Speaking Mathematically

Mathematics Languages and Symbols

“The laws of nature are written in the language of mathematics.” - Galileo Galilei
Importance of Language
 To understand the expressed ideas
 To communicate ideas to others

Characteristics of the Mathematics Language

 Precise (able to make very fine distinctions or definitions)
 Concise (able to say things briefly)
 Powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative ease)
The Grammar of Mathematics
 Structural rules governing the use of symbols representing mathematical objects
Difficulties
 The word “is” could mean equality, inequality, or membership in a set
 Different use of a number (cardinal, ordinal, nominal, ratio)
 Mathematical objects may be represented in many ways such as sets and functions.
 The words “and” and “or” mean differently in mathematics from its English use.
Difference between Expression and Statement
 Expression- the noun given to math object
Example:𝑥 + 5; sin 𝑥; log 𝑥
 Statement/ Sentence- states a complete thought
Example: 2𝑥 + 𝑦 = 6; 𝑋 > 5; 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛
Types of Mathematical Statements
1. Universal Statement – says that certain property is true for all elements in a set.
Example:
 All positive numbers are greater than zero
 For every 𝑥 ∈ ℝ , 𝑥 2 ≥ 0.

2. Conditional Statement – says that if one thing is true then something also has to be true.
Example:
 If 378 is divisible by 18, then 378 is divisible by 6.
 If 𝑥 is even, then 𝑥 is divisible by 2
3. Existential Statement – one which expresses the existence of at least one object (in particular
universe of discourse) which has a particular property.
Example:
 There is a prime number that is even.
 There exist a number 𝑥; 𝑥 2 + 4 = 13.

4. Universal Conditional Statements – a statement that is both universal and conditional.

Example:
 For all real number 𝑥, if 𝑥 is nonzero then 𝑥 2 is positive.
 For all integer 𝑛, if 𝑛2 is even then 𝑛 is even

5. Universal Existential Statements – a statement that is universal because its first part says that
a certain property is true for all objects of a given type, and existential because its second part
asserts the existence of something.
Example:
 For all nonzero number 𝑟, there is a number 𝑠 such that 𝑠 is the reciprocal of 𝑟.
 Every real number has an additive inverse.

6. Existential Universal Statements – a statement that is existential because its first part asserts
that a certain object exist and is universal because its second part says that the object satisfies
a certain property for all things.
Example:
 There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
 There exist a real number whose product with every real equals zero.

VARIABLES
Variable – a symbol, commonly a single letter that represents a number which is either arbitrary,
not fully specified or unknown.
- Using variable allows us to give a temporary name to what we’re seeking so that we
can perform concrete computations with it to help discover its possible values.
- Ensures that ambiguity is avoided.
Consider the statement below:
Is there a number with the following property: doubling it and adding 3 gives the same
result as squaring it?
Example: Writing English word to mathematical phrases using variables.
1. Twice a number less than six
2. Twice a number less six
3. Twice a number is less than six
4. The square of a number
5. The sum of square of two numbers
6. The square of sum of two numbers
7. A number more than ten
8. A number more ten
9. Six greater than a number
10. Six is greater than a number
11. One half of a number
12. Square root of five times a number
13. The product of a 5 and a number less three.

SETS
- a well-defined collection of distinct objects. It is said to be well-defined if it is possible
to determine whether a particular object belongs to a given set or not. The objects are called
members or elements of the set. Capital letters are used to denote a set while small letters are
used to denotes elements.
- If 𝑆 is a set, the notation 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆 means that 𝑥 is an element of 𝑆. The notation 𝑥 ∉ 𝑆
means that 𝑥 is not an element of 𝑆.

Two special type of Set

 Empty set or null set
 Universal set
Ways on describing a set
1. Roster method – done by listing the elements of the set.

2. Set builder method – done by stating or describing the common characteristics of the
elements of the set.

3. Real number line – done by plotting the points in the real number line.
SUBSET
If 𝐴 and 𝐵 are sets then 𝐴 is called a subset of 𝐵, written 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵, if and only if every
element of 𝐴 is also an element of 𝐵. Symbolically
𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵 means that for all element 𝑥, if 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 then 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵.
𝐴 ⊈ 𝐵 means that there is at least one element 𝑥 such that 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵.

Remarks:
All set is a subset of itself.
Empty set is a subset of all set.

POWER SET
Let 𝐴 be a set the power set of 𝐴, denoted by 𝑃(𝐴) is the set of all subset of 𝐴.

ORDERED PAIR
Given elements 𝑎 and 𝑏, symbol (𝑎, 𝑏) denotes the ordered pair consisting of 𝑎 and 𝑏
together with the specification that 𝑎 is the first element and 𝑏 is the second element of the pair.
Two ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏) and (𝑐, 𝑑) are equal, if and only if, 𝑎 = 𝑐 and 𝑏 = 𝑑. Symbolically
(𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝑐, 𝑑) means that 𝑎 = 𝑐 and 𝑏 = 𝑑.

CARTESIAN PRODUCT
Given sets 𝐴 and 𝐵, the Cartesian product of 𝐴 and 𝐵, denoted by 𝐴 × 𝐵 and read as
“𝐴 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐵” is the set of all ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏), where 𝑎 is in 𝐴 and 𝑏 is in 𝐵.
Symbolically 𝐴 × 𝐵 = {(𝑎, 𝑏)| 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵}.

BASIC SETS OPERATION

 UNION of set 𝐴 and 𝐵 is the set 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 of all elements which belongs to 𝐴 or 𝐵 or both.
Symbolically, 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.

 INTERSECTION of two sets 𝐴 and 𝐵 is the set 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 of all elements common to both
𝐴 and 𝐵. Symbolically 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.

 𝑨 minus 𝑩 (𝑨 − 𝑩) is defined by 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵}.

 COMPLEMENT – Let 𝐴 be a subset of the universal set 𝑈, the complement of 𝐴

denoted by 𝐴′ is defined by 𝐴′ = 𝑈 − 𝐴 = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝑈, 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}.