MATHEMATICAL

LANGUAGE AND
SYMBOLS
2-minute activity

• What is language to you ?

• Why do you think it is important to have a
common language?
• What is mathematical language to you?
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 state a complete thought.
Identify if expression or sentence. If sentence identify if
English or mathematical then circle the verb.

1. cat 2. 2 3. 1 + 2 = 4 4. 5 − 3
5. The word ‘cat’ begins with the letter ‘ k ’.
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 16. Hat sat bat.
context - this is the context in which we are working, or the particular topics being studied,
convention - where mathematicians and scientists have decided that particular symbols will have particular
Languages have conventions. In English, for example, it is
conventional to capitalize proper names (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 also has its conventions, which

help readers distinguish between different types of
mathematical expressions.
Undefined Term

An undefined term is a term that can't be defined so easily.

These terms are the building blocks in geometry.
Sometimes it is goodto define terms by its example or
through objects or models.
Example: A point has no dimensions ( thickness,length ,
width ,heightand weight) it is representedby a DOT or
POINT.
Defined Term is a term that has some sort of definition based
from the undefined terms.
Set is a collection of well defined objects which are distinct from each
other. Sets are usually denoted by capital letters A B C ...K and elements
are usually denoted by small letters a b c ...
If a is an element of a set A, then we write a ∈A and say a belongs to A
or a is in A or a is a member of A. If a does not belongs to A, we write a
∉A .
Standard Notations
N : A set of natural numbers. W : A set of whole numbers.
Z : A set of integers. Z+/ Z− : A set of all positive/negative integers.
Q : A set of all rational numbers.
Q +Q − / : A set of all positive/negative rational numbers.
R : A set of real numbers. R+ R − / : A set of all positive/negative real
numbers. C : A set of all complex numbers.
Methods for Describing a Set

(i) Roster/Listing Method/Tabular Form In this method, a

set is described by listing element, separated by commas,
within braces.
e.g. A = { a,e i,o ,u }

1) Let A = {1,2,3} , B= {3,1,2} and C= {1,1,2,3,3,3} . What are the

elements of A,B and C? How are they related?
2) Is {0} = 0?
3) How many elements are in the set? {1, {1}}?
4) For each nonnegative integer n, let Un = {n-n} . Find U1, U2, U0.
(ii) Set Builder/Rule Method In this method, we write down a
property or rule which gives us all the elements of the set by
that rule. e.g. A = {x/x is a vowel of English alphabets}

Given that R denotes the set of all real numbers , Z the set of all
integers and Z+ the set of all positive integers , describe each of the
following sets.
a) { x R / -2 < x < 5}
b) {x  Z / -2 < x < 5}
c) { x  Z+ / -2 < x < 5}
(ii) Set Builder/Rule Method In this method, we write down a
property or rule which gives us all the elements of the set by
that rule. e.g. A = {x/x is a vowel of English alphabets}

Types of Sets
(i) Finite Set A set containing finite number of elements or no element.
(ii) Cardinal Number of a Finite Set The number of elements in a given
finite set is called cardinal number of finite set, denoted by n A( ).
(iii) Infinite Set A set containing infinite number of elements.
(iv) Empty/Null/Void Set A set containing no element, it is
denoted by φ or { }.
(v) Singleton Set A set containing a single element.
(vi) Equal Sets Two sets A and B are said to be equal, if every
element of A is a member of B and every element of B is a
member of A and we write A = B .
(vii) Equivalent Sets Two sets are said to be equivalent, if
they have same number of elements.
If n (A) = n(B) then A and B are equivalent sets.
(viii) Subset and Superset Let A and B be two sets. If every
element of A is an element of B, then A is called subset of B
and B is called superset of A. Written as A ⊆B or B ⊇A.
(ix) Proper Subset If A is a subset of B and A ≠ B , then A is called
proper subset of B and we write A ⊂ B.
(x) Universal Set (U) A set consisting of all possible elements which
occurs under consideration is called a universal set.
(xi) Comparable Sets Two sets A and B are comparable, if A ⊆ B or
B ⊆A.
(xii) Non-Comparable Sets For two sets A and B , if neither A⊆B nor
B⊆A , then A and B are called non-comparable sets.
(xiii) Power Set The set formed by all the subsets of a given set A, is
called power set of A, denoted by P(A).
(xiv) Disjoint Sets Two sets A and B are called disjoint, if A∩B = φ.
i.e. they do not have any common element.
For two sets A and B (non-empty sets), the set of all ordered pairs (a,
b) such that a ∈A and b ∈B is called Cartesian product of the sets A
and B, denoted by A × B . A xB = {(a,b ) : aA and b ∈B }

If there are three sets A, B, C and a ∈A, b ∈B, c ∈C , and , then we

form an ordered triplet (a, b, c). The set of all ordered triplets (a, b,
c) is called the cartesian product of these sets A, B and C.
i.e. Ax Bx C = {( a,b c, ): a∈A, b ∈B, c ∈C}
 Let A = {1,2,3} and B = {u,v}.

a) Find A x B.
b) Find B x A.
c) Find B x B
d) How many elements are in A x B, B x A and B x B?
e) Is A × B = B × A ?
f) Is n (A × B) = n (B × A) ?
RELATION AND FUNCTION
A Relation R from a non-empty set A to a non empty set B is a
subset of the Cartesian product set A × B. The subset is derived by
describing a relationship between the first element and the second
element of the ordered pairs in A × B.
The set of all first elements in a relation R, is called the domain of the
relation R, and the set of all second elements called images, is called
the range of R.
Describing and Visualizing Functions
Functions as Machines
• You can make an analogy between a function and a machine (like a meat
grinder). The purpose of this analogy is to link together the abstract symbols
used in function notation with a mechanical device that you are already very
familiar with.
x− this is the unprocessed meat that goes into the meat grinder.
f− this is the name of the machine that is being used (the meat grinder itself)
f(x)− this is the stuff (ground meat) that comes out of the machine.
Function notation machine:
 Student Grade
Mark 8
Stve 7
Mary 10
Functions as Ordered Pairs
Functions as Graphs
A function whose domain and range are sets of numbers can be graphed on
a set of x− and y−axes: if f(x) = y, plot the points (x, y) for all x in the domain
of the function.
TYPES OF FUNCTION
EXAMPLES:
1) Find x and y if:
(i) (4x + 3, y) = (3x + 5, – 2) (ii) (x – y, x + y) = (6, 10)

2)

3)
A fitness club charges an initiation fee of P2000 plus P1500 per month.
a) Write a formula for a function C(x), that gives the total cost for using the
fitness club facilities after x months.
b) Calculate C(18) and explain in words its meaning .
c) When will the total amount spent by a club member first exceed P10,000?

A function has the formula P(N) = 8n − 50. The range for P is {46, 62, 78}.
What is the domain?
Properties
(i) Generally binary operations are represented by the symbols
* , ⊕, ... etc., instead of letters figure etc.
(ii) Addition is a binary operation on each one of the sets N, Z,
Q, R and C of natural numbers, integers, rationals, real and
complex numbers, respectively. While addition on the set S of
all irrationals is not a binary operation.
(iii) Multiplication is a binary operation on each one of the sets
N, Z, Q, R and C of natural numbers, integers, rationals, real and
complex numbers, respectively. While multiplication on the set
S of all irrationals is not a binary operation.
(iv) Subtraction is a binary operation on each one of the sets Z, Q, R and C
of integers, rationals, real and complex numbers, respectively. While
subtraction on the set of natural numbers is not a binary operation.

(v) Let S be a non-empty set and P (S ) be its power set. Then, the union,
intersection and difference of sets, on P (S ) is a binary operation.

(vi) Division is not a binary operation on any of the sets N, Z, Q, R and C.

However, it is not a binary operation on the sets of all non-zero rational
(real or complex) numbers.

(vii) Exponential operation (a, b)→ a b is a binary operation on set N of

natural numbers while it is not a binary operation on set Z of integers.