Elementary Algebra and General Arithmetic

6-26-2009

This document is the first in a series for people who do not have access to a good math

teacher, or who want a deeper understanding of basic mathematics. Ideas and comments

are welcome. Address them to william.stell@moc.edu.

Article 1

COUNTING

At its most elementary level mathematics is counting and measuring. Let’s look at

counting first.

If the reader can name the digits in order, that is, the cardinal numbers, then said

reader can assign one digit from the ordered set of digits to an item in a set or group until

all the items have a number. The cardinal number of the last item selected from the group

is said to be the count of the items.

To say this in another way, if we count the natural numbers starting with one, that

is 1, 2, 3, *** 150 *** ∞. We get what is called the natural number line. In this notation

*** means “continuing like this”, and ∞ means “going on without an end”. When we

assign elements from the real number line, in order, to objects in a set of objects it is

called counting. Here is a concrete example.

Let us postulate a group or set of three bars. How do we know we have three

stars? How do we justify our belief that we have three bars? How do we symbolize our

set of three bars? The key to mathematics for the autodidact, hereafter called AD, which

is the technical name for a person teaching himself or herself, is to understand how we

justify mathematical operations and relations.

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 Let’s agree to call a group or collection of objects a set. Here is a set of bars.

III

Here are the first three elements in the set of natural numbers.

123

We pair each star with one of the three natural numbers to get what is called

one-to-one correspondence. This gives us this ordering of the two sets.

1–I 2–I 3-I

Since the last natural number used to match a bar is three, we say that we

have a count or sum of three stars. This belief is justified by one-to-one correspondence

with the natural number line. We symbolize using numerals or digits 1, 2, and 3.

Now this part is really important. Everything, absolutely everything in

mathematics can be justified to this level. If you use enough steps the most complicated

mathematics that exist can be explained and understood as the end result of reasoning

from inescapable premises to unavoidable conclusions. In more advanced mathematics

this is called proof.

Topic summary

The “counting numbers” in order are called the set of natural numbers.

The set of natural numbers in order is called the natural number line.

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If we apply one element of the natural number line to each element of a set of

objects, it is called counting.

The last natural number used in the correspondence is called the count of the

objects.

Cardinal numbers are the numbers used in counting.

The symbols for cardinal numbers are digits or numerals like 1, 2, 3 and so on.

Just as we justified or proved that the set of bars contained three elements,

everything in mathematics can be justified or proved to that same level of

unavoidable believability.