Mathematics in the Modern World (Aug.

31 – Sep 11, 2020)

Week 2: Mathematical language and Symbols

INTRODUCTION:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Mathematics has its own language, much of
After completing this lesson, the students are expected
which we are already familiar with. For
to:
example, the digits 1. Understand how important it is to be precise
about the symbols you use

0 , 1 ,2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ,9 2. Understand the importance of context when

trying to understand mathematical symbols
are part of our everyday lives. Whether we refer
to 0 as ‘zero’, ‘nothing’, ‘nought’, or ‘O’ as in MATERIALS:
a telephone number, we understand its
meaning..  Activity/Solution notebook

REFERENCES:
 Ashby, M. F., and D. R. H. Jones, Engineering
Materials 1, An
People sometimes have trouble understanding
Introduction to Their Properties and
mathematical ideas: not necessarily because the ideas are
Applications, 3rd
difficult, but because they are being presented in a foreign
edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, UK,
language—the language of mathematics.
2005.
 Shackelford, J. F., Introduction to Materials
The language of mathematics makes it easy to express the kinds of thoughts thatfor
Science mathematicians like to express.
It is: Engineers, 7th edition, Prentice Hall PTR,
Paramus, NJ,
 precise (able to make very fine distinctions) 2009.
 concise (able to say things briefly)  White, M. A., Properties of Materials, Oxford
 powerful (able to express complex thoughts with University Press,
relative ease) New York, 1999.
Every language has its vocabulary (the words) and its rules
for combining these words into complete thoughts (the
sentences). Mathematics is no exception.

As a first step in studying the mathematical language, we will make a very broad classification between the ‘nouns’ of
mathematics (used to name mathematical objects of interest) and the ‘sentences’ of mathematics (which state complete
mathematical thoughts).

In English, a noun is a word that names something. An English noun is usually a person, place, or thing; for example,
Julia, Idaho, and rat. Note that there are conventions regarding nouns in English; for example, proper names are
capitalized. The mathematical analogue of a noun is called an expression.

DEFINITION 
An expression is the mathematical analogue of an English noun; . A mathematical expression is a name given to some
mathematical object of interest. The phrase ‘mathematical expression’ is usually shortened to ‘expression’.
it refers to a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols used to represent a mathematical object of interest

In mathematics, an ‘object of interest’ is often a number, a set, or a function. There are conventions regarding the naming
of ‘nouns’ in mathematics, just as there are in English. For example, real numbers are usually named with lowercase
letters (like a, x, t, α, β, and γ), whereas sets are usually named with capital letters (like A, B, and C). Such conventions are
addressed throughout
the text. Without sets and functions, modern mathematics could not exist.

An expression does not state a complete thought; it does not make sense to ask if an expression is true or false.

The most common expression types are numbers, sets, and functions.

5 2+3 10/2 (6−2)+1 1+1+1+1+1

Numbers have lots of different names: for example, the expressions

all look different, but are all just different names for the same number.

Note: Mathematical statements may refer to the same number but takes different forms.

By themselves, nouns are not extremely useful. It is when nouns are used in sentences to express complete thoughts that
things get really interesting.

A declarative English sentence begins with a capital letter, ends with a period, and expresses a complete thought.

DEFINITION Sentence
A mathematical sentence is the analogue of an English sentence; it is a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols that
states a complete thought.

Sentences have verbs.

In the mathematical sentence  ‘3+4=73+4=7’ , the verb is ‘==’.

A sentence can be (always) true, (always) false, or sometimes true/sometimes false.

For example, the sentence  ‘1+2=31+2=3’  is true.
The sentence  ‘1+2=41+2=4’  is false.
The sentence  ‘x=2x=2’  is sometimes true/sometimes false: it is true when xx is 22, and false otherwise.
The sentence  ‘x+3=3+xx+3=3+x’  is (always) true, no matter what number is chosen for xx.

EXAMPLES:
22 is an expression
1+11+1 is an expression
x+1x+1 is an expression
1+1=21+1=2 is a (true) sentence
1+1=31+1=3 is a (false) sentence
x+1=3x+1=3 is a (sometimes true/sometimes false) sentence

A mathematical sentence must also express a complete thought. However, there are a lot of symbols (and layouts)
available in the construction of mathematical sentences that are not available in the construction of English sentences.
Many students have trouble distinguishing between mathematical expressions and mathematical sentences.

A good way to decide if something is a sentence is to read it out loud, and ask yourself the question: Does it express a
ExampleIf1:the answer is ‘yes’, it’s a sentence.
complete thought?
Classify the entries in the list below as:• an English noun• a mathematical expression• a
sentenceIn any sentence, circle the verb. Try to fill in the blanks yourself before lookingat the
solutions.
(For the moment, don’t worry about the truth of sentences. This issue is addressed in the next
example.)

Cat 2x - 1 = 0 y + y + y = 3y
x The cat is black. (a + b)2 = a2 + b2
The word ‘cat’ begins with the (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2 This sentence is false.
letter ‘k’. -3t < 2 x2 < 0
1+2=4
y+y+y 1 + p2
(a + b)2
 Solution:

Note: Sentences express a complete thought, but nouns (expressions) do not. For example, read aloud: x. What about x?
Now read aloud: 2x - 1 = 0. Here, a complete thought about object ‘x’ has been expressed.

Example 1:
Consider the entries in the previous example that are sentences. Which are true? False? Are there
possibilities other than true and false?
3. The word ‘cat’ begins with the letter ‘k’. FALSE4. 1 + 2 = 4 FALSE6. 2x - 1 = 0 The truth of this
sentence (true or false)
depends on the choice of x. If x is 1=2, then it is true. Otherwise, it is false. Sentences such as these are
studied in more detail in the next section.
7. The cat is black. The truth of this sentence cannot be determined
out of context. If the cat being referred to is indeed black, then the sentence is true. Otherwise, it is false.

8. (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2 Here, it is assumed that a and b represent

numbers. Then, this sentence is (always) true: its truth does not depend on the numbers chosenfor a and
b. | Why?

9. -3t < 2 It is assumed that t represents a number. This

sentence is sometimes true, sometimes false, depending on the number chosen for t. In sentences such as
these, mathematicians are often interested in finding the choices that make the sentence TRUE.

11. y + y + y = 3y TRUE, for all real numbers y.

12. (a + b)2 = a2 + b2 The truth of this sentence depends on the choices
for a and b. For example, if a = 0 and b = 1, then it is true (| check). If a = 1 and b = 1, then it is false (|
check).

13. This sentence is false. IF this sentence is true, then it would have to be
false. IF this sentence is false, then it would have to be true. So this sentence is not true, not false, and
not sometimes true/sometimes false.

14. x2 < 0 It is assumed that x represents a real number.

Since every real number, when squared, is nonnegative, this sentence is (always) false.
 ACTIVITY
PROBLEMS
CLASSIFICATION
Classify each entry in the list below as: an English noun (NOUN), a mathematical expression (EXP), or a
sentence (SEN).

In any sentence, circle the verb.

Classify the truth value of any entry that is a sentence: TRUE (T), FALSE (F), or SOMETIMES
TRUE/SOMETIMES FALSE (ST/SF). The first one is done for you.

1. a+b=b+a
2. a+b
3. a+b=5
4. rectangle
5. Every rectangle has three sides.
6. x + (-x) 6= 0
7. 3≤3
8. y≥y
9. y>y+1
10. y>y–1
11. Bob
12. Bob has red hair.
13. For all nonzero real numbers x, x0 = 1.
14. The distance between real numbers a and b is b - a.
15. a(b + c)
16. a(b + c) = ab + ac

After you write any mathematics (perhaps you have solved a homework problem) you should read it back to
yourself, out loud, and be sure that

 it expresses a complete thought;

 it expresses a correct thought.

There are many symbols in mathematics and most are used as a precise form of shorthand. We need to be confident
when using these symbols, and to gain that confidence we need to understand their meaning. To understand their meaning
there are two things to help us -

1. Context - this is the context in which we are working, or the particular topics being studied.
2. Convention - where mathematicians and scientists have decided that particular symbols
will have particular meaning.

DISCUSSION:

Common Mathematical Symbols

Let us look at some symbols commonly associated with mathematical operations.

The symbol +.

Words associated with this symbol are ‘plus’, ‘add’, ‘increase’ and ‘positive’. As it stands, ‘+’ clearly has some sort
of meaning, but we really need to understand it within a context. So, for example, if we see the + symbol written in
the sum
2+3we understand that the context is one of adding the two numbers, 2and 3, to give 5. So here, the symbol + is an
instruction to add two numbers together.

Let us look at another context in which we see the + symbol. If you study telephone numbers on business cards you
will often see them given, for example, as
+ 44 191123 4567In this context, the + symbol means that, in addition to the usual telephone number, a person
dialing that number from overseas will need to include the country code (in this case 44). So we see that the + symbol
can have completely different meanings in different contexts, and it is important to be clear about the context.

The symbol -.
 Words associated with this symbol are ‘minus’, ‘subtract’, ‘take away’, ‘negative’ and ‘decrease’. Again, to
understand the symbol we need a context.

So, if we see the - symbol written in the sum

6−4 we know this means 6 subtract 4, and we know the answer is 2.
In a different context, we might see -5◦C, meaning a temperature of minus five degrees Celsius, that is five degrees
below zero.

The symbol ×.
Words associated with this symbol are ‘multiply’, ‘lots of’, and ‘times’. This is really just a shorthand for adding. For
example, if we see
6+ 6+6+6 +6we have five lots of six, or five sixes, and in our shorthand we can write this as 5 × 6.

Suppose we have
a+ a+a+ a+a We might write this expression as 5 × a. However, in this context, especially in hand-written work, we
may confuse the × symbol with the letter x, and so we would often write simply 5a. We see that our shorthand has
become even shorter. Multiplication is one of those rare occasions when we can omit a symbol altogether.

The division symbols

Division is symbolised in several different ways. For example

10
10 ÷5 , 10/5,
5
are three equivalent ways of writing ten divided by 5. We might also read this as ‘how many times will 5 go into 10?’.

The = sign and its variants

Another symbol used frequently is the equals sign =. The = sign does not mean anything on its own - we need a
context.

For example, in the sum 1+2= 3, what we are saying is that whatever we have on the left-hand
side is exactly equal to whatever we have on the right-hand side.

Variations on the equals sign are

= which means ‘is not equal to’

≈ which means ‘is approximately equal to’

≥ which means ‘is greater than or equal to’,
e.g. x ≥ 2means that x can equal 2, but it might also be any value larger than 2.
≤ which means ‘is less than or equal to’,
e.g. y ≤ 7 means that y might equal 7 or might be any number less than 7.

Variables

Variables are another form of mathematical symbol. These are used when quantities take different values. Imagine taking
a car journey and think about the speed at which you are travelling. As you travel along your speed may change. So, speed
is a variable - that is, a quantity which can change. We will be using letters to stand for quantities like this. For example,
we might use the letter v for speed. To a large extent we can use any letter we choose, although there are conventions. We
might choose to use d for distance and t for time.
By convention, we use u to be an initial speed, and v to be a final speed. In a different context, v might refer to volume.
We need to check the context to fully understand the meaning.

d
If we see v= ,where d = distance, and t = time, then we would know that v is a speed. On the other hand, if we see
t
4
v= πr 3 where r is the radius of a sphere, we know that v stands for the volume of the sphere.
3
Returning to our car journey. We might want to record the journey time on several different days. In this context we might
choose to use a subscript and write

t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 ,t 5for the journey times on each of five different days. Alternatively we could write
t m ,t t , t w , t h , t f for the journey times on Monday through to Friday. Note how we have used th for the journey time on
Thursday to avoid confusion with tt for the journey time on Tuesday. So, a subscript is a small number, or other symbol,
written to the bottom right of a variable to distinguish different instances of that variable.

The Greek alphabet

Mathematicians are extremely fond of Greek letters. Here are some that are most commonly used, together with their names.

You will find that Greek letters are used in many calculations. For example, the Greek letter ‘pi’, written π, is used to
represent the number 3.14159.... This number continues forever without repeating.

We often use α (‘alpha’), β (‘beta’), and θ (‘theta’) to represent angles. The Greek capital letter ‘sigma’ or Σ is frequently
used to represent the addition of several numbers, and you will see it provided for this purpose on the toolbar of any
spreadsheet program.

Some more symbols

The positioning of numbers and symbols in relation to each other also gives meaning. For example, you will come
across use of superscripts. These are small numbers or symbols written at the top right of another, as in 4 2 In this
context 4 2 is a shorthand for ‘four squared’ or 4 × 4. Similarly 4 3 is shorthand for ‘four cubed’ or 4 × 4 × 4.

On the other hand 32o ◦ can mean different things in different contexts. It might mean an angle of 32degrees. It could
mean 32 to the power zero, which is actually 1. In printed work characters with slightly different shapes and sizes are
used - compare 32o ◦ meaning 32degrees and320 meaning 32to the power 0. Clearly these have very different
meanings! You need to know the context! 32 ℃ is a temperature of 32degrees Celsius.

What about 6,3 ? This could mean several things. But with brackets around, (6, 3) can mean a pair of coordinates used
to plot a point on a graph.

Brackets can mean a variety of different things. For example, in the study of probability you will come across
expressions like p(H) = 1 2 - this means the probability of scoring a Head, when tossing a coin, is ½

Again, knowing the context is vital. The symbol % is a percentage sign and means ‘out of 100’ as in 90% meaning
‘ninety out of one hundred’. √ is a square root sign. For example √16 is the number which when multiplied by itself is
16, that is 4 or -4.

x , read as ‘x bar’ is the mean of a set of numbers.

1.3̇ is a recurring decimal sign meaning that the 3’s continue forever, as in 1.33333... ˙

1.3̇17̇ means that the 317 goes on forever, as in 1.317317317...

ACTIVITY
PROBLEMS
MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS
1. To mathematicians, division is just a special kind of multiplication. WHY? Be sure to answer in a complete sentence.
2. The word ‘associative’ has the same root as the English words sociable and associate. These English words have
to do with groups (e.g., a sociable person is one who enjoys being in a group of people). Thus it should not be surprising that
‘associative’ laws in mathematics have to do with grouping.

The associative law of multiplication states: for all real numbers x, y and z, x(yz) = (xy)z. Thus, the grouping of numbers in a
product is irrelevant. It is because of this property that we are able to write xyz, with no parentheses. Using complete
sentences, comment on why the associative law makes expressions like xyz unambiguous.

SUMMARY
 In summary, mathematical symbols are a precise form of shorthand. They have to have meaning for you. To help
with understanding you have context and convention. You need to pay attention to its conventions.