LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS

(CONTINUATION)

• like any ordinary language, sentences of mathematics

also have complicated structures which can be easily
understood if one knows the terminologies (e.g.
expressions and sentences in math; noun, verb, etc. in
math)
• some parts of speech in the math language are very
similar to those in natural language but some are quite
different.

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EXAMPLES
Some oddities in mathematical
language:
Mathematical sentence:
Two plus three equals x.

Ordinary English sentence:

Alden and Daniel love Kathlyn.
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EXAMPLES

Three different meanings of “is”:

(1)2 is a square root of 4.
(2) 2 is less than 5.
(3)2 is a prime number.

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BASIC CONCEPTS
(RECALL BASIC EDUCATION MATHEMATICS)

Mathematical sentences can be written using the following:

•Sets (e.g. Field Axioms of the set of Real Numbers; Venn
Diagram)
•Functions (e.g. Vertical line Test; Inverse of a Function)
•Relations (e.g. Cartesian product; mappings)
•Binary Operations (e.g. composite function)

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THE LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS IN: SETS,
FUNCTIONS, RELATIONS, AND BINARY
OPERATIONS

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SETS

A set is a well-defined group or collection of objects such as numbers

or points.
Elements are the members on the set.
symbol : ϵ
2 ϵ P where P is a set of prime numbers
Set theoretic terms:
{(x,y): x2 +y2 = 1}
represents a circle of radius 1

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FUNCTIONS

Functions can transform one mathematical object into another

one.
EXAMPLES:
•Square root of, 3 plus, two times
•Sine, Tangent, logarithm
•The derivative of sin(x) is cos(x)
•d(sin(x))=cos(x)

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FUNCTIONS

•Functions behave like nouns when used in mathematical

sentences.
EX 5 is less than 7
The square root of 25 is less than 7.
•Functions can have properties that can be used conveniently in
some mathematical sentences

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RELATION SYMBOLS

•Relation symbols behave like adjectives

•Refers to a property rather than an object
•Statement of relationship
EX 2 is less than 5
Ex “Equals” and “is an element of” are two other examples of
relations

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BINARY OPERATIONS

•Acts like a conjunction that sits between two objects

(nouns)
EX “two plus four”
•Some familiar examples of binary operations are “plus”,
“minus”, “times”, “divided by” and “raised to the”

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MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND
SYMBOLIC LOGIC

Recall/Think:

What conventions in
mathematics are used in Logic
(as learned in Gen. Math?)
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