NATURE OF

MATHEMATIC
S (SECTION
II)
BY: FAIRLLY JHAM R. PADERNA
THEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

1. Characteristics of mathematical language:

precise, concise, and powerful

2. Expressions vs. sentences

3. Conventions in the mathematical language

4. Four basic concepts: sets, functions and

relations, binary operations, logic
 MATHEMATICAL
LANGUAGE &
MATHEMATICAL
Mathematical SYMBOLS
language is a system used
in the field of mathematics to communicate
mathematical ideas, concepts, and theories
among others. It is distinct and unique from the
usual language that people are used to, and is
 Mathematical Symbols are used to
refer to certain quantities, concepts, ideas
among others. The most common used in
basic mathematics are numbers 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, the four fundamental
symbols of operation +, -, ×, ÷, and the
SYMBOLS COMMONLY USED IN
MATHEMATICS
1. The Digits: 0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
2. Operations: +, -, x, /
3. Sets: Union, Intersection
4. Variables: x, y, a, b, …..
5. Special Symbols: =
6. Logic
7. Set Notations: N, W, Z, Q, R, C
Comparison between the English Language and the
Mathematical Language
ENGLISH MATHEMATICS
Symbol English English Alphabet,
s Alphabet and Numerals, Greek letters,
Punctuations grouping symbols, special
symbols
Name Noun Expression
Comple Sentence Sentence
te
Though
t
Action Verbs Operations and Other
aracteristics of the Mathematical Langu

Precise - able to make very fine distinctions

Concise - able to say things briefly

Powerful - able to express complex

thoughts with relative ease
 MATHEMATICAL
EXPRESSIONS VS
MATHEMATICAL
A mathematical expression is the
mathematical analogue of an English noun; a
SENTENCES
correct arrangement of mathematical symbols
used to represent a mathematical object of
interest. It does NOT state a complete thought,
and does NOT make sense to ask if an
expression is true or false. In mathematics
areas, e.g. Algebra, the most common
 A mathematical sentence is the
mathematical analogue of an English
sentence, and is a correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols that state a
complete thought. Hence, it makes sense
to ask if a sentence is true, false,
STATE IF THE FOLLOWING ARE EXPRESSIONS
OR SENTENCES
1. SENTENC
2. 3.14 E
EXPRESSI
3. 90a = ON
SENTENC
34
4. E
SENTENC
5. 9 = 9 E
SENTENC
6. 4xyz E
EXPRESSI
7. 128 ON
EXPRESSI
ON
 MATHEMATICAL
CONVENTION
A mathematical convention is a fact,
name, notation, or usage which is generally
upon by mathematicians. For instance, the fact
that one evaluates multiplication before
addition in the expression 2 + 3 x 4 is merely
conventional: there is nothing inherently
significant about the order of operations.
Mathematicians abide by conventions in order
to allow other mathematicians to understand
 Nearly all mathematical names and
symbols are conventional. The longer a
name or notation has been in use, the
more likely it is to become a mathematical
convention. Unfortunately, some notational
questions stubbornly refuse to develop
conventional solutions, usually because
 THE
LANGUAGE
AND
GRAMMAR OF
(Four Basic Concepts: Sets, Functions and
Relations, Binary Operations and Logic)
MATHEMATICS
Sets
The theory of sets was
developed by German
mathematician Georg
Cantor. He first
encountered sets while
working on “Problems on
Trigonometric Series”.
SETS are being used
et is a well-defined collection of objects
Elements of a set are synonymous
terms.
Sets are usually denoted by capital
letters.
Elements of a set are represented by
small letters.
 Examples of Sets in Math:

N: the set of all natural numbers

Z: the set of all integers
Q: the set of all rational numbers
R: the set of all real numbers
Z+: the set of positive numbers
Q+: the set of positive rational numbers
 There are many ways of denoting or
describing sets:
(1) The Roster Notation or Listing Method which
indicates a set by listing the elements and
enclosing them in braces. In listing the
elements of the set, each distinct element is
listed only once, and the order of the elements
does not matter.
Examples:
A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
B = {p, h, i, l, n, e, s}
C = {5, 10, 15,}
(2) The Verbal Description Method
a verbal description of a set uses an English
sentence to state a rule that allows us to
determine the class of objects being discussed
and to determine for any particular object
whether or not it is in the set.
examples:
a.Set A is the set of counting numbers less
than 5.
b.Set B is the set of the letters in the word
(3) The Rule Method or Set Builder Notation
It is a method that lists the rules that
determine whether an object is an element of
the set rather than the actual elements. We can
describe the preceding sets in set builders
notation as follows:
examples:
a.A= {x/x is a counting number less than 5} read as
“the set of all x such that x is a counting number less
than 5.” The vertical bar after the first x is translated
as “such that”.
b.B= {x/x is a letter in the word “Philippines”
Convert from verbal description to listing method.

1. The set G is the name of girls in BSIT 1 – B that have

long hair

2. The set B is the name of boys in BSIT 1 – B

3. The set I is the name of irregular students in this

class
Types of Sets

1. Empty Sets - The set, which has no

elements, is also called a Null set or Void
set. It is denoted by {}.
example:
1. A = {a: a are dogs with 3 pairs of
legs}
2. B = {b: b odd numbers divisible by
 2. Singleton Sets - The set which has
just one element is named a singleton
set.
examples:
1. A = {8} is a singleton set.
2. B = {the set of all prime numbers which
are divisible by 2.}
3. Finite and Infinite Sets - A set which has a
finite number of elements is known as finite
sets, whereas the set whose elements can't
be estimated, but it has some figure or
number, which is large to precise in a set
which is known as Infinite Set.
examples:
1. Set A = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
2. Set C = {Number of Cows in India}
 4. Equal Sets - If every element of set A is
also the elements of set B and if every
element of set A is also the elements of set
A are called equal sets. It means set A and
set B have equivalent elements and that
we can denote it as:
example: A=B
Let A = {3,4,5,6} and B = {6,5,4,3}, then A = B
And if A = {set of even numbers} and B = { set of natural numbers} the A ≠ B,
because natural numbers consist of all the positive integers starting from 1,2,3,4,5
to infinity, but even numbers start with 2,4,6,8, and so on.
Equivalent Sets = the same number of
cardinality

Let A = {3,4,5,6} and B = {7, 8, 9, 10},

then A is equivalent to B
 5. Universal Sets- A set that contains all
the elements of other sets is called
universal sets. Generally, it is represented
as ‘U.’
example:
set A = {1,2,3}, set B = {3,4,5,6} and C = {5,6,7,8,9}
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
Note: According to the definition of the universal set, we can say that
all the sets are subsets of the universal set.

A⊂U B⊂U and C ⊂ U

Therefore,
6. Subsets - A set S is said to be a subset
of set T if the elements of set S belong to
set T, or you can say each element of set S
is present in set T. Subset of a set is
denoted by the symbol (⊆) and written as
Set A is a subset of set B, written A ⊆ B, if every
S ⊆ T.
element of A is an element of B.
Set A is a proper subset of set B, written A ⊂ B, if
A is a subset of B and A is not equal to B, or there
is at least one element in B which is not in A
Examples of Subsets:
1.The empty set ∅ is a subset of any set
2.{1,2} is a subset of {1,2,3,4}
3.∅, {1} and {1,2} are three different
subsets of {1,2}
4.Prime numbers and odd numbers are both
subsets of the set of integers.
Examples:
1.{1} and {2} are proper subsets of {1,2}
2.The empty set ∅ is a proper subset of {1,2}
3.But {1,2} is NOT a proper subset of {1,2}
4.Prime numbers and odd numbers are two
distinct proper subsets of the set of all
integers.
 7. Joint and Disjoint Sets

Two sets are said to be joint if they have

an elements in common.
Two sets are said to be disjoint if they
have no elements in common
 example 1:
Consider the following sets:
A = {2, 4, 6}
B = {9, 12, 15}
etermine whether these sets are disjoint sets.
Solution:
A ∩ B = {2, 4, 6} ∩ {9, 12, 15}

A∩B=𝛟
 example 2:
X = {1, 5, 9}
Y = {2, 5, 11}

etermine whether these sets are joint sets.

Solution:
X ∩ Y = {1, 5, 9} ∩ {2, 5, 11}
X∩Y=5
 SET
OPERATIONS
Union of Sets
The union of two sets A and B is defined to
be the set of elements that belong to A and
B.
x. A= {1, 2, 3} B= {2, 3, 4, 5}, A U B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5

X = {h,e,r} Y = {e,a,t} , X ∪ Y =
{h,e,a,r,t}
 Intersection of Sets
The intersection of two sets A and B is
defined to be the set of all elements that
belong to both A and B.
Ex. A= {1, 2, 3} B= {2, 3,

A ∩ B = {2, 3}
4, 5}

P= {m,a,t,h} Q=
{t,h,e,m}
P ∩ Q = {h,m,t}
 Set Difference
Set difference of two sets A and B are
all elements found in A not in B.

Let A and B be sets. The difference of

A to B, denoted by A-B, is the set of
elements which belong to A but which do
not belong to B; that is A-B= {x/x , x is
not an element of B}
Ex. A= {1, 2, 3} B= {2,
3, 4, 5}
A - B = {1}

B - A = {4, 5}
Complements of Set
The complement of a set A, denoted by A’,
is the set of elements which belong to U but
which do not belong to A.

Ex. Let U= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5},

A= {1, 3, 5}
A’=
{2,4}
 Exercise:
U={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,1
7,18,19}
Find:
1) A ∪ B
A ∪ B = {2,3,4,6,8,9,10,12,15}
2) A ∩ B
A ∩ B = {6}
3) A ∩ B ∩ C
A ∩ B ∩ = {}

4) (A ∪ C)
(A ∪ C) = {2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15}

5) A - B
A = {2, 4, 6, 8,10}
A – B = {2, 4, 8,10}
B = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15}
 6) B - A
B = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15}
A = {2, 4, 6, 8,10}
B - A = {3, 9, 12, 15}
7) (A ∪ B)’
(A ∪ B) = {2,3,4,6,8,9,10,12,15}
(A ∪ B)’ =
{1,5,7,11,13,14,16,17,18,19}
8) (A ∩ C) – B
(A ∩ C) = {10}
B = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15}
(A ∩ C) – B
= {10} – {3, 6, 9, 12, 15}= {10}
9) B’ – (A ∪ C)
B’ ={1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11,13,14,16,17,18,19}
(A ∪ C) = {2,4,5,6,8,10,15}
B’ – (AUC) =
 FUNCTIONS AND
RELATIONS
“Relations and Functions” are the most
important topics in algebra. Relations and
functions – these are the two different
words having different meanings
mathematically..
An ordered pair is represented as
(INPUT, OUTPUT)
Note: All functions are relations, but
not all relations are functions.
nsider the correspondence.
A. This correspondence is a function since
every element in the domain corresponds to
a unique element in the range. Also, more
than one element in the domain can
correspond to the same element in the
range.
MANY TO ONEFUNCTION
B. This correspondence is just a
relation (not a function) since not all
elements in the domain correspond to
a unique element in the range.
ONE TO MANY RELATION
Exercise:
Determine whether the correspondence
depicted in each table is a function or
relation.

FUNCTIO
N
FUNCTIO
N

FUNCTIO
N
 RELATIO
N

FUNCTIO
N
FUNCTIO
N

RELATIO
N
FUNCTIO
N
BINARY OPERATIONS
CLOSURE PROPERTY
For any real numbers a and b, the sum of a + b and the
product of ab are also real numbers.

The property means that if we add or multiply

two real numbers, their sum or product is also a
real number. For example, the sum of 3 and -5
which are real numbers is -2 which is also a real
number. The product of real numbers -0.4 and -
For any real numbers a and b, a + b = b + a ; a • b = b • a
COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY

We can add or multiply two real numbers

in any order. For example,
2+9=9+2 7(-8) = -8(7)
11 = -56 = -56
11
 ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY

a (b • c) = (a • b) c
For any real numbers a, b, and c, (a + b) + c = a + (b + c);

Given three real numbers, we can group together any two addends or
any two factors in any way and their sum or product remains the
same. For example,

(3 + -9) + 7 = 3 + (-9 +7) 2 (9 • 3) = (2 • 9) 3

-6 + 7 = 3 + (-2) 2 (27) = 18 (3)
1=1 54 = 54
DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY OF MULTIPLICATION OVER
ADDITION
For any real numbers a, b, and c, a (b + c) = ab + ac

We say that multiplication is distributive

over addition. We illustrate this in this
example:
6 (-9 + 3) = 6 (-9) + 6 (3)
6 (-6) = -54 +18
-36 = -
 IDENTITY PROPERTY
For any real numbers a, there exists a real number 0
such that
a+0=a
For any real number a, there exists a real number 1
such that
a•1=a
Any number added to 0 is equal to the same
number. For example, -12 + 0 = -12. Zero is
called then identity element is addition. Any
number multiplied by 1 is equal to the same
number. For example, 1 • 7 = 7. The numeral 1 is
 INVERSE PROPERTY
For any real numbers a, there exists a real
number –a such that
a + (-a) = 0
For any nonzero real number a, there exists a
real number such that
a• =1
The sum of a number and its opposite is
zero. For example,

7 + (-7) = 0
The product of a number and its reciprocal
is 1. For example,
(5) ( = 1
COMPREHENSION CHECK
tify the property. The letters represent the real numbe
DISTRIBUTIVE
_________1. 7(2 + 9) = 7(2) + 7(9)
PROPERTY
IDENTITY PROPERTY
_________2. 45 • 1 = 45
COMMUTATIVE
_________3. 12 (3) = 3 (12)
PROPERTY
ASSOCIATIVE
_________4. 6 + (7 + 0) = (6 + 7) + 0
PROPERTY
INVERSE PROPERTY
_________5. 4 • 1/4 = 1
DISTRIBUTIVE
_________6. (10 + 9) (5) = 10 (5) + 9 (5)
PROPERTY
COMMUTATIVE
_________7. xy = yx
PROPERTY
ASSOCIATIVE
_________8. a + (b + c) = a + (b +
PROPERTY
DISTRIBUTIVEc)
_________9. (2 + k) (p) = 2p + kp
PROPERTY
ASSOCIATIVE
_________10. (s + t) + 5 = s + (t +
PROPERTY
IDENTITY PROPERTY
_________11. (9 - 9) + 9 = 9
5)
DISTRIBUTIVE
_________12. 3w + 3y = 3 (w + y)
PROPERTY
CLOSURE PROPERTY
_________13. The sum of 7 + 5 is a real
number.
CLOSURE PROPERTY
_________14. The product of 3 and 2 is
a real number.
CLOSURE PROPERTY
_________15. For any real numbers m
and n, m is a real number.
References:

https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Mathematical-Language-
and-Symbols
https://www.coursehero.com/file/34078279/The-Language-of-Math
ematicspdf/
THANK YOU
&
GODBLESS