WIT.B.

23
Issue: 2
Revision: 0
Approved: President
WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Date: November 24, 2014
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Website: www.wit.edu.ph E-mail: wit@wit.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

MATHEMATICS IN THE
MODERN WORLD

MODULE 3

________________________
Name of Student

_______________________________________
Course and Year

Prepared by:
Prof. Ninfa Sua-Sotomil
Josefino Darcy Balasoto
 ABOUT THE COURSE

Course Number: Math 1

Course Title: Mathematics in the Modern World
Course Description: This course deals with the nature of mathematics, appreciation of its practical
and intellectual and aesthetic dimensions, and application of mathematical tools in
daily life.
The course begins with an introduction to the nature of mathematics as an
exploration of pattern (in nature and the environment) and as an application of
inductive and deductive reasoning. By exploring these topics, students are
encouraged to go beyond the typical understanding of mathematics as merely a set
of formulas but as a source of aesthetics in patterns of nature, for example, and a
rich language in itself (and of science) governed by logic and reasoning.
The course then proceeds to survey ways in which mathematics provide a tool for
understanding and dealing with various aspects of present – day living, such as
managing personal finances, making social choices, appreciating geometric designs,
understanding codes used in data transmission and security, and dividing limited
resources fairly. These aspects will provide opportunities for actually doing
mathematics in a broad range of exercses
Pre-requisite: None
Credit Units: 3 Units

Course Outline
Section I. The Nature of Mathematics
2. Mathematical Language and Symbols
 Characteristics of mathematical language: precise, concise, powerful
 Expressions vs. sentences
 Conventions in the mathematical language
 Four basic concepts: sets, functions, relations, binary operations

References:
CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, series of 2013. (4 July 2013). General Education Curriculum:
Holistic understandings, intellectual and civic competencies
Nocon R. et al. (2018). Essential Mathematics for the Modern World. Quezon City: C & E Publishing,
Inc.
 SESSION 3. THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS

Good day, learner! I hope that you had understood the

significant natural pattern of the Fibonacci sequence, as
well as your past lessons. This time, you will delve into
seeing mathematics in a different light, and I am hoping
that you will see it, too. As a language of its own,
mathematics has affected everyone inside and outside the
planet, as well as create progress that made our everyday
lives easier and more productive. Due to its universality,
some would say that Mathematics is the language of God.
May you have excitement, knowing you are learning so!

Mathematical Language

The language of mathematics makes it easy to express the kinds of thoughts that mathematicians
like to express. It is:
 Precise (able to make very fine distinctions);
 Concise (able to say things briefly);
 Powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative ease).
Language is a “systematic means” of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional
symbols” (Hen, 2010, p. 353). It is the code that humans use as a form of expressing themselves and
communicating with others. It may also be defined as system of words used in a particular discipline.
These definitions describe language in terms of the following components:
 A vocabulary of symbols or words
 A grammar consisting of rules on the use of these symbols
 A community of people who use and understand these symbols
 A range of meanings that can be communicated with these symbols.
Since all of the aforementioned components are found in mathematics, it also qualifies as a
language. Mathematics is a system of communication about objects like numbers, variables, sets,
operations, functions, and equations. It is a collection of both symbols and their meaning shared by
a global community of people who have an interest in the subject. Regardless how here in the world
learners of math come from or what language they speak, they will likely understand what those
symbols mean. It must be noted that no language is self – explanatory. The language of mathematics
is certainly non – instinctive and must be learned.
Mathematics is a universal language, the only one shared by all human beings regardless of
culture, religion, or gender. A person uses the same calculation process when computing, for
example, interest earned for investments in peso, dollar, euro or yen. Not everyone can be proficient
in English, French, Chinese, or Japanese but most possess math literacy. This shared language
called numeracy connects people across continents and through time. Mathematics is not just for
mathematics majors, but for everyone. It is not just about calculating complicated equations, but
about making lives more efficient, more secure, richer, and fuller.

Elements of the Mathematical Language

Like other languages, mathematics has nouns, pronouns, verbs, and sentences. It has its own
vocabulary, grammar, syntax, synonyms, negations, sentences structure, paragraph structure,
conventions, and abbreviations. It is designed in such a way that one can write about numbers, sets,
functions, etc. as well as the processes undergone by these elements (like adding, multiplying,
grouping, and evaluating).
Mathematics uses many symbols. There are ten digits (0, 1, 2, …, 9), symbols for operations (+ ,–
, x, ÷), symbols that represent values, (x, y, z, etc.), and many other special symbols (+. <, ≤, 𝜋, etc.).
Letters often (but not always) have special uses as follows:
Start of the alphabet a, b, c For constants (fixed values)
From I to n i, j, k, n Positive integers (for counting)
End of the alphabet x, y, z For variables (unknown)
 Like in normal languages, the correspondence between symbols and their meaning are
conventions rather than rules.
Illustration:
In the equation y = ax + b, it is assumed that a and b are constants and x is a variable whose
values changes, which in turn makes the variable y change its value as well.
Even though the words “noun,” “verb,” or “pronoun” are not used in mathematics, the similarities
with the English language can be observed:
 Nouns could be constants, such as numbers or expressions with numbers:
1
12, 2(4 − 3), − 58
 A verb could be the equal sign = , or inequality symbols like > or ≤.
 Pronouns could be variables like x or y:
4
5x – 8, 2xy, − 𝑥
 Sentences could be form by putting together these parts;
3x + 7 = 24, 2x + 2y = 7
The mathematical analogue of a “noun” will be called an expression. Thus an expression is a
name given to a mathematical object of interest. Whereas in English we need to talk about people,
places, and things, we’ll see that mathematics has much different ‘objects of interest’.
The mathematical analogue of a ‘sentence’ will also be called a sentence. A mathematical
sentence, just as an English sentence, must take a complete thought. The table below summarizes
the analogy
English Mathematics
Name given to an object of NOUN EXPRESSION
interest: (person, place, thing) Examples:
Examples: Carol, Idaho, book 5, 2 + 3, ½
a complete thought SENTENCE SENTENCE
Examples: Examples:
The capital of Idaho is Boise. 3+4=7
The capital of Idaho is Pocatello. 3+4=8
Languages have conventions. In English, it is conventional to capitalize proper nouns (like ‘Carol’
and ‘Idaho’). This convention makes it easy for a reader to distinguish between a common noun (like
‘carol’, a Christmas song) and a proper noun (like ‘Carol’). Mathematics has its conventions, which
help readers distinguish between different types of mathematical expressions.

Exercise Set 3.
Classify the entries in the list below as
 An English noun, or a mathematical expression
 An English sentence, or a mathematical sentence
1. Cat _______________
2. 2 _______________
3. The word ‘’cat’ begins with the letter ‘k’ _______________
4. 1 + 2 = 4 _______________
5. 5 – 3 _______________
6. 5 – 3 = 2 _______________
7. The cat is black. _______________
8. x _______________
9. x = 1 _______________
10. x – 1 = 0 _______________
11. t + 3 _______________
12. t + 3 = 3 + t _______________
13. This sentence is false _______________
14. x + 0 = x _______________
15. 1 ∙ x = x _______________
 Four Basic Concepts

1. Sets
A collection of objects, and in mathematical discourse these objects are mathematical ones
such as numbers, points in space or other sets.
The members of a set are usually called its elements, and the symbol ∈ is usually read “is an
element of”.
Three common ways to denote a specific set, which will be discussed further later:
a. List its elements inside braces: {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19}.
b. Use dots to imply a list that is too long to write down”
{1, 2, 3, … , 100}
c. Define a set via property;
{𝑥: 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 < 20}
2. Functions
Function – is a set of ordered pairs of number (x, y) in which no two distinct ordered pairs
have the same first number.
A function f from a set A to a set B is a correspondence, or rule, which assigns to each element
a of A exactly one element b of B .

The set of all admissible values of x is called the domain of the function, and the set of all resulting
values of y is called the range of the function.

Bijection, bijective function or one – to – one correspondence – is a function between the

elements of two sets, where each element of one set is paired with exactly one element of the other
set, and each element of the other set is paired with exactly one element of the first set.
In this definition, the restriction that no two distinct ordered pairs can have the same first number
ensures that y is unique for a specific value of x. The symbols x and y denote variables. Because
the value of y is dependent on the choice of x, x denotes the independent variable and y denotes
the dependent variable.

f(x) – read as “f of x”
– called as a function value
– due to Swiss Mathematician and Physicist Leonhard Euler (1707 – 1783).

3. Relations
A set of ordered pairs. An alternative definition of what it means for a relation ~, defined on a
set A, to be an equivalence relation is that it has the following three properties.
a. Reflexive, which means that x ~ x for every x in A.
b. Symmetric, which means that if x and y are elements of A and x ~ y then it must also be the
case the y ~ 𝑥.
c. Transitive, meaning that if x, y and z are elements of A such that x ~ y and y ~ z, then it must
be the caser that x ~ z.

4. Binary operations
A function that takes pairs of elements of A and produces elements of A from them. It is a
function with the set of all pairs (x, y) of elements of A as its domain (x) and with A as its range (y).