MATHEMATICAL
LANGUAGE AND
SYMBOLS
Bryan S. Tapnio, LPT, MMEM, CEPL
Assistant Professorial Lecturer 1
Languages
●defined as a systematic means of
communicating ideas or feelings by
the use of conventionalized signs,
sound, gestures, or marks having
understood meanings;
Mathematics
●– is a system of communication about
objects like numbers, variables, sets,
operations, functions and equations
●The aforementioned components, as
defined in the dictionary, are found in
mathematics, thus mathematics qualifies as
a language.
Importance of Language
● Invented to communicate ideas with the others
● Language of mathematics was designed to interpret:
○ Numbers
○ Sets
○ Functions
○ Perform Operations
Language of Mathematics
Are used in the following;
●As universal Language in terms of numbers,
letters and symbols.
●As mathematical expressions / sentences
●As mathematical equations
●As mathematical sentence
Math Symbols Commonly used in
Mathematics
Familiarize with the ff:
To understand symbols:
● Know the context
To understand symbols:
● Know the conventions (facts, names, usage, etc)
The Grammar of Mathematics
Characteristics of the Language of
Mathematics
●Precise – able to make very fine distinctions
●Concise – able to say things briefly
●Powerful – able to express complex thoughts
with relative ease
Order of Operations
●GEMDAS – is used to remember the order of operations in
Math Problems
●G for grouping symbols such as parenthesis, brackets, and
braces
●E for exponents
●M for Multiplication
●D for Division
●A for Addition
●S for Subtraction
GEMDAS Example:
●Example 1
3 + 6 X ( 5 +4 ) ÷ 3 – 7
3+6X9 ÷3–7
3 + 54 ÷ 3- 7
3 +18 – 7
21 – 7
14
Example GEMDAS
●Example 2
36 – 2( 20 + 12 ÷ 4 x 3 – 2 x 2 ) + 10
36 – 2( 20 + 3 x 3 – 4 ) + 10
36 – 2( 20 + 9 – 4) + 10
36 – 2(29 – 4) + 10
36 – 2(25) + 10
36 – 50 + 10
–14 + 10
-4
Elementary Logic- variables
●Example 1.
A number when added to 8, it will give 15
X + 8 = 15
●Example 2.
A number from which 6 is subtracted
will give 8
X–6=8
Elementary Logic
●Example 3.
A number multiplied by 4 will give 20.
4X =20
●Example 4.
A number divided by 5 will give 10
𝑥
= 10
5
Activity 2
Write an algebraic expression for each phrase.
