mean addition or
subtraction. It is read as positive and negative signs. When written this way they
are called unary operations.

EXAMPLES OF UNARY OPERATIONS

 -5
 Sin x
 Cos 450
 Tan π/3

BINARY OPERATIONS
 The plus sign between 2 and 3 is addition in 2+3=5 is a binary operation.
 Take two real numbers perform an operation on them and produce another real
number. Here you are performing binary operation on the two numbers.
 If we let multiplication (X) denote a binary operation, then 4 X 6 = 24 is a real
number.

EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPERATIONS

Addition (e.g. 4 + 5 = 9).

Subtraction (e.g. 10 – 8 = 2).
Multiplication (e.g. 2*5=15)
Division (e.g. 10/5=2)