Lesson 2: Mathematical Language and Symbols

CHARACTERISTICS OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

The language of mathematics makes it easy to express the kinds of thoughts that mathematicians
like to express. It is

› precise (able to make very fine distinctions)

› concise (able to say things briefly)

› powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative ease)

EXPRESSIONS VS SENTENCES

English Language

§ Nouns are used to name things we want to talk about (like people, places and things).

NOUN: Sogod, Southern Leyte, province

§ Sentences are used to state complete thoughts.

SENTENCE: Sogod is a municipality of Southern Leyte.

Mathematical Language

§ A “noun” is called an expression in mathematics. Thus, an expression is a name given to

mathematical object of interest.
!"#
NOUN: sin x, − 2𝑥
#

§ A mathematical sentence, just like the English sentence, must state a complete thought.

SENTENCE: 2𝑥 − 𝑦 ≤ 5, 2𝑥 $ − 6𝑥 + 12 = 0

Mathematical Expression

§ Numbers have lots of different names. For example, the expressions

5 2+3 10÷2 (6 – 2) + 1 1+1+1+1+1

All look different, but all just different names for the same number.

Mathematical sentences have verbs. For example, in the sentence 3+7 = 12, the verb is ‘=’.

CONVENTIONS IN THE MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

Languages have conventions. In English, it is conventional to capitalize proper names

like ‘Southern Leyte’ and ‘Sogod’. Mathematics also has its conventions, which help readers
distinguish between different types of mathematical expressions.
Expression

In order to communicate effectively, people must agree on the meanings of certain words
and phrases. When there is ambiguity, confusion can result. The primary way that ambiguity is
avoided is by the use of definitions. By defining words and phrases, it is assured that everyone
agrees on their meaning.

An example of a definition in mathematics: DEFINITION: Expression

An expression is the mathematical analogue of an English noun; it is a correct arrangement

of mathematical symbols used to represent a mathematical object of interest. An expression does
not state a complete thought; in particular, it does not make sense to ask if an expression is true or
false.

Three of the most common types of expressions are numbers, sets and functions.
Expressions have lots of different names; it depends on what we are doing with the expression.

§ Example: The number 1 goes by all the following names:

% % % % % ' % % %
+ 2−1 + + + +
$ $ $ & & ' # # &#

SIMPLIFY: (some expression)

To simplify an expression means to get a different name for the expression, that in some way
simpler.

§ The notion of ‘simpler’ can have different meanings:

Ø FEWER SYMBOLS: ‘3+1+5’ and ‘9’ are both names for the same number, but ‘9’ uses fewer
symbols.

Ø FEWER OPERATIONS: ‘5 ∙ 3’ is simpler than ‘3+3+3+3+3’

$ %
Ø PREFERRED STYLE / FORMAT: and are both names for the same number, but people
& $
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usually prefer the name ; it is said to be in ‘reduced form’ or ‘simplest form’.
$

DEFINITION: Mathematical Sentence. A mathematical sentence is the analogue of an English

sentence; it is a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols that states a complete thought. It
makes sense to ask about the TRUTH of a sentence. Sentences have verbs

Ø The sentence ‘1 + 2 = 3’ is read as ‘one plus 2 equals to three’.

Ø A complete thought is being stated, which in this case is true.

Connectives

Ø If ‘=’ is the verb, then what is ‘+’?

 Ø The symbol ‘+’ is a connective; a connective is used to ‘connect’ objects of a given type to get
a ‘compound’ object of the same type.

FOUR BASIC CONCEPTS

Notation

§ If 𝑆 is a set, the notation 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆 means that 𝑥 is an element of 𝑆; the notation 𝑥 ∉ 𝑆 means that
𝑥 is not an element of 𝑆.
§ A set may be specified using the set-roster notation by writing all of its elements between
braces. For example, {April, August} denotes the set whose elements that represents the set
of months that start with the letter A.

§ The infinite set {1, 2, 3, …} represents the set of all positive integers. The symbol … is called
an ellipsis and is read “and so forth”.

Set-Builder Notation

§ Another method of representing a set is set-builder notation. This is especially useful when
describing infinite sets. For example, the set of natural numbers greater than 7 is written as
{𝑥⁄ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 > 7}.

Subsets

§ A basic relation between sets is that of subset.

§ If A and B are sets, then A is called a subset of B, written𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵, if and only if, every element
of A is also an element of B.

§ Symbolically, 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵 means that “for all elements𝑥, if 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 then 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵.

§ The phrases A is contained in B and B contains in A are alternative ways of saying that A is a
subset of B.

Proper Subset

Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of B is in B but
there is at least one element of B that is not in A.

Ordered Pair
 Given elements a and b together with the specification that 𝑎 is the first element of
the pair and 𝑏 is the second element. Two ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏) and (𝑐, 𝑑) are equal if, and
only if, 𝑎 = 𝑐 and 𝑏 = 𝑑. Symbolically:

(𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝑐, 𝑑) Means that 𝑎 = 𝑐 and 𝑏 = 𝑑

Cartesian Products

Given sets 𝐴 and 𝐵, the Cartesian product of 𝐴 and 𝐵, denoted 𝐴 × 𝐵 and read “A
cross B”, is the set of all ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏), where 𝑎 is in 𝐴 and 𝑏 is in 𝐵. Symbolically:

𝐴 × 𝐵 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ⁄𝑎 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵}

Relation
Let 𝐴 and 𝐵 be sets. A relation 𝑅 from 𝐴 to 𝐵 is a subset of 𝐴 × 𝐵. Given an ordered
pair (𝑥, 𝑦) in 𝐴 × 𝐵, 𝑥 is related to 𝑦 by 𝑅, written 𝑥 𝑅 𝑦, if and only if, (𝑥, 𝑦) is in 𝑅. The set 𝐴
is called the domain of 𝑅 and the set 𝐵 is called its co-domain.
Ø The notation for a relation 𝑅 may be written symbolically as follows:
𝑥 𝑅 𝑦 means that (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝑅
Ø The notation 𝑥 𝑅 𝑦 means that 𝑥 is not related to 𝑦 by 𝑅:
𝑥 𝑅 𝑦 means that (𝑥, 𝑦) ∉ 𝑅.
Example: Let A = {1, 2} and B = {1, 2, 3} and define a relation 𝑅 from 𝐴 to 𝐵 as follows:
!"(
Given any (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝐴 × 𝐵, (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝑅 means that is an integer.
$
a) State explicitly which ordered pairs are in 𝐴 × 𝐵 and which are in 𝑅.
b) Is 1 𝑅 3? Is 2 𝑅 3? Is 2 𝑅 2?
c) What are the domain and co-domain of 𝑅?
Functions

A function 𝐹 from a set 𝐴 to a set 𝐵 is a relation with domain 𝐴 and co-domain 𝐵 that
satisfies the following properties:

1. For every element 𝑥 in 𝐴, there is an element 𝑦 in 𝐵 such that (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝐹.

2. For all elements 𝑥 in 𝐴 and 𝑦 and 𝑧 in 𝐵, if (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝐹 and (𝑥, 𝑧) ∈ 𝐹, then 𝑦 = 𝑧.

Notation: If 𝐴 and 𝐵 are sets and 𝐹 is a function from 𝐴 to 𝐵, then given any element 𝑥 in 𝐴,
the unique element in 𝐵 that is related to 𝑥 by 𝐹 is denoted by 𝐹(𝑥), which is read “𝐹 of 𝑥”.
Example

Solution
 A binary operation on a set 𝐴 is a function that takes pairs of elements of 𝐴 and produces
elements of 𝐴 from them. Formally, it is a function with the set of all pairs (𝑥, 𝑦) of elements of 𝐴
as its domain and with 𝐴 as its range. The symbol ∗ is used to denote an arbitrary binary
operation on a set𝐴. Example: On the set 𝑁 of natural numbers addition (+) and multiplication
(∗) are binary operations, since 𝑎 + 𝑏 ∈ 𝑁 for all 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ 𝑁 and 𝑎 ∗ 𝑏 ∈ for all, 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ 𝑁. However
subtraction (−) is not a binary operation on N since 3 − 4 = - 1 which is not an element of 𝑁.

ELEMENTARY LOGIC

Ø Every language contains different types of sentences, such as statements, questions, and
commands.

Ø For example,

• QUESTION: “Is the test today?”

• COMMAND: “Go get the newspaper.”
• OPINION: “This is a nice car.”
• STATEMENT: “Sogod is a municipality of Southern Leyte.”
Ø The symbolic logic that Boole created applies only to sentences that are statements.

Example
 Connecting simple statements with words and phrases such as and, or, if …then, and
if and only if creates a compound statement. George Boole used symbols such as p, q, r, and s
to represent simple statements and the symbols; Ù, Ú, ~, ®, and « to represent connectives.
A logical connective is the mathematical equivalent of a conjunction (a word or
symbol that joins two sentences to produce a new one). Below are the logical connectives
together with the symbols used:

Ø NOT

“not” is a logical connective that denotes the negation of a statement. The ‘tilde’ (~) symbol
is used. For example: The negation of the statement “Today is Friday.” is the statement
“Today in not Friday.” In symbols, ~ 𝑝 means not 𝑝

Ø AND

“and” is a conjunction that joins the two statements which uses the symbol “⋀”. If 𝑃 and 𝑄
are statements then 𝑃 ⋀ 𝑄 is the statement that is true if and only if both 𝑃 and 𝑄 are true.

Ø OR

“or” is a disjunction that uses the symbol “⋁”. It means that 𝑃 ⋁ 𝑄 is true if and only if both
𝑃 is true or 𝑄 is true.
Ø IF … THEN (IMPLIES)

“implies” is a conditional connective which is usually written with the symbol “⟹”. The
statement 𝑃 ⟹ 𝑄 means that 𝑄 is a consequence of 𝑃, and is sometimes read as “if 𝑃 then
𝑄”. The sentence 𝑃 ⟹ 𝑄 is considered to be true under all circumstances except one: it is
not true if 𝑃 is true and 𝑄 is false.

Example.

Quantifiers

Words like “all”, “some”, “any”, “every”, “nothing” are called quantifiers in the
English language. In mathematics, only two quantifiers are being used. These are “for all”
(or “for every”) and “there exists” (or “for some”).

Ø Universal quantifiers : “for all” or “for every”

• Symbol: ∀
• Example: For all natural numbers n, 2n is an even number.
• Using the notation: ∀ n ∈ ℕ, 2n is an even number.
Ø Existential quantifiers: “there exists” or “for some”
• Symbol: ∃
• There exists an integer x, such that 5 - x = 2