SymbolsinAlgebra

Common Symbols Used in Algebra

Symbolssavetimeandspacewhenwriting.Herearethemostcommonalgebraicsymbols:

Symbol Meaning Example

+ add 3+7=10

subtract 52=3

multiply 43=12

multiply(so""doesnotlooklike"x") 43=12

/ divide 20/5=4

squareroot("radical") 4=2

cuberoot

nthroot

() groupingsymbols(roundbrackets) 2(a3)

[] groupingsymbols(squarebrackets) 2[a3(b+c)]

{} setsymbols(curlybrackets) {1,2,3}

= equals 1+1=2

approximatelyequalto 3.14

notequalto 2
< lessthan,lessthanorequalto 2<3

> greaterthan,greaterthanorequalto 5>1

implies(if...then) aandbareodd a+biseven

"ifandonlyif"oriffor"isequivalentto" x=y+1 y=x1

Therefore a=b b=a

! Factorial 4!=4321=24
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 SetSymbols
A set isacollectionofthings,usuallynumbers.Wecanlisteachelement(or"member")ofa
setinsidecurlybracketslikethis:

Common Symbols Used in Set Theory

Symbolssavetimeandspacewhenwriting.Herearethemostcommonsetsymbols

IntheexamplesC={1,2,3,4}andD={3,4,5}

Symbol Meaning Example

{} Set:acollectionofelements {1,2,3,4}

AB Union:inAorB(orboth) CD={1,2,3,4,5}

AB Intersection:inbothAandB CD={3,4}

AB Subset:Ahassome(orall)elementsofB {3,4,5}D

AB ProperSubset:AhassomeelementsofB {3,5}D

AB NotaSubset:AisnotasubsetofB {1,6} C

AB Superset:AhassameelementsasB,ormore {1,2,3} {1,2,3}

AB ProperSuperset:AhasB'selementsandmore {1,2,3,4} {1,2,3}

AB NotaSuperset:AisnotasupersetofB {1,2,6}{1,9}

Dc ={1,2,6,7}
Ac Complement:elementsnotinA
When ={1,2,3,4,5,6,7}

AB Difference:inAbutnotinB {1,2,3,4}{3,4}={1,2}

aA Elementof:aisinA 3{1,2,3,4}

bA Notelementof:bisnotinA 6{1,2,3,4}
 Emptyset={} {1,2}{3,4}=

UniversalSet:setofallpossiblevalues

(intheareaofinterest)

P({1,2})={{},{1},{2},
P(A) PowerSet:allsubsetsofA
{1,2}}

A=B Equality:bothsetshavethesamemembers {3,4,5}={3,4,5}

CartesianProduct:setoforderedpairsfromA {1,2}{3,4}
AB
andB ={(1,3),(1,4),(2,3),(2,4)}

|A| Cardinality:thenumberofelementsofsetA |{3,4}|=2

| Suchthat {n|n>0}={1,2,3,...}

: Suchthat {n:n>0}={1,2,3,...}

ForAll x>1,x2>x

ThereExists x|x2>x

Therefore a=bb=a

NaturalNumbers {1,2,3,...}or{0,1,2,3,...}

Integers {...,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,...}

RationalNumbers

AlgebraicNumbers

RealNumbers

ImaginaryNumbers 3i

ComplexNumbers 2+5i

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