CLARENDON COLLEGE, INC.

Roxas, Oriental Mindoro

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Subject Mathematics in the Modern World

Lecturer GILBERT E. GONZALES
Module No. and Title Module 2 – Language of Mathematics

Many people who profess love for mathematics would take pride in their greater affinity with numbers than
letters. While it is true that numbers predominate over mathematical processes, different words and symbols are just as
important in conveying mathematical expressions. In fact, together with numbers, they form what is called "the
language of mathematics." It has its own sort of vocabulary, terminology, jargon, and even grammar (in the form of
notation and formulas). This unique language provides mathematics with ways to describe the real world and abstract
structure, as well as solving complex mathematical problems that cannot be expressed by numbers alone.

In this chapter, we will see that the language of mathematics consists of particular expressions and symbols that
are unique to the discipline. We will also discuss sets, functions, and relations to make sense of many terms used in the
mathematical sentences. We will see that like learning a new language, speaking (and reading) the language of
mathematics involves adhering to a set of conventions and rules of logic and syntax.
The ABCs of the Mathematical Language

Language of Science

Most people think that Mathematics is a tool to do calculations and solve problems, and so regard it as a
science.

“If a, b, and c are real numbers, and a< b, then a+ c< b+c .”

The above sentences use typical mathematical words and symbols such as “real numbers” and “<.” The sentence
communicates a property of real numbers called the Addition Property of Inequality. Because it is used to convey ideas,
mathematics is also a language.
Mathematical Expressions versus Mathematical Sentences

Like any language, mathematics is used to convey an idea or thought. In the English language, phrases and
sentences are used in communication. In her article, One Mathematical Cat, Please!, Dr. Carol Burns Fisher says that a
"mathematical expression" is the equivalent of a "phrase" in English and a "mathematical sentence" is the equivalent of
"sentence" in English.

Mathematical Expression Mathematical Sentence

1+2+3 1+2+3=6
the set of all natural numbers The set of natural numbers is
x2 closed under addition
x 2> 0
Characteristics of Mathematical Language

According to the article "The Language of Mathematics" by C. Burns, there are three important characteristics of
mathematical language: precise, concise, and powerful.
Sets, Relations, and Functions
 
Sets
A set is a well-defined collection of objects. It is usually denoted by capital letters. Here, "well defined" means
that an object can be objectively classified whether it belongs to the collection or not. The objects which belong to a set
are called its elements.
 
Relations
Consider the diagram which shows names of people and some dialects in the Philippines. An arrow indicates
that a person speaks the particular dialect pointed at by the arrow.

The diagram illustrates a mathematical

idea called a relation.

Functions

As a set of ordered pairs, a function from a set A to a set B is a relation from A to B such that each element
of A is assigned to a unique element of B. A function can also be given by an equation in two variables, the
variable vis called the dependent variable and the variable x is called the independent variable.

The Elementary Logic

A statement may either be true (T) or false (F). This is known as the statement’s truth value. Thus, statements P
and Q below have truth value T, while statement S has truth value F.

Statement Not a Statement

P: The Capital Gate tower is in Abu Dhabi What time is our flight?
Q: November 30 is a Philippine holiday Pass the hat.
S: 16−9 ∙2=14 Oh no!

Propositional Calculus
 A proposition is a complete declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both. All of the following
statements are propositions:

a. Manila is the capital of the Philippines.

b. Shanghai is the capital of China.
c. 1+1=2
d. 2+2=3
Propositions (a) and (c) are true while propositions (b) and (d) are false.

Consider the following sentences:

a. Is it time?
b. Pay attention to this.
c. x +1=2
d. x + y=z
Sentences (a) and (b) are not propositions because they are not declarative sentences or statements. Likewise,
sentences (c) and (d) are not propositions because they are neither true nor false, since the variables in these sentences
have no assigned values yet.

If a proposition p is true, its truth value is true, denoted by T. If it is false, its truth value is false, denoted by F.

Connectives and Compound Propositions

A propositional connective is an operation that combines two propositions to yield a new one whose truth value
depends only on the truth values of the two original propositions. Propositions built up by combining propositions using
propositional connectives are called compound propositions.

The propositional connectives ∧, ∨, ⊕, ⇒, and ⇔ (called conjunction, disjunction, exclusive or, implication, and
biconditional, respectively) are defined by the following truth tables.

P q p ∧q p ∨q p⊕q p ⇒q p ⇔q

T T T T F T T

T F F T T F F

F T F T T T F

F F F F F T T

The connective ∨ is a symbol for or in the inclusive sense or “and/or” while ⊕ is a symbol for or in the exclusive sense of
“either but not both.”

Example:
Let p and q be the propositions “Today is Friday” and “It is raining today,” respectively. Find

a. p ∧q c. p ⇒ q
b. p ∨q d. p ⇔q
Solution:

a. p ∧q : “Today is Friday and it is raining today.”

b. p ∨q : “Today is Friday or it is raining today.”
c. p ⇒ q : “If today is Friday, then it is raining today.”
d. p ⇔q : “Today is Friday if and only if it is raining today.”

If p is a proposition, the expression ¬ p is defined as a new proposition with the following truth table:

The expression ¬ p is read as “not p”. The symbol ¬ is called the negation connective. It
p ¬p
should be noted that ¬ is a unary rather than a binary connective.
T F Example:
Find the negation of the proposition “Today is Friday.”
F T
Solution:
“It is not the case that today is Friday,” or simply “Today is not Friday.”

Bit Operations

Bit is short for binary digit. Computers represent information using bits. A bit has two possible values, 0 and 1,
which represent a truth value. 1 will be used to represent T and 0 will be used to represent F .
Computer bit operations also correspond to the propositional connectives. By replacing T by 1 and F by 0 in the
truth tables for ∧, ∨, and ⊕, the following tables are derived for the bit operations ¿, ¿, and XOR , respectively.

¿ 0 1 ¿ 0 1 XOR 0 1

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0

A bit string is a sequence of zero or more bits. The length of this string is the number of bits in the string.

Sample: 101001100 is a bit strength of length 9.

The bitwise OR, bitwise AND, and bitwise XOR of two strings of the same length are defined as the strings that
have as their bits the connectives OR, AND, and XOR of the corresponding bits in the two strings, respectively.

Example:

Consider the two bit strings 01101 10110 and 11000 11101. Find

a. bitwise ¿
b. bitwise ¿
c. bitwise XOR

Solution:

a. bitwise ¿: 1110111111
b. bitwise ¿: 01000 10100
c. bitwise XOR : 10101 01011
Tautology, Contradiction, and Contingency

A compound proposition that is always true, regardless of the truth values of the propositions that occur in it, is
called a tautology. A contradiction is a compound proposition that is always false while a contingency is neither a
tautology nor a contradiction.

Consider the compound propositions p ∧¬ p and p ¬p p ∨¬ p p ∧¬ p

p ∨¬ p. The compound proposition p ∨¬ p is a tautology T F T F
while p ∧¬ p is a contradiction. F T T F
The propositions p and q are logically equivalent if p ⇔q Is a tautology. It is denoted by the notation p ⇔q .

The following table contains some important logical equivalences. The symbol T refers to any proposition that is
true and F denotes any proposition that is false.

Logical Equivalence Name

p ∧T ⇔ p Identity laws
p∨F⇔ p
p ∨T ⇔ T Domination laws
p∧F⇔F
p∨ p⇔ p Idempotent laws
p∧ p⇔ p
¬(¬ p)⇔ p Double Negation laws
p ∨q ⇔ q ∨ p Commutative laws
p ∧q ⇔ q ∧ p
( p ∨q) ∨r ⇔ p ∨(q ∨ r) Associative laws
( p ∧q) ∧r ⇔ p ∧(q ∧ r)
p ∨(q ∧r )⇔( p ∨ q)∧( p ∨r ) Distributive laws
p ∧(q ∨r )⇔( p ∧ q)∨( p ∧r )
¬( p ∧q) ⇔¬ p ∨¬ q De Morgan’s law
¬( p ∨q) ⇔¬ p ∧¬ q
Implications

In an implication of the form p ⇒q , the proposition p is called the hypothesis (or the antecedent) and the
proposition q is called the conclusion (or the consequence).

The proposition q ⇒ p is called the converse of p ⇒q ;¬ p ⇒ ¬ q is called the inverse of p ⇒q ; and ¬ q ⇒¬ p is

called the contrapositive of p ⇒q . An implication is always logically equivalent to its own contrapositive.

Example

Find the converse and the contrapositive of the implication “If today is Thursday, then I have a test today.”

Solution:

Converse: “If I have a test today, then today is Thursday.”

Contrapositive: “If I do not have a test today, then today is not Thursday.”