Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Familiarize with different mathematical symbols and their meaning
2. Identify and use symbols to write and read mathematical expressions
3. Evaluate mathematical expressions

Activity

Ask the members of your family what languages and dialect can they speak. Take note of the
results.

Processing

A country with different languages and dialects may have difficulty in communication among its
people so that, a national language is set by the government. The same way, Mathematics has a set of
symbols which are read and interpreted in a standard fashion. Without these set of symbols, evaluating
mathematical expressions may have different output.

Abstraction

I. The Language of Mathematics

MATHEMATICS

EXPRESSION
SENTENCE
(name given to mathematical object
of interest) (must state a complete thought)

NUMBER TRUE (T)

SET FALSE (F)

SOMETIMES TRUE/
FUNCTION SOMETIMES FALSE
(ST/SF)

MATRIX

ORDERED PAIR

CHARACTERISTICS OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

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Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

* Review in Algebra:

REAL NUMBER SYSTEM

PROPERTIES OF REAL NUMBERS

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Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

II. EXPRESSIONS VS SENTENCES

MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION
- is a finite combination of symbols that is well-formed according to rules that depend on the
context. Mathematical symbols can designate numbers
(constants), variables, operations, functions, brackets, punctuation, and grouping to help
determine order of operations, and other aspects of logical syntax.
- EXAMPLES: Ordered Triple, Matrix, Function, Set
MATHEMATICAL SENTENCE
- mathematical statements which may either be true or false but not both.
*REVIEW:
CARDINAL NUMBERS
- a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality (size) of sets.
ORDINAL NUMBER
- is a number that tells the position of something in a list, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc.
NOMINAL NUMBERS
- or categorical numbers are numeric codes, meaning numerals used for labelling or
identification only. The values of the numerals are irrelevant, and they do not indicate
quantity, rank, or any other measurement.

III. UNARY AND BINARY OPERATIONS

UNARY OPERATION
- is an operation with only one operand
- Common notations are prefix notation (e.g. +, −, ¬), postfix notation (e.g. factorial n!),
functional notation (e.g. sin x or sin(x)), and superscripts (e.g. transpose AT). Other notations
exist as well. For example, in the case of the square root, a horizontal bar extending the
square root sign over the argument can indicate the extent of the argument.
BINARY OPERATION
- on a set is a calculation that combines two elements of the set (called operands) to produce
another element of the set.

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Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

PROPERTIES OF BINARY OPERATIONS (ADDITION AND MULTIPLICATION)

1. CLOSURE OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- A set has closure under an operation if performance of that operation on members of the set
always produces a member of the same set; in this case we also say that the set
is closed under the operation.
2. COMMUTATIVITY OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- changing the order of the operands does not change the result.
3. ASSOCIATIVITY OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- Within an expression containing two or more occurrences in a row of the same associative
operator, the order in which the operations are performed does not matter as long as the
sequence of the operands is not changed.
4. DISTRIBUTIVITY OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- To multiply a sum (or difference) by a factor, each summand (or minuend and subtrahend) is
multiplied by this factor and the resulting products are added (or subtracted).
5. IDENTITY ELEMENTS OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- when an identity element is paired with any element via the operation, it returns that element.
6. INVERSES OF BINARY OPERATIONS
- a+(−a)=0=e+ and (−a)+a=0=e+
IV. SOME FUNDAMENTALS OF LOGIC
PROPOSITION
- a statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or opinion.
TRUTH TABLE
- a mathematical table which sets out the functional values of logical expressions on each of
their functional arguments, that is, for each combination of values taken by their logical
variables. In particular, truth tables can be used to show whether a propositional expression is
true for all legitimate input values, that is, logically valid.

NEGATION
- is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written (¬P), which
is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and false when P is true.

LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
- a symbol or word used to connect two or more sentences (of either a formal or a natural
language) in a grammatically valid way, such that the value of the compound sentence
produced depends only on that of the original sentences and on the meaning of the
connective.
Word Connective Symbo Logical
l gate
and conjunction "∧" AND
and then conjunction "∧" AND
and then within conjunction "∧" AND
or disjunction "∨" OR
either...or exclusive disjunction "⊻" XOR
either, but not both exclusive disjunction "⊻" XOR
implies material implication "→"
is implied by converse implication "←"
if...then material implication "→"
...if converse implication "←"
if and only if biconditional "↔" XNOR
only if converse implication "←"
just in case biconditional "↔" XNOR
but conjunction "∧" AND
however conjunction "∧" AND
not both alternative denial "|" NAND
neither...nor joint denial "↓" NOR
not negation "¬" NOT
it is false that negation "¬" NOT
it is not the case that negation "¬" NOT
although conjunction "∧" AND

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Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

even though conjunction "∧" AND

therefore material implication "→"
so material implication "→"
that is to say biconditional "↔" XNOR
furthermore conjunction "∧" AND
but not material nonimplication "↛"
not...but converse nonimplication "↚"
no...without material implication "→"
without...there is no converse implication "←"

IMPLICATION
- is a logical operation. It is the relationship between statements that holds true when one
logically "follows from" one or more others.

Iff (if and only if)

- is a "biconditional statement". It means both conditions must hold (be true) for the statement
to be true. It is often called a necessary and sufficient condition.

CONVERSE, INVERSE, AND CONTRAPOSITIVE

To form the converse of the conditional statement, interchange the hypothesis and the
conclusion.
The converse of "If it rains, then they cancel school" is "If they cancel school, then it
rains."
To form the inverse of the conditional statement, take the negation of both the hypothesis and
the conclusion.
The inverse of “If it rains, then they cancel school” is “If it does not rain, then they do
not cancel school.”
To form the contrapositive of the conditional statement, interchange the hypothesis and the
conclusion of the inverse statement.
The contrapositive of "If it rains, then they cancel school" is "If they do not cancel
school, then it does not rain."
Statement If p , then q .
Converse If q , then p .
Inverse If not p , then notq .
Contrapositive If not q , then notp .

QUANTIFICATION
- specifies the quantity of specimens in the domain of discourse that satisfy an open formula.
The two most common quantifiers mean "for all" and "there exists"

TYPES OF QUANTIFIERS
1. UNIVERSAL QUANTIFIER
- denoted by the turned A (∀) logical operator symbol
- a logical constant which is interpreted as "given any" or "for all"
2. EXISTENTIAL QUANTIFIERS
- denoted by the logical operator symbol ∃
- interpreted as "there exists", "there is at least one", or "for some"

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Mathematics in the Modern World Chapter 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

COMPOUND QUANTIFIERS
- ∀x ∃y [x<y]
- ∃y ∀x [x<y]

Assessment Tasks

1. Translate each of the following sentences using mathematical symbols:

a. The values of x range from -10 to +4
b. The cube root of a number is positive
c. 3 is an odd number
d. 2 is an even number
e. The cube of the sum of x and y is less than 9

2. Write the following statements using logical symbols:

Let P: The meat is half-cooked
Q: It is reddish in color
R: The meat is moist and tender

a. If the meat is half-cooked then it is reddish in color.

b. It is reddish in color and the meat is moist and tender.
c. The meat is moist and tender if and only if the meat is half-cooked
d. The meat is half-cooked or it is reddish in color.
e. The meat is moist and tender if and only if the meat is half-cooked and it is reddish in color.

3. Label the propositions with capital letters P, Q, or R then express each compound sentence using
logical symbols:
a. If x is an even number then x+2 is an even number.
b. Polygon ABCD is a square if and only if a=b=c=d.
c. If a > b, and b > c, then a > c.

4. Write down the converse, inverse, and contrapositive of the ff implications:

a. If the year 2020 is a leap year, then there is an extra day for that year.
b. If x is more than or equal to zero, then it is an integer.
c. If x is the length of a plank, then it is a positive number.

References:

Adam, J. A. (2003), Mathematics in Nature: Modeling Patterns in the Natural World., Princeton
University Press, New Jersey.

Baltazar, et. al (2018), Mathematics in the Modern World., C&E Publishing, Inc., Quezon City

Johnson, D. (2012), Mathematics: A Practical Odyssey, 7e. Brookes/Cole Cengage Learning, USA.

Smith, K.J. (2010), The Nature of Mathematics 12 th ed., Santa Rosa Junior College, Brookes/Cole
Cengage Learning, USA.

Stewart, I. ( 1995), Nature’s Numbers: The Unreal Reality of Mathematics, Basic Books, New York

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