Mathematical

Language
and
Symbols
Language is the system of words, signs
and symbols which people use to
express ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Language consists of the words, their
pronunciation and the methods of
combining them to be understood by a
community.
Language is a systematic means of
communicating ideas or feelings by the
use of conventionalized signs, sounds,
gestures or marks having understood
meanings
Language is a systematic
means of communicating by
the use of sounds or
conventional symbols.
Language is a system of words
used in a particular discipline.
Language is a set (finite or
infinite) of sentences, each
finite in length and constructed
out of a finite of elements.
The definition describes the language in
terms of the following components:
- A vocabulary of symbols or words.
- A grammar consisting of rules of how these symbols may be used.
- A syntax or proportional structure, which places the symbols in
linear structures.
- A discourse or narrative consisting of strings of syntactic
propositions.
- A community of people who use and understand these symbols.
- A range of meaning that can be communicated with these symbols.
Mathematics in the English-speaking world is
communicated using two Languages
1. Mathematical English
- It is part of the English language used for making formal
mathematical statements, specifically to communicate
definitions, theorems, proofs and examples. Many
ordinary English words are used in Mathematical
English with different meanings. In some ways,
Mathematical English is a foreign language. Other
languages also have special mathematical forms.
Mathematics in the English-speaking world is
communicated using two Languages
2. Symbolic Language
- The symbolic language of mathematics is a special-
purpose language. It has its own symbols and rules
of grammar that are quite different from those of
English. We can usually read expressions in the
symbolic language in any Mathematical article
written in any language.
The vocabulary of Mathematics
The symbolic language consists of symbolic expressions
written in the way mathematicians traditionally write
them. A symbol is a typographical character such as 𝑥, Φ,
∪, ∞. It is also includes symbols that are specific to
mathematics, such as <, ↔, 𝛽, ∞ expression that stands
for something.

A symbolic expression consists of symbols arranged

according to specific rules.
Types of Symbolic Expressions
1. Symbolic Assertions
- A complete statement that stands alone as a sentence.
Example:
a. 𝜋 > 0 is a symbolic assertion.
b. 𝑥 > 0 is true for 𝑥 = 5 and many other numbers and false for
𝑥 = −0.001 and many other numbers.
c. The symbolic assertion 𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 1 = 0 is true for the number
𝑥 = 2, but not for any other number.
d. 𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2 = (𝑥 − 𝑦)(𝑥 + 𝑦) is a symbolic assertion with two
variables.
Types of Symbolic Expressions
2. Symbolic Statements
- A symbolic assertion without variables. It is either true or false.
Example:
a. 𝜋 > 0 and 42 = 16 are symbolic statements.
b.𝜋 < 0 and 2 + 3 = 7 are false symbolic statements. Even though
false, they are still regraded as symbolic statements.
Types of Symbolic Expressions
3. Symbolic Terms
- A symbolic expression that refers to some mathematical object.
Example:
a. The expression 52 is a symbolic term. It is another name for the
number 25.
b. 𝑥 3 is a symbolic term containing a variable 𝑥. This means the term
containing a variable 𝑥. This means the term has variable meaning
depending on which value is substituted for 𝑥. For example, if you set
𝑥 = 2, we get 23 , another name for 8.
c. 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 𝑥𝑦 is symbolic term with two variables. If you substitute 2
for 3 for y then the expression denotes the integer 7.
Grammar of the Symbolic Language
- The symbolic language of mathematics has its own
rules of grammar that are quite different from those of
English.
1. In symbolic expressions, the symbols and the
arrangement of the symbols both communicate
meaning:
Examples:
a. 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥, 2𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥, and cos2 𝑥 all mean different things.
b. sin2 𝑥 and 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 2 mean the same thing.
c. 𝑥2𝑐𝑜𝑠 is meaningless.
2. In mathematics the order of operation is more
important. It is a collection of some rules which gives the
procedures to perform first in order to evaluate a given
mathematical expressions.
Examples
a. 2 ∙ 5 + 3 means the multiplication first, then add the
five, getting 13, whereas 2 ∙ (5 + 3) means do the
addition first, then multiply the result by 2, getting 16.
b. 4 + 32 first calculate 32 = 9 getting 4 + 9, then
calculate 4 + 9, getting 13. But 4 + 3 2 means 72 .
Mathematical Language is the system used to
communicate mathematical ideas.

Mathematical Language has its own grammar,

syntax, vocabulary, word order, synonyms,
conventions, idioms, abbreviations, sentence
structure and paragraph structure. It has
certain language features unparalleled in other
languages, such as representation.

Mathematical Language also includes a large

component of logic. The ordinary language
which gradually expands to comprise
symbolisms and logic leads to learning of
mathematics and its useful application to
problem situations.
Four main actions attributed to problem-solving and
reasoning
1. Modelling and Formulating: Creating appropriate representations
and relationships to mathematize the original problem.
2. Transforming and manipulating: Changing the mathematical form in
which a problem is originally expressed to equivalent forms that
represent solutions.
3. Inferring: Applying derived results to the original problem situation,
and interpreting and generalizing the results in that light.
4. Communicating: Reporting what has been learned about a problem
to a specified audience.
Objectives
The students will be able to:
1. Discuss the language, symbols, and conventions of
mathematics;
2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a language;
3. Perform operations on mathematical expressions correctly; and
4. Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language.
Characteristics of Mathematical Language
The use of language in mathematics differs from the language of
ordinary speech in three important ways:
1. Mathematical language is non-temporal. There is no past, present
or future in mathematics.
2. Mathematical language is devoid of emotional content.
3. Mathematical language is precise.
Vocabulary understanding is
a major contributor to overall
comprehension in many
content areas, including
mathematics.
Operation Terms and Symbols
Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division
+ − 𝑥, ,∗ [÷,/]
- Plus - Minus - Multiplied by - Divided by
- The sum of - The difference - The product of - The quotient of
- Increased by of - Times of - per
- Total - Decreased by
- Subtracted
from
Multivariate mathematical expressions have more than
one variables:

Example:
- 5𝑥𝑦 + 9𝑥 − 12
- 31𝑎𝑏𝑐
- 9𝑦/3𝑥
Mathematical Expressions
consist of terms. The terms is
separated from other terms
with either plus or minus
signs. A single term may
contain an expression in
parentheses or other
grouping symbols.
Types of Mathematical Expressions
 Mathematical Sentence combines two mathematical
expressions using a comparison operator. These expressions
either use numbers, variables or both. The comparison
operators include equal, not equal, greater than, greater than
or equal to, less than and less than or equal to. The signs which
convey equality or inequality are also called relation symbols
because they specify how two expres-sions are related. A
mathematical expressions containing the equal sign is an
equation. The two parts of an equation are called members. A
mathematical expression containing the inequality sign is an
inequality.
Example of an equation
Example of Inequalities
Conventions in the Mathematical Language
2 things to consider to
understand symbols
Context – refers to the particular topics being
studied and it is important to understand the
context to understand mathematical symbols.

Convention – is a technique used by

mathematicians, engineers, scientists in which
each particular symbol has particular meaning.
Greek and Latin letters are used as symbols for physical
quantities and special functions and conventionally, for
variables representing certain quantities.
Basic Concepts
1. SETS
Definition. A set is a well-
defined collection of distinct
objects. The objects that make
up a set is called elements.
 Two ways to describe set
1. Roster/Tabular 2. Rule/Descriptive

The elements in the given set are listed or The common characteristics of the elements are
enumerated, separated by a comma, inside defined. This method uses set builder notation
a pair of braces where x is used to represent any element of the
given set.
 Kinds of Sets
1. Empty/Null/Void Set has no element and is denoted by ∅ by a
pair of braces with no element inside, i.e. {}
2. Finite Set has countable number of elements, i.e. A = {1, 2, 3, 4,
5}
3. Infinite Set has uncountable number of elements, A = {…, -3, -2,
-1, 0, …}
4. Universal Set is the totality of all the elements of the sets
under consideration, denoted by U, i.e. U = {…-2, -1, 0, 1, 2,…}
Two or more sets may be related to each other
as described by the ff:
1. Equal Sets have been the same elements
2. Equivalent Sets have the same number of
elements
3. Joint Sets have at least one common element
4. Disjoint Sets have no common element
Subset is a set every element
of which can be found on a
bigger set. The symbol ⊂
means “a subset of” while ⊄
means “not a subset of”.
Improper Subset (⊆) – if the first set equals the second set. A null set is
always a subset of any given set and is considered an improper subset
of the given set.

Proper Subset (⊂) – other than the set itself and the null set, all are
considered proper subsets.

Power Set – the set containing all the subsets of the given set with n
number of elements.
Operations of Sets
Suppose there are Sets A and B.
1. Union of Sets A and B [denoted by A ∪ 𝐵] is a set whose elements are
found in A and B or in both. In symbol: 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.
2. Intersection of Sets A and B [denoted by 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵] is a set whose elements
are common to both sets. In symbol: 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}.
3. Difference of Sets A and B [denoted by 𝐴 − 𝐵] is a set whose elements
are found in set A but not in set B. In symbol: 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈
𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵}.
4. Complement of Set A [denoted by A’] is a set whose elements are found
in the universal set but not in set A. In symbol: A’ = {𝑥/𝑥 ∈∪ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉
𝐴}.
The pictorial representation of relationship
and operations of set is the so called Venn-
Euler Diagrams or simply Venn Diagrams. The
universal set is usually represented by a
rectangle while circles with the rectangle
usually represent it subsets. The shaded
region in the diagrams illustrates the sets
relation or operation.
 Leonhard Euler (15 April 1707 – 18
John Venn (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) - September 1783) – was a Swiss
an English Logician an Philosopher mathematician, physicist, astronomer,
logician, and engineer.
2. FUNCTIONS
Definition. Functions are
mathematical entities that give
unique outputs to particular
inputs. A functions consists of
argument (input to a function),
value (output), domain (set of
all permitted inputs to given
function) and codomain (set of
permissible outputs).
Operations of Functions
Let f and g are the given functions:
1. The sum f + g is the function defined by: y = (f + g) x = f(x) +
g(x)
2. The difference of f – g is the function by: y = (f – g) x = f(x)
– g(x)
3. The product f*g is the function defined by: y = (f*g) x =
f(x)*g(x)
𝒇 𝑓 𝑓 𝑥
4. The quotient is the function defined by: y = 𝑥=
𝒈 𝑔 𝑔 𝑥
Example
Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 4 − 5𝑥
Find: 𝑓 2 + 𝑔 3

Solution: 𝑓 2 +𝑔 3 =3 2 +2+ 4−5 3

𝑓 2 +𝑔 3 = 8 + 4 − 15
𝑓 2 +𝑔 3 = 8 + −11
𝑓 2 +𝑔 3 = 8 − 11
𝑓 2 +𝑔 3 =3
Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 4 − 5𝑥
Find: 𝑓 𝑥 + 1 − 𝑔 3

Solution: 𝑓 𝑥+1 +𝑔 3 = (3 𝑥 + 1 + 2) − 4 − 5 3
𝑓 𝑥+1 +𝑔 3 = 3𝑥 + 3 + 2) − 4 − 15
𝑓 𝑥+1 +𝑔 3 = (3𝑥 + 3 + 2 − −11 )
𝑓 𝑥+1 +𝑔 3 = (3𝑥 + 3 + 2 + 11)
𝑓 𝑥+1 +𝑔 3 = 3𝑥 + 16
Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 4 − 5𝑥
𝑓 2
Find:
𝑔 3

𝑓 2 3 2 +2 6+2 8 8
Solution: = = = = −
𝑔 3 4−5(3) 4−15 −11 11

Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 4 − 5𝑥
𝑓 𝑥
Find:
𝑔 𝑥

𝑓 𝑥 3𝑥+2
Solution: =
𝑔 𝑥 4−5𝑥
Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 4
𝑓 𝑥
Find:
𝑔 𝑥

𝑓 𝑥 𝑥+2 𝑥+2 1
Solution: Find: = = =
𝑔 𝑥 𝑥 2 −4 (𝑥−2)(𝑥+2) 𝑥−2
Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 2, 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 4
Find: 𝑓 𝑥 ∗ 𝑔(𝑥)

Solution: 𝑓 𝑥 ∗ 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 2 𝑥2 − 4

𝑓 𝑥 ∗ 𝑔 𝑥 = (𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2𝑥 2 − 8)

𝑓 𝑥 ∗ 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 3 + 2𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 − 8
Composite Function:
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑓°𝑔

𝑥+1
Example. Given: 𝑓 𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 𝑥, 𝑔 𝑥 =
2
Find 𝑓 𝑔 𝑥

𝑥+1 𝑥+1
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 =2 −
2 2

𝑥+1
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 = (𝑥 + 1) −
2

2 𝑥+1 − 𝑥+1
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 =
2

2𝑥 + 2 − 𝑥 − 1 𝑥 + 1
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 = =
2 2

𝑥+1
𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 =
2
3. RELATIONS
Definition. A relation is a set of
inputs and outputs, oftentimes
expressed as ordered pairs
(input, output). A relation is a
rule which associates each
element of the first set with at
least one element in the second
set.
 Example

When an independent variable corresponds to more than one variable, it is a

relation. A relation is a correspondence between a first set of variable such
that for some elements of the first set of variables, there correspond at least
two elements of the second set of variables.
4. BINARY OPERATIONS
Definition. Binary means
consisting of two parts. In
mathematics, binary means that
it belongs to a number system
with base 2 and not base 10. A
binary is made up of 0’s and 1’s.
A bit is a single binary digit.
Transform the binary number 1111112 to decimal.
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 26 = 64
1 0 0 0 0 0 = 25 = 32
1 0 0 0 0 = 24 = 16
1 0 0 0 = 23 = 8
1 0 0 = 22 = 4
1 0 = 21 = 2
1 = 20 = 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 127

Since 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 127
Convert the decimal number to binary number
1. 2510 = 110012 =000110012 =198

20 21 22 23 24

1 2 4 8 16

1 0 0 1 1

25 – 16 = 9
9–8=1
Convert the decimal number to binary number
1. 80.2510 = 1010000.012

Left side before decimal point

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

1 2 4 8 16 32 64

0 0 0 0 1 0 1

80 – 64 = 16
For right:
0.25 x 2 = 0.5 0
0.5 x 2 = 1.0 1

Therefore, 0.25 = 012

Converting Binary to Decimal
Given: 1100112 =

1 1 0 0 1 1
25 24 23 22 21 20
32 16 8 4 2 1

32 + 16 + 0 + 0+ 2+ 1= 51
Converting Binary to Decimal
Given: 110010.012 =

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
25 24 23 22 21 20 2−1 2−2
32 16 8 4 2 1 0.5 0.25

32 + 16 + 0 + 0+ 2+ 0 + 0 + 0.25 = 50.25
To convert a decimal number to binary number:

Decimal Binary
0 0
1 20 12
2 21 + 0 102
3 21 + 1 112
4 21 + 0 + 0 1002
5 21 + 0 + 1 1012
6 22 + 21 + 0 1102
Binary Operation is a rule of combining two values to produce a new
value.
A binary operations is said to be commutative if the order of the
arguments is charged and the result is equivalent.
A binary operation is said to be associative if the order of the
parentheses is changed and the result is equivalent.
An element, denoted by e, is said to be identity or neutral element of
the binary operation if under the operation, any element combined
with e results in the same element.
For an element, the inverse represented as a -1, when combined with
under the binary operation results in the identity element for that
binary operation.
Typical examples of binary operations are the addition and
multiplication of numbers and matrices, as well as composition of
functions on a single set. Examples:
On the set of real numbers R, f(a, b) = a + b is a binary operation since
the sum of two real numbers is a real number.
On the set natural numbers N, f(a, b) = a + b is a binary operation
since the sum of two natural numbers is a natural number. This is a
different binary operation than the previous one since the sets are
different.
On the set M(2, 2) of 2 x 2 matrices with real entries, f(A, B) = AB is a
binary operation since the sum of two such matrices is another 2 x 2
matrix.
On the set M (2,2) of 2 x 2 matrices with real
entries, f(A, B) = A + B is a binary operation since
the product of two such matrices is another 2 x 2
matrix.
For a given set C, let S be the set of all functions h:
C → C. Define f: S x S → S by 𝑓(ℎ1 , ℎ2 )(𝑐) =
(ℎ1 , ℎ2 )(𝑐) = ℎ1 (ℎ2 (𝑐)) for all 𝑐 ∈ 𝐶, the
composition of the two functions ℎ1 and ℎ2 in S.
Then f is a binary operation since the composition
of the two functions is another function on the set
C (that is, a member of S).
Elementary Logic
Definition. Logic is the science of formal principles of reasoning or correct
inference. It is the study of principles and methods used to distinguish valid
arguments from those that are not valid. Logic is the expressions of ordered
thoughts starting from axioms and resulting in a conclusion.

Additional Information. Mathematical Logic is the study of reasoning in

mathematics. Mathematical Reasoning is deductive; meaning it consists of
drawing conclusions from given hypothesis.

Note: A more detailed discussion about logic will be presented in Chapter V

Formality
Formality is a relational concept: an expression can be more or less
formal relative to another expression, entailing an ordering of
expressions; yet, no expression can be absolutely formal or absolutely
informal