Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

University Town, Northern Samar
Web: http://uep.edu.ph; Email: uepnsofficial@gmail.com

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Lecture

in

GE 1
Mathematics in the Modern World

Lecture 1
The Nature of Mathematics
(3 weeks)

MYRCESS P. TENEDERO, MAME

Course Instructor

Second Semester, School Year 2024-2025

Chapter 1: The Nature of Mathematics
1.1 What ismathematics ?
Mathematics is defined as the study of numbers and arithmetic operations. Others describe
mathematics as a set of tools or a collection of skills that can be applied to questions of “how many” or
“how much.” Still, others view it is a science which involves logical reasoning, drawing conclusions from
assumed premises, and strategic reasoning based on accepted rules, laws, or probabilities. Mathematics
is also considered as art which studies patterns for predictive purposes or a specialized language which
deals with form, size, and quantity.
Whatever point of view is taken, there is no denying the fact that mathematics is universal. People from
around the world use math to get things done. It helps them perform daily tasks as well as make important
decisions like buying wisely, choosing the most appropriate insurance plan, or even betting on an outcome
with the highest chance of actually occurring. The same mathematical concepts and language are applied
regardless of whether the users are Asians, Americans, Africans, or Europeans.
In examining the development of mathematics from a historical perspective, it can be seen that much
has been directed towards describing patterns of relationship that are of interest to various individuals.
Patterns arouse curiosity because that can be directly related to common human experiences. In this
chapter, attention will be focused on two points of view: mathematics as a study of patterns and
mathematics as a language.

1.1.1 Study of Patterns

A pattern is an arrangement which helps observers anticipate what they might see or what
happens next. A pattern also shows what may have come before. A pattern organizes information so
that it becomes more useful. The human mind is programmed of make sense of data or to bring
connections between seemingly unrelated bits of information. In doing so, it sees patterns.
Here are examples of pattern-seeking behavior of humans from childhood to adulthood:
 A toddler separates blue blocks from red blocks.
 A kindergarten student learns to count.
 A first grader does skip counting.
 A third grader notices that multiples of two are even numbers.
 A sixth grader creates patterns that cover a plane.
 A junior high school student learns that a function is essentially a pattern of how one number is
transformed to another.
 A college biology undergraduate studies the sequence of DNA and proteins.
 A stock trader studies trends in the stock market.
 A weatherman makes weather forecasts based on atmospheric patterns.
 A doctor decides who is healthy and who is not by recognizing certain health patterns.
Patterns are studied because they are everywhere; people just need to learn to notice them.
Mathematics is a study of patterns. That is one reason why those who use patterns to analyze and
solve problems often find success compared to those who cannot. Those who recognize, generalize,
and use patterns around them are better at solving problems, have deeper appreciation of the uses of
mathematics, and are better equipped to work with mathematics than those who do not.
Below are examples of various patterns.

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 Logic Patterns. Logic patterns are usually the first to be observed. Classifying things, for
example, comes before numeration. These patterns are seen on aptitude tests in which takers
are shown a sequence of pictures and asked to select which figure comes next among several
choices.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Answer (b)
 Number Patterns. Number patterns, such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 are familiar to students since they are
among the first patterns encountered in school. Mathematics is especially useful when it helps
predict events. “What will the 10th number of a certain pattern be? Moving on into the higher
grades, students again encounter number patterns through the concept of functions, which is a
formal description of the relationships among different quantities.

8, 13, 18, 23, 28, . . .

n th term = ?
Answer 5n + 3

 Geometric Patterns. A geometric pattern is a motif or design that depicts abstract shapes like
lines, polygons, and circles, and typically repeats like a wallpaper. Visual patterns are observed
in nature and in art. In art, patterns present objects in a consistent, regular manner. They
appear in paintings, drawings, tapestries, wallpapers, tilings, and carpets. A pattern does not
need to repeat exactly as long as it provides a way of “organizing” the artwork. Nature provides
many examples of patterns, including symmetries, spirals, tilings, stripes, and fractional
dimensions.

Answer Figure 3
 Word Patterns. Patterns can also be found in language like the morphological rules on
pluralizing nouns or conjugating verbs for tense, as well as the metrical rules of poetry.

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 knife : knives life : lives wife : ?

Answer wives

Exercises 1 16ITEMS

1. Do you need mathematics every day? Why?

2. Identify the next shape in the series.

a.

b.

c.

A
3. Calculate 1 + 3 + 5 + . . . + (2n −¿1) for n = 1, 2, . . . , 6. 36 =5PTS
4. Find the values of the last two numbers in the sequence 448, 224, 112, 56, 28, ? , ? . 2PTS.
5. What is the missing number in the sequence 84, ? , 76, 72, . . . 1PT

1.1.2 Mathematical Language

6. What is the formula for the sequence 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, . . . from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . . ? 2PTS.

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 Language is “a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional
symbols” (Chen, 2010, p. 353). It is the code humans use as a form of expressing themselves and
communicating with others. It may also be defined as a system of words used in a particular discipline.

These definitions describe language in terms of the following components:

 a vocabulary of symbols or words
 a grammar consisting of rules on the use of these symbols
 a community of people who use and understand these symbols
 a range of meanings that can be communicated with these symbols

Since all aforementioned components are found in mathematics, it also qualifies as a language.
Mathematics is a system of communication about objects like numbers, variables, sets, operations,
functions, and equations. It is a collection of both symbols and their meaning shared by a global
community of people who have an interest in the subject. Regardless of where in the world learners of
math come from or what language they speak, they will likely understand what those symbols mean. It
must be noted that no language is self-explanatory. The language of mathematics is certainly non-
instinctive and must be learned.

Mathematics is a universal language, the only one shared by all human beings regardless of
culture, religion, or gender. It is not just for mathematics majors, but for everyone. It is not just about
calculating complicated equations, but about making lives more efficient, more secure, richer, and
fuller.

Elements of the Mathematical Language

Like other languages, mathematics has nouns, pronouns, verbs, and sentences. It has its own
vocabulary, grammar, syntax, synonyms, negations, sentence structure, paragraph structure,
conventions, and abbreviations.
Mathematics uses many of symbols. There are the ten digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), symbols
for operations, (+, −, × ,÷ ), symbols that represent values ( x , y , z etc .¿ , and many other special
symbols (=, ¿ , ≤ , π , etc . ¿.

Illustration
In the equation y=ax+ b, it is assumed that a and b are constants and x is a variable whose
value changes, which in turn makes the variable y change its value as well.

Even though the words “noun,” “verb,” or “pronoun,” are not used in mathematics, the
similarities with the English language can be observed:
 Nouns could be constants, such as numbers or expressions with numbers:
1
● 12, 2(4 - ), -58
3
 A verb could be the equal sign =, or inequality symbol like ¿ or ≤.
 Pronouns could be variables like x or y .
x−8 −4
● 5 , 2 xy ,
x
 Sentence could be formed by putting together these parts:
● 3 x+ 7=24 , 2 x+3 y =7

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Exercises 2

1. Identify the following as either expression or sentence.

a) 3 x+ 7 d) x=2 x−5
b) 2<5 e)2+3=5
c) x +a
2. Give the formula for the following.
a) area of a square d) area of a circle
b) perimeter of a square e) circumference of a circle
c) perimeter of a rectangle

Propositional Calculus
A proposition is a complete declarative sentence that is true or false but not both.

Illustration
All of the following statements are propositions:
(a) Manila is the capital of the Philippines.
(b) Shanghai is the capital of China.
(c) 1+1=2
(d) 2+2=3

Answer
Propositions (a) and (c) are true while propositions (b) and (d) are false.

Illustration
Consider the following sentences:
(a) Is it time?
(b) Pay attention to this.
(c) x +1=2
(d) x + y=z

Answer
Sentences (a) and (b) are not propositions because they are not declarative sentences or
statements. Likewise, sentences (c) and (d) are not propositions because they are neither true nor
false, since the variables in these sentences have no assigned value yet.

If a proposition p is true, its truth value is true, denoted by T. If it is false, its truth value is false,
denoted by F.

Connectives∧Compound Propositions

A propositional connective is an operation that combines two propositions to yield a new one
whose truth value depends only on the truth value of the two original propositions. Propositions build up
by combining propositions using propositional connectives are called compound propositions .

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 The propositional connectives ˄, ˅, → , and ↔ (called conjunction, disjunction, implication,
biconditional, respectively) are defined by the following truth table.

p q p˄q p˅q p→q p↔q

T T T T T T
T F F T F F
F T F T T F
F F F F T T

Example
Let p and q be the propositions “Today is Monday” and “It is raining today,” respectively. Find
(a) p ˄ q
(b) p ˅ q
(c) p → q
(d) p ↔ q

Solution
(a) p ˄ q: “Today is Monday and it is raining today.”
(b) p ˅ q: “Today is Monday or it is raining today.”
(c) p → q: “If today is Monday, then it is raining today.”
(d) p ↔ q: “Today is Monday if and only if it is raining today.”

If p is a proposition, the expression ¬p is defined as a new proposition with the following truth
table:

p ¬p
T F
F T

Tautology , Contradiction,∧Contingency

A compound proposition that is always true regardless of the truth values of the propositions
that occur in it, is called a tautology. A contradiction is a compound proposition that is always false
while a contingency is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.

Illustration
Consider the compound proposition p˄¬p and p˅¬p. The compound proposition p˅¬p is a
tautology while p˄¬p is a contradiction.

p ¬p p˅¬p p˄¬p
T F T F
F T T F

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 The proposition p and q are logically equivalent if p ↔ q is a tautology. It is denoted by p ↔ q.

Example

Show that the following are logically equivalent: ¬¿ p ˅ q) and ¬p ˄¬q

Solution

p q p˅q ¬¿ p ˅ q) ¬p ¬q ¬p ˄¬q
T T T F F F F
T F T F F T F
F T T F T F F
F F F T T T T

Implications
In an implication of the form p → q, the proposition p is called the hypothesis (or the
antecedent) and the proposition q is called conclusion (or the consequence).

The proposition q → p is called the converse of p → q; ¬p → ¬q is called the inverse of p → q;

and ¬q → ¬p is called contrapositive of p → q. An implication is always logically equivalent to its own
contrapositive.

Example
Find the converse and the contrapositive of the implication “If today is Friday, then I have a quiz
today.”

Solution
Converse: “If I have a quiz today, then today is Friday.”
Contrapositive: “if I do not have a quiz today, then today is not Friday.

Propositional Functions∧Quantification

A propositional function (or predicate) is a complete declarative sentence P(x ) that makes a
statement about the variable x . The variable x is called the argument of P(x ). If x is assigned a
particular value, then P(x ) becomes a proposition with a definite truth value.

Example
Let P(x ) denote the statement x > 3. What are the truth values of P(4) and P(2)?

Solution
P(4) : 4 > 3. This proposition has truth value T.
P ( 2 ): 2 > 3. This has truth value F.

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 When all variables in a propositional function are assigned values, the resulting statement has a
truth value. There is another method to change propositional functions into propositions called
quantification which may be universal or existential.

The universal quantification of P(x ) is the proposition “ P(x ) is true for all values of x in the
domain of discourse.”

The notation ∀ x P(x ), read as “ For all x , P(x ) “ or “For every x , P ( x ) , denotes the universal
quantification of P ( x ) . The domain of discourse specifies the possible values of the variable x .

Example
Express the statement “Every student in this class has studied calculus” as a universal
quantification.

Solution
Let P ( x ) denote the statement “ x has studied calculus.” The given statement can now be
expressed as ∀ x P(x ), where the domain of discourse consists of the students in the class.

Example
(a) Let P(x ) be x + 1 > x. What is the truth value of ∀ x P ( x ) where the domain of discourse is
the set R of real numbers?
(b) Let Q(x ) be x < 2. What is the truth value of ∀ x Q ( x ) where the domain of discourse is the
set Q of rational numbers?

Solution
(a) ∀ x P ( x ) : “ For all x , x +1> x .” Since a real number x will always be smaller than
x +1 , ∀ x P ( x ) has the truth value T.
(b) ∀ x Q ( x ) : “ For all x , x <2. Since x <2 is not true when x=3 , ∀ x Q ( x ) has the truth value F.

The existential quantification of P(x ) is the proposition “There exists an element x in the
domain of discourse such that P(x ) is true.” The notation ∃ x P(x) is read as “There is an x such that
P(x )” or “For some x , P ( x ) . These denote the existential quantification of P ( x ) .

Example
Let P(x ) and Q(x ) be as in the preceding example . What are the truth values of ∃ x P(x) and
∃ x Q(x) ?

Solution
∃ x P(x) : “There is an x such that x +1> x .” Since x +1> x when x=1 , ∃ x P(x ) has truth value T.
∃ x Q(x) : “There is an x such that x <2.” Since x <2when x=0 , ∃ x Q(x) also has truth value T.

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Mathematical Reasoning

Mathematical reasoning refers to the ability of a person to analyze problem situations and
construct logical arguments to create both conceptual foundations and connections to be able to
process the available information and solve the problems. The National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (2000) stated that people who can reason and think analytically “tend to note patterns,
structure, or regularities in both real-world situations and symbolic objects; ask if those patterns are
accidental or if they occur for a reason; and conjecture and prove.” Mathematical reasoning requires
more than simply memorizing facts but thinking beyond rules and procedures to form one’s own
questions and conjectures.

When is mathematical reasoning correct? What methods can be used to construct effective
mathematical reasoning?

Inductive versus Deductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning is the process of making general conclusions based on specific examples.
Examples include the following statements:
1. Every object that I release from my head falls to the ground. Therefore, the next object I release
from my hand will fall to the ground.
2. Every crow I have ever seen is black. Therefore, all crows are black.
3. Based on available data, the Earth has revolved around the sun following an elliptical path for
millions of years. Therefore, the Earth will continue to revolve around the sun in the same
manner next year.

On the other hand, deductive reasoning is the process of making specific conclusions based on
general principles. Examples of deductive reasoning include the following:
1. All men are mortal. I am a man. Therefore, I am mortal. (General principle: If p implies q, and p
holds, then q must follow.)
2. Given two supplementary angles with one of them measuring 120 degrees, the measure of the
other is 60 degrees. (General principle: Supplementary angles add up to 180 degrees.)
3. If 6x = 12, then x =2. (General principle: If a, b, and c are real numbers and a = b, then ac =
bc.)

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