MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN

WORLD
Topic Outline
I. Nature of
Mathematics
II. Speaking Mathematically
III. Problem-Solving
IV. Statistics
V. Logic
VI. Graphs
VII. Mathematical Systems

Textbook: Aufmann, R., Lockwood, J., Nation, R., Clegg, D., Epp, S., Abad, E. Jr. Mathematics in the
Modern World. (Rex Book Store, Inc., Manila, Philippines). 2018.
 I. Nature of Mathematics
Patterns are regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs.

We see patterns from:

- Layout of floor tiles
- The way we tie our shoes
 Nature and Mathematics
We watch the videos
1. Nature by numbers
2. Mathematics in Nature
3. Nature and Mathematics
 I. Nature of Mathematics

• Example: What comes next?

• Example: What comes next?
• Example: What number comes next?
2,4,6,8,10,12, ?

• Example: What number comes next?

1,4,8,13,19,26, ?

• Example: What number comes next?

1,4,3,7,5,10,7,13, ?
 Few Type of Patterns
1. Symmetry – indicates that you can draw an imaginary line across an object
and the resulting parts are mirror images of each other.
Example are:
a.) Spiderwort with three-fold Symmetry
b.) Starfish with five-fold symmetry

2. Fractals – are infinite self-similar, iterated mathematical constructs having a

fractal dimension. An example is Romanesco broccoli
 Few Type of Patterns
3. Spirals – are common in plants and in some animals. Shell and red cabbage
are examples.

4. Tessellations – are patterns formed by repeating tiles all over a flat surface.
Pineapple fruit is an example
 Spots and Stripes
Spots and stripes are common in animals. These patterns have evolutionary
explanation: they have functions like camouflage , signalling, survival, etc.

Examples are:
1. Zebras
2. Tigers
3. Butterflies
4. Fish
Watch the video Most Beautiful Patterns in Nature
 GROUP ACTIVITY
Form a group. Every member must share understandings and realizations about
mathematics. Share with the group other patterns in the world. Write a short
essay ( at least 200 words) using the following guide questions:

1. What is mathematics?
2. Where is mathematics?
3. What new ideas about Mathematics have you learned?
4. What is the role of Mathematics in your daily life?
• A sequence is an ordered list of numbers, called terms, that may have
repeated values.

• Example: Identify the next three terms.

1.) 2,4,6,8,10
2.) 2,4,8,16,32
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
RABBIT PROBLEM
 RABBIT PROBLEM
Questio
ns:
1. What is the pattern of the birth of rabbits?
2. How many pairs of rabbits will be at 6th month?

Answers:
1. The number of pairs of rabbits for any month after the first 2
months can be determined by adding the number of pair of
rabbits in each of the 2 previous months
2. In the 4th month, there are 3 pairs of rabbits and in the 5th
month there are 5 pairs. Thus, there will be 8 pairs (5+3) at
the 6th month.
 FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
Watch the movie
1.) Fibonacci Sequence in Nature
2.) Golden Ratio in Human Body
• Fibonacci Sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,...

• Note: A recursive definition for a sequence is one in which each

successive term of the sequence is defined by using some of the preceding
terms.

• Recursive Definition for the Fibonacci Sequence:

𝐹1 = 1, 𝐹2 = 1, 𝐹𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛−1 + 𝐹𝑛−2 (𝑛≥3)

• Example: Find the first ninth term of the Fibonacci sequence using the
recursive definition.
 PARTNER ACTIVITY

1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
Hardy and Ramanujan on Proofs
(Courtesy of youtube.com)
 II. . Speaking Mathematically
• A variable in mathematics can be thought of as a placeholder when
you want to talk about something, either:
1.) you imagine that it has one or more values but you do not know what
they are;
2.) you want whatever you say about it to be equally true for all elements
in a given set.

• Example: Is there a real number whose square is positive one?

• Example: Any prime number greater than two is odd.

• Example: Express the following using variables.

1.) Are there numbers with the property that the sum of their squares
equals the square of their sum?

2.) Given any real number, its square is nonnegative.

 Mathematical Statements
• A universal statement says that a certain property is true for all elements
in a set.
• Example: All positive numbers are greater than zero.

• A conditional statement says that if one thing is true then some other
thing also has to be true.
• Example: If 15 is divisible by 6, then 15 is divisible by 2.

• An existential statement says that there is at least one thing for which
a certain property is true.
• Example: There is a prime number which is even.
 Other Types of Statements
• A universal conditional statement is both universal and conditional.
• Example: For all animals x, if x is a dog, then x is a mammal.
• Example: If x is a dog, then x is a mammal.

• A universal existential statement is a statement whose first part says that

a certain property is true for all objects of a given type, and its second
part asserts the existence of something.
• Example: For every real number r, there is an additive inverse for r.

• An existential universal statement is a statement whose first part asserts

that a certain object exists and its second part says that the object
satisfies a certain property for all things of a certain kind.
• Example: There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
EXAMPLE 1:

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement.

For all real number x, if x is nonzero then � 2 is positive.

1. If a real number is nonzero, then its square is .
2. For all nonzero real numbers x, _.
3. If x _, then _.
4. The square of any nonzero real number is _.
5. All nonzero real numbers have _.
EXAMPLE 2:

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement.

Every pot has a lid

1. All pots .
2. For all pots P, there is _.
3. For all pots P, there is a lid L such that .
EXAMPLE 3:

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement.

There is a person in my class who is at least as old as every

person in my class.

1. Some is at least as old .

2. There is a person p in my class such that p is .
3. There is a person p in my class with the property that for every person q in
my class, p is .
 Cantor and Russell
(Set Theory and Foundational Mathematics
Forerunners)
 Sets

• The concept of set is fundamental in every mathematics.

• The theory of sets was made popular by Georg Cantor in 1879.
• Intuitively, we can think of a set as a well-defined collection of objects in
which it is clear whether an object belongs or does not belong to the
set.
• Sets are usually denoted by capital letters such as A, B, ... while elements
of sets are written using small letters such as a, b, ... .
• If an object a belongs to a set A, we write a  A. a A.
Otherwise,

• A set may be written using roster method, for example: � = {2,4,6,8}.

• A set can also be written using set-builder method, for example
� = {�: � 𝑖 �� 𝑖���𝑔��, 1 < � < 9}.
• By the Axiom of Extension: Let A and B be sets. If every element of A are
in B and every element of B are in A, then A=B.
• Equality of Sets: Let A and B be sets. A=B if and only if every element of A
are in B and every element of B are in A.

• Example 1: Let � = {2,4,6,8} � = {6,4,8,2} � = {2,4,4,4,6,6,8}. Is � = �? Is � = �?

• Example 2: Is {0} = 0?

• Example 3: Is 2 𝜖 2, 1 ? 𝐼 2 𝜖 2, 1 ? 𝐼 1𝜖 {2, {1}}?

• Example 4: Is {2, {1}} = {1, {2}}?

• Example 5: Let n be a nonnegative integer. Define 𝑈� = {2� − 1,2� + 1,2� + 3}. Find

𝑈0, 𝑈1, 𝑈2.

• Here is a list of frequently used sets in mathematics:

Symbol Set
R set of all real numbers
Q set of all rational numbers
Z set of all integers
W set of all whole numbers
N set of all natural numbers

• Sometimes, we place superscripts such as +, -, ≥0 to indicate

“only positive elements of...”, “only negative elements of...”, and
“only nonnegative elements of...”, respectively.
−

=
+
• Example: 𝑹 {�𝜖𝑹: � > 0}; 𝑹 =
 ≥
0

{�𝜖𝑹: � < 0}; 𝑹

�
• More examples on using set-builder notation: Describe each set.
1.) {� 𝜖 𝑹: −2.5 ≤ � < 5}
2.) {� 𝜖 �: −2.5 ≤ � < 5}

3.) {� 𝜖 𝑵: −2.5 ≤ �< 5}

B )
• Definition: Let A and B be sets. Then A is a subset of B (written as A
whenever �𝜖� implies �𝜖�. A is a proper subset of B provided that

�⊆� but � ≠ � and we write � ⊂ �.

• Example: Which of the following is true?

1. � ⊆ � 4. � ⊆ �
2. � ⊆ � 5. � ⊆ �
3. � ⊆ �
 Set Operations
• Let A and B be sets. We define the following:
i.) � ∪ � = {�: � ∈ � �� � ∈ �} (Union of sets)
ii.) � ∩ � = �: � ∈ � ��� � ∈ �
(Intersection of sets)
iii.) � − � = {�: � ∈ � ��� � ∉ �} (Relative Complement)

• Example: Let � = {2,4,6,8}, � = {6,7,8,9,10} and � = {3,6,9}. Find

the
following:
1.) � ∩ �
2.) � − �
3.) � − �
4.) � − (� ∩ �)

5.) (�− �) ∪ (� − �)
• There exists a set without elements and we call it the empty set (written as
∅ �� { }).

Example: �: � ∈ 𝑁, � < 0

• If A is any set, then ∅ ⊆ �

• For any sets A and B, if � ∩ � = ∅ then A and B are said to be disjoint.

• Example: If � = {2,4,6,8} and � = {3,5,7,9}, then �∩� =∅

and so A and D
are disjoint.

• Given elements a and b, the ordered pair � ,�, �

is denoted by (�, �).

• Two ordered pairs (�, �) and (�, �) are equal if and only if � = � and
� = �.
• Cartesian Product: Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A
and
B is the set

� × � = {(�, �): � ∈ �, � ∈ �}.

• Example: Let A={2,4,6,8} and B={1,2,3}. Find the following:
1.) � × �
2.) � × �

3.) � × �

• One of the familiar types of Cartesian product is RXR which can be

visualized geometrically as the Cartesian plane.
 Relations
• Objects in mathematics can be related to each other in several ways. For
example, a number x is related to a number y because � > �, or
because
�2 + �2 = 1, and so on.
• Let � = {2,4,6,8} and � = {3,5,7,9}. Say x in A is related to y in B if and
only if � > �. We can denote this by:

��� if and only if � > �.

Determine elements of A and B which are related by R.
• We can express this concept in terms of ordered pairs:
Let A and B be sets. A relation R from A to B is a subset of � × �.

The notation ��� is equivalent to (�, �) ∈ �. The set A is called

the
domain of R while B is its co-domain.
Example 1 :

Let A={1,2} and B={1,2,3} and define R from A to B as follows:

�−� any �, �∈ � × �, �, �∈ � means that
Given
is an integer.

1. State explicitly which ordered pairs are in � × � and which are in R.

2. Is 1R3? Is 2R3? Is 2R2?
3. What are the domain and co-domain of R?
Example 2:

2. Define a relation C from R to R as follows. For any (�, �) ∈ � × �

(�, �) ∈ � means that� 2+� 2 = 1.

−1 3
1. Is 1,0 ∈ �? Is 0,0 ∈ �? Is ( , )∈ �? Is −2�0? Is 0�(−1)? Is
1�1?
2 2
2. What are the domain and co-domain of C?