Module 1

Session Topic 2:
Mathematical language and Symbols

PRELIM – 1ST Semester - A.Y. 2023 – 2024

Prepared by:
Dr. John Paolo P. Severino
 Learning Objectives
1. Describe the Mathematics Language.
2. Illustrate the Operation Terms and Symbols.
3. Analyze the Venn Diagram.
4. Solve the equation using Operations of Functions.
 Mathematical Language
 Mathematical Language is the system used to communicate
mathematical ideas.

 Mathematical Language has its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary,

word order, synonyms, conventions, idioms, abbreviations, sentence
structure and paragraph structure. It has certain language features
unparalleled in other languages, such as representation.

 Mathematical Language also includes a large component of logic.

The ordinary language which gradually expands to comprise
symbolisms and logic leads to learning of mathematics and its useful
application to problem situations.
Four main actions attributed to problem-solving and
reasoning
1. Modelling and Formulating: Creating appropriate
representations and relationships to mathematize the original
problem.
2. Transforming and manipulating: Changing the mathematical
form in which a problem is originally expressed to equivalent
forms that represent solutions.
3. Inferring: Applying derived results to the original problem
situation, and interpreting and generalizing the results in that
light.
4. Communicating: Reporting what has been learned about a
problem to a specified audience.
 Operation Terms and Symbols
Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division
+ − 𝑥, ,∗ [÷,/]
- Plus - Minus - Multiplied by - Divided by
- The sum of - The difference - The product of - The quotient
- Increased by of - Times of of
- Total - Decreased by - per
- Subtracted
from
 Operation Terms and Symbols
2
Multivariate mathematical
expressions have more
3𝑥 + 7𝑥
than one variables:
𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠

Example:
Mathematical Expressions consist
- 5𝑥𝑦 + 9𝑥 − 12
of terms. The terms is separated
- 31𝑎𝑏𝑐 from other terms with either plus or
- 9𝑦/3𝑥 minus signs. A single term may
contain an expression in parentheses
or other grouping symbols.
Types of Mathematical Expressions
 Types of Mathematical Expressions

 Mathematical Sentence combines two mathematical expressions using

a comparison operator.
 These expressions either use numbers, variables or both. The
comparison operators include equal, not equal, greater than, greater
than or equal to, less than and less than or equal to.
 The signs which convey equality or inequality are also called relation
symbols because they specify how two expressions are related. A
mathematical expressions containing the equal sign is an equation. The
two parts of an equation are called members. A mathematical
expression containing the inequality sign is an inequality.
 Conventions in the Mathematical
Language
Symbols

2 things to consider to understand symbols

Context (background) – refers to the particular topics being studied and it

is important to understand the context to understand mathematical
symbols.

Convention – is a technique used by mathematicians, engineers,

scientists in which each particular symbol has particular meaning.
 Conventions in the Mathematical Language

Greek and Latin letters are used as symbols for physical quantities and special
functions and conventionally, for variables representing certain quantities.
 Four Basic Concepts
1. Set. A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. The
objects that make up a set is called elements.

Kinds of Sets
1. Empty/Null/Void Set has no element and is denoted by ∅ by a pair
of braces with no element inside, i.e. {}
2. Finite Set has countable number of elements, i.e. A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
3. Infinite Set has uncountable number of elements, A = {…, -3, -2, -
1, 0, …}
4. Universal Set is the totality of all the elements of the sets under
consideration, denoted by U, i.e. U = {…-2, -1, 0, 1, 2,…}
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d

Two or more sets may be related to each 3. Joint Sets have at least one
other as described by the ff: common element.

1. Equal Sets have been the same

elements.
Ex. A = [ 4, 12, 8, 9, 16 ]
B = [ 9, 8, 12, 16, 4 ]
4. Disjoint Sets have no common
2. Equivalent Sets have the same number element.
of elements
Ex. A = [ A, B, C, D, E ]
B = [ Jan., Feb, Mar, Apr., May]
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d
Improper Subset ( ⊆) – if the first set
Subset is a set every element of which can equals the second set. A null set is
be found on a bigger set. The symbol ⊂ always a subset of any given set and is
means “a subset of” while ⊄ means “not a
subset of”. considered an improper subset of the
given set.

Proper Subset (⊂) – other than the set

itself and the null set, all are considered
proper subsets.

Power Set – the set containing all the

subsets of the given set with n number of
elements.
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d
Operations of Sets
Suppose there are Sets A and B.
1. Union of Sets A and B [denoted by A ∪ 𝐵] is a set whose elements are
found in A and B or in both. In symbol: 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.
2. Intersection of Sets A and B [denoted by 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵] is a set whose elements
are common to both sets. In symbol: 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.
3. Difference of Sets A and B [denoted by 𝐴 − 𝐵] is a set whose elements
are found in set A but not in set B. In symbol: 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵}.
4. Complement of Set A [denoted by A’] is a set whose elements are found in
the universal set but not in set A. In symbol: A’ = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈∪ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}.
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d

The pictorial representation of relationship and

operations of set is the so called Venn-Euler
Diagrams or simply Venn Diagrams. The
universal set is usually represented by a
rectangle while circles with the rectangle
usually represent it subsets. The shaded
region in the diagrams illustrates the sets
relation or operation.

John Venn (4 August 1834 – 4 April

1923) - an English Logician an
Philosopher
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d
Example 3. Find the union (A U
Example 1. Find the intersection (A ∩ B) of the B) of the sets:
sets: A= [ 1, 2, 3, 4]
A= [ 2, 4, 5, 6, 9] B= [ 3, 4, 5, 6]
B= [ 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10]
(A U B )= [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Ans.
(A ∩ B) = [2, 5, 6, 9] Ans.

Example 2. Find the intersection (A ∩ B) of the Example 4. Find the union (A U

sets: B) of the sets:
A= [ 5, 7, 10, 11] J= [ a, c, d, e]
B= [ 2, 4, 8, 9] K= [ a, b, f, e, g]
(A ∩ B) = [Ø] is called Empty Set Ans. (J U K )= [a, b, c, d, e, f, g] Ans.
 Venn-diagram sample
Example 5. There are 100 students survey Math
in a certain University. The data listed below: U (B)
35 – responded English (A),
50 – responded Mathematics (B)
29 – responded Biology (C) 32
12 – responded Mathematics and English
11 – responded Mathematics and Biology
6 7
8 – responded Biology and English
5 – responded all 5
15 20
Intersection 3
Solution:
N (A∩B) = 12
N (U) = 100
N (B∩C) = 11 Biology English
N (A) = 35 (C) (A)
N (A∩C) = 8
N (B) = 50
N[(A∩B) ∩C] = 5
N (C) = 29
 Four Basic Concepts – Sets..cont’d
Example 5. There are 100 students survey in a certain
University. The data listed below:
35 – responded English Math
50 – responded Mathematics
29 – responded Biology 32
12 – responded Mathematics and English
8 – responded English and Biology
11 – responded Mathematics and Biology
5 – responded all
6 7
Question: 5
1. How many students are not taking any of the three
subjects? 12 15 20
2. How many students take Math, but not Biology or English? 3
32
3. How many students take Math and English, but not
Biology? 7 Biology English
*Note: 100 students survey is GIVEN value

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaOww4di7ps
 Four Basic Concepts

2. Functions
Functions are mathematical entities that
give unique outputs to particular inputs.
A functions consists of argument (input
to a function), value (output), domain
(set of all permitted inputs to given
function) and codomain (set of
permissible outputs).
 Four Basic Concepts – Functions..cont’d

Operations of Functions

Let f and g are the given functions:

1. The sum f + g is the function defined by: y = (f + g) x = f(x) + g(x)
2. The difference of f – g is the function by: y = (f – g) x = f(x) – g(x)
3. The product f*g is the function defined by: y = (f*g) x = f(x)*g(x)
𝒇 𝑓 𝑓 𝑥
4. The quotient is the function defined by: y = 𝑥=
𝒈 𝑔 𝑔 𝑥
 Four Basic Concepts – Functions..cont’d

1. The sum f + g is the function defined by: y = (f + g) x = f(x) + g(x)

Example 1: Given f (x) = 2x + 1 and g(x) = x² + 2x – 1, find (f + g) x. Then

evaluate the sum when x = 3.

Solution:
(f + g) x = f(x) + g(x) = (2x + 1) + (x² + 2x – 1) = x² + 4x
When x = 3, the value of this sum is
(f + g) (3) = 3² + 4(3) = 21 Ans.
Four Basic Concepts – Functions..cont’d

2. The difference of f – g is the function by: y = (f – g) x = f(x) – g(x)

Example 2: Given f (x) = 2x + 1 and g(x) = x² + 2x – 1, find (f - g) x.

Then evaluate the difference when x = 2

Solution
The difference of f and g is
(f – g) x = f(x) – g(x) = 2x + 1 – (x² + 2x – 1) = - x² + 2
when x = 2, the value of difference is
(f – g) (2) = - (2)² + 2 = -2 Ans.
 Four Basic Concepts – Functions..cont’d

3. The product f*g is the function defined by: y = (f*g) x = f(x)*g(x)

Example 2: Given f (x) = x² and g(x) = x – 3, find (f*g) x. Then evaluate

the product when x = 4

Solution
(f*g) x = f(x)*g(x) = (x²)(x – 3) = x³ – 3x²
when x = 4, the value of the product is
(f*g) 4 = 4³ - 3(4)² = 16 Ans.
 Four Basic Concepts – Function..cont’d
3. Relation
It is a set of inputs and outputs,
oftentimes expressed as ordered
pairs (input, output). A relation is a
rule which associates each element
of the first set with at least one
element in the second set.
When an independent variable
corresponds to more than one variable,
it is a relation.
A relation is a correspondence
between a first set of variable such that
for some elements of the first set of
variables, there correspond at least two
elements of the second set of variables.
Thank You