MATHEMATICAL

LANGUAGE AND
SYMBOLS
2nd topic
 CHARACTERISTICS OF MATHEMATICAL
LANGUAGE: PRECISE, CONCISE, POWERFUL

 Mathematical 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 used to communicate abstract, logical ideas.

 Precision of mathematical language means the language is able to

make very fine distinctions of things. Conciseness is able to say
things briefly. Mathematical language being powerful is expressing
complex thoughts with relative ease, being understood by most
readers.
 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 inequality symbols ≠, ≤, ≥,
< >, and equal sign =.
 EXPRESSIONS VS. SENTENCES
 A mathematical expression is the mathematical analogue of an
English noun; a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols used to
represent a mathematical object of interest (Burns, n.d). 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 expressions are numbers, sets, and functions.
 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, sometimes true, or sometimes false.
Take a look at the table below, to visualize the difference
of expression and sentence in mathematics.
 The Language of Algebra
 Mathematical sentences and expressions are commonly used in Algebra. In fact, these
concepts are taught already during your 7th grade. Let’s take a look back on the Language of
Algebra where symbols, expressions, and mathematical sentences are first introduced.
Common Words in Algebra
 1. Variable. It is a symbol which represents a value or a number. Usually, small letters
are used as variable, e.g. a, x, y.
 2. Constant. It is a number on its own which means the value is definite and will never
change, e.g. 4, 9, 35.
 3. Term. It is a constant, or a variable, or a constant and variable/s multiplied together,
e.g. 4, z, 5xy, 87xy, xyz.
 Literal Coefficient is the variable in a particular term. Numerical Coefficient is the
constant in a particular term.
 4. Expression. It is also called algebraic expression. It is a group of terms separated by
the “plus” or “minus” symbols, e.g. 3x-2, x+3.
As mentioned, mathematics uses sentences. In Algebra, these sentences can be
written mathematically or verbally. Mathematical sentences are written using
variables, constant, and equal sign or inequality sign; while verbal sentences are
written in words using phrases. The following are most commonly used phrases
in Algebra:
 1. Addition (plus, increased by, added to, the sum of, more than)
 2. Subtraction (decreased by, subtracted from, the difference of, less
than, diminished by)
 3. Multiplication (multiplied by, of, the product of, times)
 4. Division (ratio of, the quotient of, divided by)
 5. Inequality (is greater than, is less than, is at least, is less than or
equal, is greater than or equal to, is at most, is not equal to)
 6. Equality (the same as, is equal to, equals)
 CONVENTIONS IN MATHEMATICAL
LANGUAGE
Numbers are usually represented by lowercase letters, like , , or .
Sets are usually represented by uppercase letters, like , , or .

A variable with universal set R (or, any interval of real numbers) is most likely to be named with a
lowercase letter from the end of the alphabet; particularly , , or .
A variable with universal set Z (or, any subset of the integers) is most likely to be named with a
lowercase letter near the middle of the alphabet; particularly , , , , or .
 Examples:
 Question: What is the best variable to represent a number, with universal set R?
Choices: 𝑥, 𝑗, or 𝑆
Answer: 𝒙
 Question: What is the best variable to represent a member of the set [−1,3)?
Choices: B, k, or t
(You may want to review interval notation.)
Answer: t
 Question: What is the best variable to represent a set ?
Choices: t, A, or m
Answer: A
 Question: What is the best variable to represent a member of the set {3,4,5,…}?
Choices: k, S, or y
(You may want to review list notation.)
Answer: k
FOUR BASIC CONCEPTS: SETS, FUNCTIONS,
RELATIONS, BINARY OPERATIONS
 Sets – A set is the representation of a collection of objects; distinct
objects with one or more common properties. Grouping up the objects in a
set is an act of distinguishing those objects from the members of another
set. We can use the terms – elements or members of a set instead of the
term objects.
How to denote Sets?
 If ‘A’ is a set and ‘a’ one of its elements then: ‘a ∈ A’ denotes that element
‘a’ belongs to ‘A’ whereas, ‘a ∉ A’ denotes that ‘a’ is not an element of A.
Alternatively, we can say that ‘A’ contains ‘a’. A set is usually represented
by capital letters and an element of the set by the small letter.
Representation of Sets
 There are mainly 3 ways to represent a set:
 1. Statement form 2. Roaster form (tabular method) 3. Set Builder form

Statement form – Here, a single statement describes all the elements inside a set.
For example:
 V = The set of all vowels in English.

Roaster Form – In this form all the members of the given set are enlisted within a pair of braces { }, separated by commas.
For example:
The set of all even whole numbers between 1 to 10.
 E = {2, 4, 6, 8}
Set Builder Form – Here, a property is stated that must be common to all the elements of that particular set.
For example:
N = {x : x is positive integers between 10 to 20 }
We read the set builder form as “N is the set of all x such that x is a positive integer between 10 to 20”. Braces { } denote the
set while ‘:’ denotes ‘such that’.
 Types of Sets
 Empty Set – A set with no elements. Empty sets are also called null sets or void sets and are
denoted by { } or Φ.
Example: {x: x is an integer which is a perfect cube and lies between 2 and 7}.
 Equal Sets – Sets with equal elements.
Example: A = {5, 6, 7} and B = {5, 6, 5, 7, 7}.
Here, the elements of A and B are equal to each other (5, 6, 7) i. e., A = B
In case of repetition as in B we write B = {5, 6, 7} by ignoring the repetition.
 Equivalent Sets – Sets with the equal number of members.
Example: A = {3, 6, 8} and B = {p, q, r}.
Both A and B having three elements are equivalent sets.
*Two equal sets are equivalent too but the vice-versa doesn’t always hold true.
 Finite and Infinite Sets – Based on the number of elements (finite or
infinite) present in the set, the set is either finite or infinite. In case of
infinite the set, it is given as:
N = Numbers divisible by 4 = {4, 8, 12, 16…..}
 Singleton Set – A set with a single element. For example, {9}.
 Subsets and Super-sets – A set qualifies as the subset of another set if all of
its elements are also the elements of that another set. A collection of all the
subsets of a given set is a power set.
Example, for R = {5, 8}, P(R) = {{5, 8}, {5}, {8}, {}} will be the power set.
Now, we can infer that a set with n no. of elements has 2n no. of subsets or 2n
no. of elements in its power set.
 A super-set can be thought of as the parent set that at least contains all the elements of the
subset and may or may not contain some extra elements.
 C = The set of all colors and P = The set of all primary colors then, P ⊂ C; read as P is a
“subset of” C or P is “contained in” C. Or we have: C ⊃ P which means C is a “superset
of” P or C “contains” P.
For the figure given above if we consider
• N = the set of natural numbers
• W = the set of whole numbers.
• I = the set of Integers.
• Rt = the set of rational numbers.
• Re = the set of real numbers.
• C = the set of complex numbers.
We can say that N ⊂ W ⊂ I ⊂ Rt ⊂ Re ⊂ C. Also, going in the
reverse order we have C ⊃ Re ⊃ Rt ⊃ I ⊃ W ⊃ N. Here we can
call the set of complex numbers as a universal set for real,
rational, integers, whole and natural numbers.
 Relations and Functions
Relations and functions are the set operations that help to trace the relationship between the
elements of two or more distinct sets or between the elements of the same set. But, before we
move on to further explore the topic it is important to get the idea about the Cartesian
product and Venn diagrams.
• Cartesian Product – If p ∈ P and q ∈ Q then the set of all ordered pair i. e., (p, q)
is called the Cartesian product of P×Q. This means every first element of the ordered pair
belongs to the set P and every second element belongs to the set Q.
o P and Q must be non-empty sets.
o P × Q is null if either P or Q is a null set.
Example: X = {1, 3} and Y = {4, 7} then, X × Y = {(1, 4), (1, 7), (3, 4), (3, 7)}.
For above example, the number elements in X, n(X) = 2 (this no. is called the cardinal
number) and number elements in Y, n(Y) = 2 consequently, number of ordered pairs in the
Cartesian product n (X × Y) = 4. The same rule holds for any Cartesian product.
• Venn-Diagrams
Euler – Venn Diagrams make it easy to operate on sets.

In the above example we consider:

• The quadrilateral is a finite universal set which represents a set of
ideas.
• Among those ideas we have two subsets which are finite as well:
• Set of Ideas that are the truth, let’s denote them as T and
• Set of Ideas that are the beliefs, let’s denote them as B.
• Their intersection set, knowledge is denoted as K.
o Here, T ∪ B is the union of these two sets which is the set of ideas
that are either T or B or both.
o T ∩ B is the intersection of the two sets which is the set of ideas
that are both T and B i. e., K as already mentioned.
o Now, to find no. of elements in T ∪ B we have, n(T ∪ B) = n(T) +
n(B) – n(T ∩ B).
The relation is the subset of the Cartesian product which contains only some of the
ordered pair based on the relationships defined between the first and second
elements. The relation is usually denoted by R.
If every element of a set A is related with one and only one element of another set,
then this kind of relation qualifies as a function. A function is a special case of
relation where no two ordered pairs can have the same first element.
This notation f:X→Y denotes that f is a function from X to Y. For x ∈ X there is
unique y ∈ Y and his y is represented as y = f(x) which means value of f at x
which in turn is the value of y at a specific value of x.
We can represent a function in three ways namely: Algebraic form, Tabular form,
and Graphical form.
• Domain and Range
o The domain is the set of all first elements of R.
o The range is the set of all second elements of R.
Total no. of relations for n(A×B) are 2n(A)×n(B)
 Types of Functions
Based on the kind of element that the sets involved consists of functions can be:

 Identity function: ; both range and domain of the function is the same.

 Constant function: ; the range of the function is constant

 Polynomial function: for every value of x.

 Rational function: these are type of function where both g(x) and h(x) are polynomials and .

 Modulus function: The range of the function is positive plus the set of 0

 Signum function: Range of f is {-1, 0, 1}

 Greatest Integer function: The function assumes the value of the greatest integer. The range is a pure integer
value.
 Based on the kind of relationship that the elements of the two
sets have with each other there are mainly four types of
functions:
 One to one function(Injective): For each element in the domain
there is one and only one element in the range.
 Many to one function: When two or more elements from the
domain are mapped to the same single elements in the range.
 Onto function(Surjective): When every element of the range has
been mapped to an element in the domain.
 One-one and onto function(Bijective): A function which is both
one to one and onto function.
 Binary Operations

 The basic operations of mathematics- addition,

subtraction, division and multiplication are performed on
two operands. Even when we try to add three numbers,
we add two of them and then add the third number to the
result of the two numbers. Thus, the basic mathematical
operations are performed on two numbers and are known
as binary operations (the word binary means two). In this
section, we will discuss binary operations performed on a
set.
 What is Binary Operation?
 We take the set of numbers on which the binary operations
are performed as X. The operations (addition, subtraction,
division, multiplication, etc.) can be generalized as a binary
operation is performed on two elements (say a and b) from set
X. The result of the operation on a and b is another element
from the same set X.
 Thus, the binary operation can be defined as an operation *
which is performed on a set A. The function is given by *: A *
A → A. So the operation * performed on operands a and b is
denoted by a * b.
 Types of Binary Operation
 There are four main types of binary operations
which are:
 Binary Addition
 Binary Subtraction
 Binary Multiplication
 Binary Division
 Binary Operations Example Questions
 Let us show that addition is a binary operation on real numbers (R) and natural
numbers (N). So if we add two operands which are natural numbers a and b, the
result will also be a natural number. The same holds good for real numbers. Hence,
+ : R x R → R is given by (a, b) → a + b
+ : N x N → N is given by (a, b) → a + b
 Let us show that multiplication is a binary operation on real numbers (R) and
natural numbers (N). So if we multiply two operands which are natural
numbers a and b, the result will also be a natural number. The same holds good for
real numbers. Hence,
x: R x R → R is given by (a, b) → a x b
x: N x N → N is given by (a, b) → a x b
 Let us show that subtraction is a binary operation on real
numbers (R). So if we subtract two operands which are real
numbers a and b, the result will also be a real number. The same
does not hold good for natural numbers. It is because if we take two
natural numbers, 3 and 4 as a and b, then 3 – 4 = -1, which is not a
natural number. Hence,
– : R x R → R is given by (a, b)→ a – b
 Similarly, the division cannot be defined on real numbers. This is
because / : R x R → R is given by (a, b)→ aa/b. Now if we take b as
0 here, a/b is not defined.
ELEMENTARY LOGIC: CONNECTIVES,
QUANTIFIERS, NEGATION, VARIABLES

 If you take a course in mathematical logic, you will

see a formal discussion of proofs. You start with a formal
language, which describes the symbols you're allowed to
use and how to combine them, and rules of inference,
which describe the valid ways of making steps in a proof.
 Proofs are composed of statements. A statement is a
declarative sentence that can be either true or false.
Example. Which of the following are statements? If it is a statement,
determine if possible whether it's true or false.

"Calvin Butterball is a math major.“ – Statement (whether True or

False)
“0 = 1” – Statement (false)
"The diameter of the earth is 1 inch or I ate a pizza." – Statement (1st
part False second part either True or False)
"Do you have a pork barbecue sandwich?“ – Not a Statement
"Give me a cafe mocha!“ – Not a Statement
“ 1 + 1 = 2” – Statement (True)
“1 + 1” – Not a Statement (Expression)
 .

In terms of logical form, statements are built from simpler statements using logical connectives.
Definition. The logical connectives of sentential logic are:

(a) Negation ("not"), denoted .

(b) Conjunction ("and"), denoted .
(c) Disjunction ("or"), denoted .
(d) Conditional ("if-then" or "implication"), denoted .
(e) Biconditional ("if and only if" or "double implication"), denoted .
Later I'll discuss the quantifiers "for all" (denoted ) and "there exists" (denoted ).
Remark. You may see different symbols used by other people. For example, some people use for negation. And is
sometimes used for the conditional, in which case is used for the biconditional.
Example. Represent the following statements using logical connectives.
Statements Representation using Logical Connectives
(a) P or not Q.
(b) If P and R, then Q.
(c) P if and only if (Q and R).
(d) Not P and not Q.
(e) It is not the case that if P, then Q.
(f) If P and Q, then R or S.
LOGICAL QUANTIFIER

 1. Subjects and Predicates

 2. The Universal Quantifier
 ACTIVITY
Give the following proposition:
P: King Dave dies
q: Dave’s sister, Andrea inherits the throne
r: Andrea marries John Lloyd
s: Petyr is the new king
Translate the following Symbols into sentences.
1. p s
 ASSIGNMENT
Write the statement in symbolic form if:
p: The tent is pitched.
q: The bonfire is burning.
1. The tent is not pitched. 2. The bonfire is not burning if and only if the tent is not pitched.
____________________ ____________________

3. If the tent is not pitched then the bonfire is not burning . ________________

C. Write the statement in words if:

p: Firemen work hard.
q: Firemen wear red suspenders.
1. ~q _______________________________
2. p ^ q _______________________________
3. ~p q _______________________________
4. ~(q v p) __________________________________
5. p v q __________________________________