7/14/23, 9:43 AM Unary operation - Wikipedia
Unary operation
In mathematics, a unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input.[1] This
is in contrast to binary operations, which use two operands.[2] An example is any function f : A → A,
where A is a set. The function f is a unary operation on A.
Common notations are prefix notation (e.g. ¬, −), postfix notation (e.g. factorial n!), functional
notation (e.g. sin x or sin(x)), and superscripts (e.g. transpose AT). Other notations exist as well, for
example, in the case of the square root, a horizontal bar extending the square root sign over the
argument can indicate the extent of the argument.
Examples
Absolute value
Obtaining the absolute value of a number is a unary operation. This function is defined as
[3] where is the absolute value of .
Negation
This is used to find the negative value of a single number. This is technically not a unary operation as
is just short form of .[4] Here are some examples:
Unary negative and positive
As unary operations have only one operand they are evaluated before other operations containing
them. Here is an example using negation:
Here, the first '−' represents the binary subtraction operation, while the second '−' represents the
unary negation of the 2 (or '−2' could be taken to mean the integer −2). Therefore, the expression is
equal to:
Technically, there is also a unary + operation but it is not needed since we assume an unsigned value
to be positive:
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The unary + operation does not change the sign of a negative operation:
In this case, a unary negation is needed to change the sign:
Trigonometry
In trigonometry, the trigonometric functions, such as , , and , can be seen as unary
operations. This is because it is possible to provide only one term as input for these functions and
retrieve a result. By contrast, binary operations, such as addition, require two different terms to
compute a result.
Examples from programming languages
JavaScript
In JavaScript, these operators are unary:[5]
Increment: ++x, x++
Decrement: −−x, x−−
Positive: +x
Negative: −x
Ones' complement: ~x
Logical negation: !x
C family of languages
In the C family of languages, the following operators are unary:[6][7]
Increment: ++x, x++
Decrement: −−x, x−−
Address: &x
Indirection: *x
Positive: +x
Negative: −x
Ones' complement: ~x
Logical negation: !x
Sizeof: sizeof x, sizeof(type-name)
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Cast: (type-name) cast-expression
Unix shell (Bash)
In the Unix/Linux shell (bash/sh), '$' is a unary operator when used for parameter expansion,
replacing the name of a variable by its (sometimes modified) value. For example:
Simple expansion: $x
Complex expansion: ${#x}
PowerShell
Increment: ++$x, $x++
Decrement: −−$x, $x−−
Positive: +$x
Negative: −$x
Logical negation: !$x
Invoke in current scope: .$x
Invoke in new scope: &$x
Cast: [type-name] cast-expression
Cast: +$x
Array: ,$array
See also
Binary operation
Iterated binary operation
Ternary operation
Arity
Operation (mathematics)
Operator (programming)
References
1. Weisstein, Eric W. "Unary Operation" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/UnaryOperation.html).
mathworld.wolfram.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
2. Weisstein, Eric W. "Binary Operation" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/BinaryOperation.html).
mathworld.wolfram.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
3. "Absolute value" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_value#:~:text=For%20any%20real,as%5B
8%5D).
4. "Negative number" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_number#:~:text=Negative%20number
s%20can%20be%20thought%20of%20as%20resulting%20from%20the%20subtraction%20of%20
a%20larger%20number%20from%20a%20smaller.%20For%20example%2C%20negative%20thr
ee%20is%20the%20result%20of%20subtracting%20three%20from%20zero%3A).
5. "Unary Operators" (https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-unary-operators/).
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7/14/23, 9:43 AM Unary operation - Wikipedia
6. "Chapter 5. Expressions and Operators". C/C++ Language Reference (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20121016081612/http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27002103&aid=1).
www-01.ibm.com. Version 6.0. p. 109. Archived from the original (http://www-01.ibm.com/support/
docview.wss?uid=swg27002103&aid=1) on 2012-10-16.
7. "Unary Operators - C Tutorials - Sanfoundry" (http://www.sanfoundry.com/c-tutorials-different-unar
y-operators-operate-operands/). www.sanfoundry.com.
External links
Media related to Unary operations at Wikimedia Commons
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