1. What do you think is the significance of mathematics in your chosen career path?

When do you
use the concept of mathematics in your field of specialization? Cite specific scenarios.
- Mathematics assists us with getting the world and gives a successful approach to building mental
discipline. Math supports sensible thinking, decisive reasoning, imaginative reasoning, conceptual
or spatial reasoning, critical thinking capacity, and, surprisingly, viable relational abilities. Mastering
math is useful in practically any profession. Learning math helps laborers examine and take care of
issues capacities that most employers value. Also, the math shows other significant works,
including how to move toward undertakings purposefully, focus on detail, and think uniquely.
Mathematics gives a viable approach to building mental discipline and energizes consistent thinking
and mental thoroughness. Likewise, numerical information assumes an urgent part in
understanding the substance of other school subjects like science, social examinations, and even
music and workmanship.
2. Research the different mathematical symbols and give their meaning or usage.

Common Math Symbols

+ Addition, Plus, Positive
The addition symbol + is usually used to indicate that two or more numbers should be added
together, for example, 2 + 2.

- The + symbol can also be used to indicate a positive number although this is less
common, for example, +2. Positive and Negative Numbers explains that a number
without a sign is considered to be positive, so the plus is not usually necessary.

− Subtraction, Minus, Negative

This symbol has two main uses in mathematics:

1. − is used when one or more numbers are to be subtracted, for example, 2 − 2.

2. The − symbol is also commonly used to show a minus or negative number, such as −2.

× or * or . Multiplication
These symbols have the same meaning; commonly × is used to mean multiplication when
handwritten or used on a calculator 2 × 2, for example.

The symbol * is used in spreadsheets and other computer applications to indicate a

multiplication, although * does have other more complex meanings in mathematics.

Less commonly, multiplication may also be symbolized by a dot . or indeed by no symbol at all.
For example, if you see a number written outside brackets with no operator (symbol or sign),
then it should be multiplied by the contents of the brackets: 2(3+2) is the same as 2×(3+2).
÷ or / Division
These symbols are both used to mean division in mathematics. ÷ is used commonly in
handwritten calculations and on calculators, for example, 2 ÷ 2.

/ is used in spreadsheets and other computer applications.

= Equals
The = equals symbol is used to show that the values on either side of it are the same. It is most
commonly used to show the result of a calculation, for example 2 + 2 = 4, or in equations, such as 2
+ 3 = 10 − 5.

You may also come across other related symbols, although these are less common:

 ≠ means not equal. For example, 2 + 2 ≠ 5 - 2. In computer applications (like Excel) the symbols <>
mean not equal.
 ≡ means identical to. This is similar to, but not exactly the same as, equals. Therefore, if in doubt,
stick to =.
 ≈ means approximately equal to, or almost equal to. The two sides of a relationship indicated by
this symbol will not be accurate enough to manipulate mathematically.

< Less Than and > Greater Than

This symbol < means less than, for example 2 < 4 means that 2 is less than 4.

This symbol > means greater than, for example 4 > 2.

≤ ≥ These symbols mean ‘less than or equal to’ and ‘greater than or equal to’ and are commonly
used in algebra. In computer applications <= and >= are used.

≪ ≫ These symbols are less common and mean much less than, or much greater than.

± Plus or Minus
This symbol ± means ‘plus or minus’. It is used to indicate, for example, confidence intervals
around a number.

The answer is said to be ‘plus or minus’ another number, or in other words, within a range
around the given answer.

For example, 5 ± 2 could in practice be any number from 3 to 7.

∑ Sum
The ∑ symbol means sum.
∑ is the Greek capital sigma character. It is used commonly in algebraic functions, and you may
also notice it in Excel - the AutoSum button has a sigma as its icon.

° Degree
Degrees ° are used in several different ways.

 As a measure of rotation - the angle between the sides of a shape or the rotation of a circle. A
circle is 360° and a right angle is 90°. See our section on Geometry for more.
 A measure of temperature. Degrees Celsius or Centigrade are used in most of the world (with
the exception of the USA). Water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C. In the USA Fahrenheit is used.
On the Fahrenheit scale water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F. See our page: Systems of
Measurement for more information.

∠ Angle
The angle symbol ∠ is used as shorthand in geometry (the study of shapes) for describing an angle.

The expression ∠ABC is used to describe the angle at point B (between points A and C). Similarly,
∠BAC would be used to describe the angle of point A (between points B and C). For more on
angles and other geometric terms see our pages on Geometry.

√ Square Root
√ is the symbol for square root. A square root is the number that, when multiplied by itself, gives
the original number.

For example, the square root of 4 is 2, because 2 x 2 = 4. The square root of 9 is 3, because 3 x 3
= 9.

 Power
n

A superscripted integer (any whole number n) is the symbol used for the power of a number.

For example,32, means 3 to the power of 2, which is the same as 3 squared (3 x 3).

43 means 4 to the power of 3 or 4 cubed, that is 4 × 4 × 4.

. Decimal Point
. is the decimal point symbol, often referred to simply as ‘point’
, Thousands Separator
A comma can be used to split large numbers and make them easier to read.

A thousand can be written as 1,000 as well as 1000 and a million as 1,000,000 or 1000000. The
comma splits larger numbers into blocks of three digits.

[ ], ( ) Brackets, Parentheses
Brackets ( ) are used to determine the order of a calculation as dictated by the BODMAS rule.

Parts of a calculation included within brackets are calculated first, for example

 5 + 3 × 2 = 11
 (5 + 3) × 2 = 16

% Percentage
The % symbol means percentage, or the number out of 100.

π Pi
π or Pi is the Greek character for the ‘p’ sound. It occurs frequently in mathematics and is a
mathematical constant. Pi is a circle's circumference divided by its diameter and has the value
3.141592653. It is an irrational number, which means that its decimal places continue to infinity.

∞ Infinity
The ∞ symbol signifies infinity, the concept that numbers go on for ever.

However large a number you have, you can always have a larger one, because you can always
add one to it.

Infinity is not a number, but the idea of numbers going on for ever. You cannot add one to
infinity, any more than you can add one to a person, or to love or hate.

x¯ (x-bar) Mean
x¯ is the mean of all the possible values of x.

You will mostly come across this symbol in statistics.

! Factorial
! is the symbol for factorial.

n! is the product (multiplication) of all the numbers from n down to 1, inclusive, i.e. n × (n−1) ×
(n−2) × … × 2 × 1.

| Pipe
Pipe '|' is also also referred to as vertical bar, vbar, pike and has many uses in mathematics,
physics and computing.

Most commonly in basic mathematics, it used to denote absolute value or modulus of a real

number, where |x| is the absolute value or modulus of  x.

∝ Proportional
∝ means ‘is proportional to’, and is used to show something that varies in relation to
something else.

For example, if x = 2y, then x ∝ y.

∴ Therefore
∴ is a useful shorthand form of ‘therefore’, used throughout maths and science.

∵ Because
∵ is a useful shorthand form of ‘because’, not to be confused with ‘therefore’.

Math Symbols List

List of all mathematical symbols and signs - meaning and examples.

Basic math symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition

= equals sign equality

≠ not equal sign inequality

≈ approximately equal approximation

> strict inequality greater than

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition

< strict inequality less than

≥ inequality greater than or equal to

≤ inequality less than or equal to

() parentheses calculate expression inside first

[] brackets calculate expression inside first

+ plus sign addition

− minus sign subtraction

± plus - minus both plus and minus operations

± minus - plus both minus and plus operations

* asterisk multiplication

× times sign multiplication

⋅ multiplication dot multiplication

÷ division sign / obelus division

/ division slash division

— horizontal line division / fraction

mod modulo remainder calculation

. period decimal point, decimal separator

ab power exponent

a^b caret exponent

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition

√a square root √a  ⋅ √a  = a

√a
3 cube root 3
√a  ⋅  3√a   ⋅  3√a  = a

√a
4 fourth root √a  ⋅  4√a   ⋅  4√a   ⋅  4√a  =
4
a
n
√a n-th root (radical)  

% percent 1% = 1/100

‰ per-mille 1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1%

ppm per-million 1ppm = 1/1000000
ppb per-billion 1ppb = 1/1000000000
ppt per-trillion 1ppt = 10-12