Mathematics in the Modern World – UNIT 2

Mathematical Language
& Symbols

Department of Mathematics and Physics

University of Santo Tomas

Prepared by Eugenio Cedric T. Corro

and Xandro Alexi A. Nieto
IS MATHEMATICS A
LANGUAGE?
What is a language?

Language (n.): a
systematic means of
communicating ideas or
feelings by the use of
conventional symbols,
sounds, or marks having
understood meaning
What is a language?
What is a language?

± ∞ ∅
𝒙 𝛉, 𝛃, 𝛜, 𝛔
What is a language?

∀ ‘for every”

∃ “there exists”
∴ “therefore”
෍ 𝒙 , ෑ 𝒑 𝒙 , න 𝒇(𝒙) ,
sum, product, integral
Language is growing

3x3x3x3x3 𝟑 𝟓

ෑ𝟑
𝒊=𝟏
 Phrase
a group of words that expresses a concept

Sentence
a group of words that are put together to
mean something
Expression
a group of number or variable
with or without mathematical operation

Equation
a group of number or variable
with or without mathematical operation
separated by an equal sign
Expression vs sentence

Expression
Sum of two numbers

𝑥+𝑦
Expression vs sentence

Expression Equation
Sum of two numbers Sum of two numbers is 8.

𝑥+𝑦 𝑥+𝑦 =8
Translate the
following to
mathematical
expressions
/equations.
English words to mathematics

English phrase/sentence Mathematical symbols

Product of two numbers 𝐴×𝐵 or 𝐴𝐵
Three more than twice a number 2𝑥 + 3
Two less than half a number is 15. 1
𝑦 − 2 = 15
2
The sum of three distinct numbers is at 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 ≥ 10
least 10.
He owns at most eight cars. 𝐶≤8
The price of the house increased by 8%. 𝑃𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑑 + 0.08 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑑
Each kid gets one-eighth of the cake. 1
𝐾= 𝐶
8
Expression or sentence?

Classify.

(1) The product of two numbers

(2) The sum of three integers is greater than 11.
(3) Half of the sum of 23 and 88
(4) The sum of two numbers is half their product.
(5) 2𝑥 − 3
(6) 𝑥=1
3𝑦
(7) 𝑥+
2
(8) 𝑥 + 2𝑥 + 3𝑥 + 4𝑥 + 5𝑥
Characteristics of math language

• Precise
- able to make very fine distinctions

• Concise
- able to say things briefly

• Powerful
- able to express complex thoughts with
relative ease
Mathematics in the Modern World – UNIT 2

SETS
Mathematics in the Modern World – UNIT 2

collection of objects,
called as elements

SETS
Set Notation

S
ROSTER
METHOD
1
2
3 𝑺 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓
4
5
Set Notation

𝑺 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓

1∈𝑆 means “1 is an element of set 𝑆”

while

6∉𝑆 means “6 is NOT an element of set 𝑆”

Set Notation

𝑺 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, …

𝑆 also contains 6,7,8, and so on – all positive integers

Set Notation

𝑻 = … , −𝟑, −𝟐, −𝟏

𝑇 also contains -4,-5,-6, and so on – all negative integers

Set Notation

𝒁 = … , −𝟐, −𝟏, 𝟎, 𝟏, 𝟐, …

𝑍 also contains all integers

Set Notation

What if I want to know the set containing

ALL real numbers between 0 and 1
(including 0 and 1)?
Set-builder
notation
𝑆 = 𝑥 | 𝑥 ≥ 0 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝑥 ≤ 1
“such that”

“𝑆 contains all 𝑥’s such that 𝑥 is greater than or equal to 0 AND

𝑥 is less than or equal to 1”
Set Notation

What if I want to know the set containing

ALL real numbers between 0 and 1
(including 0 and 1)?
𝑆 = 𝑥|𝑥 ≥0 ∩ 𝑥 ≤1
Set Notation

What if I want to know the set containing

ALL real numbers between 0 and 1
(including 0 and 1)?
𝑆 = 𝑥|0≤𝑥 ≤1
Some known sets

Empty set ∅ or

Set of natural numbers ℕ = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …

Set of integers ℤ = … , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, …

Using sets

Describe each set.

• {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,

Friday, Saturday}
• {A, E, I, O, U}
• {Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars}
• {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
• {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, …}
• {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13}
• {1, 4, 9, 16, 25}
Using sets

Write in set notation.

• Months with 31 days

• Colors of the rainbow
• Dog breeds that lay egg
• Three core Thomasian values
1. Explain why 2  1, 2,3 is incorrect.

2. Explain why 1  1, 2,3 is incorrect.

 
3. Consider the set 1, 1 . Does this set have
one or two elements? Explain.
Subset

Set NOTATION:

1,2,3 ⊆ {1,2,3,4,5}

{1,2,3} is a subset of {1,2,3,4,5}

Subset
Subset (Examples and Nonexamples)

{1,2,3,4,5} is a subset of {1,2,3,4,5}.

{1,2} is a proper subset of {1,2,3,4,5}.

{6,7} is not a subset of {1,2,3,4,5}.

{1,3,6} is not a subset of {1,2,3,4,5}.

The empty set, ∅, is a subset of 1,2,3,4,5 .

Complement of a set

NOTATIONS: 𝐴 – any set

𝐴′ – the complement of set 𝐴

𝐴′ The set 𝐴′ contains

elements in the
universal set which
𝐴 are not contained
in set 𝐴.
Complement of a set (Examples)

Universal set → 𝐔 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0}

If 𝐴 = 1,4,5,6 , then 𝐴′ = {2,3,7,8,9,0}.

If 𝐵 = {1,2,3}, then 𝐵 ′ = {4,5,6,7,8,9,0}.

If 𝐶 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, then 𝐶 ′ = ∅
Set operation (Union)

The union of sets A and B, denoted by U, is the

set that contains all the elements that belong to A
or to B or to both.
A  B = x x  A or x  B

U
A B

A B
Set operation (Union)

Union of 𝐴 and 𝐵 EXAMPLE:

𝑨∪𝑩
Let 𝐴 = {1,3,4,5}
𝐵 = {3,4,7,8}.
𝐴 𝐵
Then
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1,3,4,5,7,8}
Set operation (Intersection)

The intersection of sets A and B, denoted by ∩,

Is the set of elements common to both A and B.
A  B =  x x  A and x  B
Set operation (Intersection)

Intersection of 𝐴 and 𝐵 EXAMPLE:

𝑨∩𝑩
Let 𝐴 = {1,3,4,5}
𝐴 𝐵 𝐵 = {3,4,7,8}.

Then
𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {3,4}
LAST EXAMPLE:

Let U = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12}
A = 1,3,5,7,9,10
B = {1,2,3,5,7}
C = {2,4,6,7,8}
What is A∩(B∪ C)’?
 NEXT TOPIC:

SETS OF FUNCTIONS
AND RELATIONS
& BINARY OPERATIONS