Mathematical Language

and Symbols
Importance of language

-It facilitates communication and clarifies

meaning
-It allows people to express themselves and
maintains their identity.
-It bridges the gap among people from varying
origins and culture without prejudice to their
background and upbringing.
Characteristics of the mathematics
language
• Precise (able to make very fine distinctions or definitions)

• Concise (able to say things briefly)

• Powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative ease)

Expression
 A name given to mathematical object of interest
 Number, set, function, ordered pair, matrix

Mathematical sentence
 Must state a complete thought
 A mathematical sentence can be true, false or sometimes
true/sometimes false
1. Cat
2. 2
3. The cat is black.
4. 1+2=4
5. 5–3
6. 5–3=2
7. The word cat begins with the letter k.
8. x
9. x=1
10. x–1=0
11. t+3
12. t+3=3+t
13. x+0=x
14. 1·x=x
15. Hat sat bat.
Truth of Sentences

• Mathematical sentences may either be true, false, sometimes

true/false

Examples:
 Algebraic Translation
The skill in translating mathematical phrases and sentences into
expressions and equations are useful in solving worded problems.
The table below shows the common phrases and their translation.

Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Equals

increased by, decreased from, of, times, out of, per, Is, are, was,
more than, decreased by, multiplied by, ratio of, were, will be,
added to minus, less, product of, quotient of, gives, yields,
combined, reduced by, twice, thrice divided by result of,
together, subtracted from, equals
total of, less than, less,
sum of, difference
plus between/of
Examples:

Translate the following into mathematical expressions.

 The difference between a and b

 The difference between twice m and n
 The quotient of a number and five
 The sum of a and b divided by their difference
 9 less than a number
 Three times the sum of a number and five
 Six subtracted from thrice of a number
 Eleven more than seven times of a number
 Jay’s age 6 years ago if he is x years old now
 Joey’s age 3 years from now if he is p years old now
Sets, Relations and Functions
 Set – a collection of well-defined objects
Two ways of representing a set
 1. The Roster Method - The roster method is used to
represent a set by listing each element of the set inside a
pair of braces. Commas are used to separate the
elements.
 2. Set-Builder Notation - Set-builder notation is used to
represent a set, by describing its elements.
 The empty set, or null set, is the set that contains no
elements.
 Cardinal Number of a Finite Set - The cardinal number of a
finite set is the number of elements in the set. The
cardinal number of a finite set A is denoted by the
notation n(A).
 Equal Sets and Equivalent Sets Two sets are equal if and
only if they have exactly the same elements. Two sets are
equivalent if and only if they have the same number of
elements.
 Universal Set - the set of all elements that are being
considered
 Complement of set A – denoted by A’ is the set of all
elements of the universal set that are not elements of A.

Let U = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, S= {2, 4, 6, 7}, and

T = {x/x <10 and x the odd counting numbers}.
Find a). S’ and b). T’
 Subset of a Set - Set A is a subset of set B, denoted by A B
if and only if every element of A is also an element of B.
 Proper Subset of a Set - Set A is a proper subset of set B,
denoted by A B, if every element of A is an element of B
and A ≠ B.
 The Number of Subsets of a Set A set with n elements has
2n subsets.
Set Operations
Intersection of Sets – the set of elements common to A and B
 A∩B = { x/ x A and x B}
Let A = {1, 4, 5, 7}, B ={ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, and C = {3, 6, 9}.
Find a. A ∩ B b. A ∩ C

Union of Sets - the set that contains all the elements that
belong to A or to B or to both
 AUB = { x/ x A or x B}
Let A = {1, 4, 5, 7}, B={2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, and C= {3, 6, 9}.
Find a. A U B b. A U C
 Example: A movie company is making plans for future
movies it wishes to produce. The company has done a
random survey of 1000 people. The results of the
survey are shown below. 695 people like action
adventures. 340 people like comedies. 180 people
like both action adventures and comedies.

Of the people surveyed, how many people

a. like action adventures but not comedies?
b. like comedies but not action adventures?
c. do not like either of these types of movies?
Relation
a set of ordered pair of mathematical quantities.
 Thedomain of a relation is the set of first coordinates of
the ordered pairs of that relation.
 The range of a relation is the set of second coordinates
of the ordered pairs of that relation.
 Thegraph of a relation is the set of points in the plane
that correspond to the ordered pairs of that relation
Types of Relation

One-to-one relation
One-to-many relation
Many-to-one relation
Many-to-many relation
Functions
A function f is a special type of a relation such
that no two ordered pairs of the set have
different second coordinates corresponding to the
same first coordinate.
 The set of all the first coordinates of the ordered
pair is the domain of the function.
 The set of all second coordinates of the ordered
pairs is the range of the function.
 In symbol, y = f(x) is read as “ y is a function of x”
where y is the dependent variable and x is the
independent variable.
Some fundamentals of logic

• Logic allows us to determine the validity of arguments in

and out of mathematics.
• Illustrates the importance of precision and conciseness of
the language of mathematics.
Proposition
A proposition is a statement which is either true (T) or false (F).

Examples: Identify whether the following statement is a proposition

or not a proposition.
1. 9 is a prime number

2. 2-12
The truth table

A truth table is a table that shows the truth value of a

compound statement for all possible truth values of its simple
statements.
Negation
Say P is a proposition.

• The negation of P means and is denoted by

P
F T
T F

Example: What is the negation of the statement:

is a rational number.
Logical Operators
Say P and Q are propositions.

1. (Conjunction of P and Q) denoted by

2. (Disjunction of P and Q) denoted by
P Q
F F F F
F T F T
T F F T
T T T T
Implication
Say P and Q are propositions.
The proposition (If P then Q) is called an implication.
P is called the hypothesis and Q is called the conclusion.

P Q
• P implies Q
F F T
• Q if P F T T
• Q is implied by P T F F
• P only if Q T T T
Example: Implication
Symbolize the given statement, using capital letters to
abbreviate the simple statements (stated positively):
 If Neil is not big eater or Len has a big voice, then Lemy
likes violet.
Conditional statements
Say P and Q are propositions. Given the impication,
 its inverse is ,
 the converse is
 its contrapositive is
P Q
F F T T T T
F T T F F T
T F F T T F
T T T T T T
Example:
Inverse, Converse and Contrapositive
Say P and Q are propositions. Given the impication,
 its inverse is ,
 the converse is
 its contrapositive is

Give the inverse, converse and contrapositive of the following

implication:
1. If this book is interesting, then I an staying at home.
2. If you are more than 60 years old, then you are entitled to a
senior citizen’s card.
Bi-conditional
Say P and Q are propositions.
The proposition (P if an only Q) is called a biconditional statement.
It is equivalent to () ()

P Q
F F T T T
F T T F F
T F F T F
T T T T T
Write the following in the symbolic form using P,Q,R
for the statements and the symbols where
P: The sun is shining.
Q. It is raining.
R: The ground is wet.

a. If it is raining, then the sun is not shining.

b. It is raining and the ground is wet.
c. The ground is wet if and only if it is raining and the sun is
shining.
d. The sun is shining or it is raining.
e. The ground is not wet.
Let p, q, and r represent the following.
p: You get a promotion.
q: You complete the training.
r: You will receive a bonus.
Write the following symbolic form into statements.
a. p v q
b. p  q
c. r  q
d. q  p
e. q  p
Tautology, Contradiction and Contingency

A tautology is a statement that is always true.

A contradiction is a statement that is always
false.
A contingency is a statement that is neither a
tautology nor a contradiction.

Example: Show that is a tautology.

Quantifiers
Quantifiers are used to described the variable/s in a
statement.

1. Universal quantifier means “for all”, “for every”

written denoted by

2. Existential quantifier means “there exist”, “for some”

written denoted by
References:
• Learning the language of mathematics, https://
wac.colostate.edu/llad/v4n1/jamison.pdf
• The language of mathematics,
http://onemathematicalcat.org/pdf_files/LANG1.pdf
• The language and grammar of mathematics, http://
press.princeton.edu/chapters/gowers/gowers_I_2.pdf
• Guzon, A. Powerpoint Presentation: CHED ADMU GE Training (2016)
• Nocon R., Nocon E. Essential Mathematics for the Modern World (2016)
• Pinter, Set Theory (1971)
• Salvador, I., Powerpoint Presentation: Pampanga State Agricultural University
(2017)
• Manalang, R. Powerpoint Presentation: UE GE (2017)