Mathematical Language and

Symbols
Created @August 21, 2023 12:07 AM

Class MATHEMATICS IN MODERN WORLD

Type Lecture

Reviewed

Importance of the Language of Mathematics

To understand the expressed ideas

To communicate ideas to others

Characteristics of language of mathematics

1. Precise - able to make very fine distinctions

2. Concise - able to say things briefly

3. Powerful - able to express complex thoughts with relative ease

Mathematical Language and Symbols 1

Mathematical Language and Symbols 2
 Expression in mathematics

a mathematical analogue of an English noun

Examples of expressions or mathematical objects:

numbers

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 sets

functions

ordered pairs

matrices

vectors

SIMPLIFY

The most common type of problem involving an expression is to “SIMPLIFY”.

Simplify means to get a different name for the expression that in some way is simple.

SIMPLER

fewer symbols

fewer operations

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 better suited for current use

preferred style/format

Example: fewer symbols

10 – 2 + 4 and 12 are both names of the same number but 12 uses fewer symbols

Example: fewer operations

10+10+10+10 and 4x10 are names of the same number but 4X10 uses fewer operations.
There are three additions in 10+10+10+10 while only one multiplication in 4x10.

Example: better suited for current use

(1 yard) / (3 feet) is another name for the number 1 for converting feet to yard

Example: preferred style or format

The number 5/10 and ½ they are both the same number but ½ is preferred because it is in
simplest form or reduced form.

EXPRESSIONS

have different names; the names we use depends on what we are doing with the expression

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 Mathematical Sentence

analogue of an English sentence

a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols that states a complete thought

contains a verb

The grammar of mathematics

Some difficulties in math language

The word “is” could mean equality, inequality or membership in a set.

Different uses of a number; to express quantity (cardinal), to indicate the order (ordinal), and
as a label (nominal)

Mathematical objects may be represented in many ways, such as sets and functions

The words "and' & "or" means different from its English use

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 Objects that we use in mathematics

Numbers (4 operations and properties)

Variables

Operations (unary & binary)

FOUR BASIC CONCEPTS:

1. Sets (relationships, operations, properties)

2. Relations (Equivalence relations)

3. Functions ( Injective, Surjective , Bijective)

4. Binary Operations

Mathematical language contains numbers and symbols. These mathematical symbols are used to
represent value, a mathematical object, an action on mathematical objects, a relation between
mathematical objects, or for structuring the other symbols that occur in a formula. If you can
recall some of your mathematics subjects in elementary and high school, then you can recall that
symbols allow us to "work with" parts in a theoretical manner like in your algebra, geometry,
calculus, statistics, etc.

Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor

was a German mathematician. He created set theory, which has become a fundamental
theory in mathematics. Cantor established the importance of one-to-one correspondence
between the members of two sets, defined infinite and well-ordered sets, and proved that the
real numbers are more numerous than the natural numbers. In fact, Cantor's method of proof
of this theorem implies the existence of an infinity of infinities. He defined the cardinal and
ordinal numbers and their arithmetic.

Set

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 is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. The objects that make up a set (also known as
the set's elements or members) can be anything: numbers, people, letters of the alphabet,
other sets, and so on.

Venn diagram

also called primary diagram, set diagram or logic diagram, is a diagram that shows all
possible logical relations between a finite collection of different sets. These diagrams depict
elements as points in the plane, and sets as regions inside closed curves. A Venn diagram
consists of multiple overlapping closed curves, usually circles, each representing a set. The
points inside a curve labelled S represent elements of the set S, while points outside the
boundary represent elements not in the set S.

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