MODULE TWO

MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

CORE IDEA

Like any language, mathematics has its own symbols, syntax and rules.

Learning Outcome:

1. Discuss the language, symbols, and conventions of mathematics.

2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a language
3. Perform operations on mathematical expressions correctly.
4. Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language.

🕞 Time Allotment: Four (4) lecture hours

Lesson Characteristics and Conventions in the

Mathematical Language

Specific Objective

At the end of this lesson, the student should be able to:

1. Understand what mathematical language is.

2. Name different characteristics of mathematics.
3. Compare and differentiate natural language into a
mathematical language and expressions into sentences.
4. Familiarize and name common symbols use in mathematical
expressions and sentences.
5. Translate a sentence into a mathematical symbol.

Introduction:

Have you read about one of the story in the bible known as “The Tower of Babel?”
This story is about constructing a tower in able to reach its top to heaven; the Kingdom of God.
At first, the construction of a tower is smoothly being done since all of the workers have only one
and only one language. But God disrupted the work of the people by making their language
different from each other. There were a language barrier and the people were confused what the
other people are talking about resulting the tower was never finished and the people were spread
in all over and different places of the earth.

Based on the story, what was the most important thing that people should have in
order to accomplish a certain task? Yes, a “language”. Language is one of the most important
thing among the people because it has an important role in communication. But the question is,
what is language? Why is it so important? In this module, we will be discussing about
mathematical relative on what you have learned in your English subject.

Discussion:

For sure you may be asked what the real meaning of a language is. Perhaps you could say
that language is the one we use in able to communicate with each other or this is one of your
lessons in English or in your Filipino subject. According to Cambridge English Dictionary, a
language is a system of communication consisting of sounds, words and grammar, or the system
of communication used by people in a particular country or type of work.

Did you know that mathematics is a language in itself? Since it is a language also,
mathematics is very essential in communicating important ideas. But most mathematical language
is in a form of symbols. When we say that “Five added by three is eight”, we could translate this
in symbol as “5 + 3 = 8.” Here, the first statement is in a form of group of words while the
translation is in a form of symbol which has the same meaning and if your will be reading this, for
sure all of you have a common understanding with this. But let us take a look at this mathematical
symbols:

𝑓(𝑥) = 𝐿
∀𝜀 > 0, ∃ 𝛿 > 0 → |𝑥 − 𝑎| < 𝛿, |𝑓(𝑥) − 𝐿| < 𝜀, 𝑥𝜖𝑅
Did you understand what these symbols are? This mathematical sentence is a complex idea;
yet, it is contained and tamed into a concise statement. It may sound or look Greek to some
because without any knowledge of the language in which the ideas are expressed, the privilege
to understand and appreciate its grandeur can never be attained. Mathematics, being a language
in itself, may appear complex and difficult to understand simply because it uses a different
kind of alphabet and grammar structure. It uses a kind of language that has been historically
proven effective in communicating and transmitting mathematical realities. The language of
mathematics, like any other languages, can be learned; once learned, it allows us to see
fascinating things and provides us an advantage to comprehend and exploit the beauty of
beneath and beyond. Hence, in able to understand better different topics in mathematics, it is
 very important that you must learn first on how to read and understand different symbols in
mathematics which used in mathematical language.

A. Characteristics of Mathematical Language

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

It is:

1. precise (able to make very fine distinction)

2. concise (able to say things briefly); and
3. powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative cases).

B. Vocabulary vs. Sentences

Every language has its vocabulary (the words), and its rules for combining
these words into complete thoughts (the sentences). Mathematics is no exception. As a first step
in discussing the mathematical language, we will make a very broad classification between the
‘nouns’ of mathematics (used to name mathematical objects of interest) and the ‘sentences’ of
mathematics (which state complete mathematical thoughts)’

You must study the Mathematics Vocabulary!

• Student must learn on how to use correctly the language of Mathematics, when and where
to use and figuring out the incorrect uses.
• Students must show the relationship or connections the mathematics language with the
natural language.
• Students must look backward or study the history of Mathematics in order to understand
more deeply why Mathematics is important in their daily lives.

Importance of Mathematical Language

• Major contributor to overall comprehension

• Vital for the development of Mathematics proficiency
• Enables both the teacher and the students to communicate mathematical knowledge with
precision

C. Comparison of Natural Language into Mathematical Language

The table below is an illustration on the comparison of a natural language

(expression or sentence) to a mathematical language.
 English Mathematics
Expressions
Name given to an Noun such as person, 2
object of interest. place and things and
pronouns 3–2

Example: 3x
a) Ernesto
b) Batangas City 3x + 2
c) Book
d) He ax + by + c
Sentence
It has a complete Group of words that
thought express a statement, 3+2=5
question or command.
a+b=c
Example:
a) Ernesto is a boy. ax + by + c = 0
b) He lives in Batangas City.
c) Allan loves to read book.
d) Run! (x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
e) Do you love me?

D. Expressions versus Sentences

Ideas regarding sentences:

Ideas regarding sentences are explored. Just as English sentences have verbs, so do
mathematical sentences. In the mathematical sentence;

3+4=7

the verb is =. If you read the sentence as ‘three plus four is equal to seven, then it’s easy to hear
the verb. Indeed, the equal sign = is one of the most popular mathematical verb.

Example:

1. The capital of Philippines is Manila.

2. Rizal park is in Cebu.
3. 5+3=8
4. 5+3=9
Connectives

A question commonly encountered, when presenting the sentence example 1 + 2 = 3 is

that;
If = is the verb, then what is + ?

The answer is the symbol + is what we called a connective which is used to connect objects
of a given type to get a ‘compound’ object of the same type. Here, the numbers 1 and 2 are
connected to give the new number 1 + 2.

In English, this is the connector “and”. Cat is a noun, dog is a noun, cat and dog is a
‘compound’ noun.

Mathematical Sentence

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 as about the TRUTH
of a sentence: Is it true? Is it false? Is it sometimes true/sometimes false?

Example:

1. The capital of Philippines is Manila.

2. Rizal park is in Cebu.
3. 5+3=8
4. 5+3=9

Truth of Sentences

Sentences can be true or false. The notion of “truth” (i.e., the property of being true or
false) is a fundamental importance in the mathematical language; this will become apparent as you
read the book.

Conventions in Languages

Languages have conventions. In English, for example, it is conventional to capitalize name

(like Israel and Manila). This convention makes it easy for a reader to distinguish between a
common noun (carol means Christmas song) and proper noun (Carol i.e. name of a person).
Mathematics also has its convention, which help readers distinguish between different types of
mathematical expression.

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.

E. Conventions in mathematics, some commonly used symbols, its meaning and an

example

a) Sets and Logic

SYMBOL NAME MEANING EXAMPLE

 Union Union of set A and set AB

B

 Intersection Intersection of set A A B

and set B

 Element x is an element of A xA

 Not an element of x is not an element of x A

set A
{ } A set of.. A set of an element {a, b, c}

 Subset A is a subset of B AB

 Not a subset of A is not a subset of B AB

… Ellipses There are still other a, b, c, …
items to follow

a + b + c + ….

 Conjunction A and B AB

 Disjunction A or B A B

 Negation Not A A

→ Implies (If-then statement) If A, then B A→B

 If and only if A if and only if B AB

 For all For all x x

 There exist There exist an x 

 Therefore Therefore C C
 | Such that x such that y x|y
■ End of proof

 Congruence / equivalent A is equivalent to B A B

a is congruent to b a  b mod n
modulo n
a, b, c, …, z Variables
*First part of English Alphabet
uses as fixed variable*
(lower case)
*Middle part of English alphabet
use as subscript and superscript (axo)p (5x2)6
variable*
*Last part of an English alphabet
uses as unknown variable*

b) Basic Operations and Relational Symbols

SYMBOL NAME MEANING EXAMPLE

+ Addition; Plus sign a plus b
a added by b 3+2
a increased by b
Subtraction; minus sign a subtracted by
b
a minus b
- 3-2
a diminished by
b

• Multiplication sign a multiply by b 4•3

() *we do not use x as a symbol for a times b (4)(3)
multiplication in our discussion
since its use as a variable*

 or | Division sign; divides ab 10  5

b|a 5 | 10
  Composition of function f of g of x f  g(x)
= Equal sign a=a 5=5
a+b=b+a 3+2=2+3

 Not equal to ab 34

 Greater than ab 10  5

 Less than b a 5  10

 Greater than or equal to ab 10  5

 Less than or equal to ba 5  10

 Binary operation ab a * b = a + 17b

c) Set of Numbers

SYMBOL NAME MEANING EXAMPLE

natural numbers / whole
ℕ0 0 = {0,1,2,3,4,...} 0∈ 0
numbers set (with zero)
natural numbers / whole
ℕ1 numbers set (without 1 = {1,2,3,4,5,...} 6∈ 1
zero)
ℤ integer numbers set = {...-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,...} -6 ∈
ℚ rational numbers set = {x | x=a/b, a,b∈ and b≠0} 2/6 ∈
ℝ real numbers set = {x | -∞ < x <∞} 6.343434 ∈
ℂ complex numbers set = {z | z=a+bi, -∞<a<∞, -∞<b<∞} 6+2i ∈

F. Translating words into symbol

• Practical problems seldom, if ever, come in equation form. The job of the problem solver
is to translate the problem from phrases and statements into mathematical expressions and
equations, and then to solve the equations.

• As problem solvers, our job is made simpler if we are able to translate verbal phrases to
mathematical expressions and if we follow step in solving applied problems. To help us
translate from words to symbols, we can use the Mathematics Dictionary.
Examples:
Let x be a number. Translate each phrase or sentence into a mathematical expression or
equation.

1. Twelve more than a number.

Ans.: 12+x

2. Eight minus a number.

Ans.: 8−x

3. An unknown quantity less fourteen.

Ans.: x−14

4. Six times a number is fifty-four.

Ans.: 6x=54

5. Two ninths of a number is eleven.

Ans.: 2/9x=11

6. Three more than seven times a number is nine more than five times the number.

Ans.: 3+7x=9+5x

7. Twice a number less eight is equal to one more than three times the number.

Ans.: 2x−8=3x+1 or 2x−8=1+3x

 Self -Learning Activity
Directions: Do as indicated.

A. Bingo Game: Your teacher will be asking you to make your own bingo card
(one card only) with different mathematical symbols like the one below.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN

W O R L D

   - 
ℂ ℕ1 ℚ ℕ0 
| ℝ FREE  ■

    

 () +  ℤ

No symbol/s must be repeated in a single card. Just like an ordinary bingo game, you will
be playing a “Block-out Game” where your teacher would be the game master. Whoever student/s
complete all the symbols in a card (block out game) won the game. The game master will be check
if the symbols are all correct. Note: He or she will be given an incentive points for this item.

B. Translate each of the following mathematical phrase into a mathematical

expression if possible. Let x and y be the numbers.

1. A number increased by five

Ans.

2. Twice the square of a number

Ans.

3. The square of the sum of two numbers

Ans.

4. The sum of the squares of two numbers

Ans.
5. A number less by three

Ans.

6. Twice of a number added by four

Ans.

7. The cube of a number less than five

Ans.

8. The area of a rectangle whose length is seven more than its width

Ans.

9. The difference of a square of two numbers

Ans.

10. The quotient of the sum of two numbers by another number

Ans
 Lesson
Four Basic Concepts

Specific Objective

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:

1. Define what a set and its basic terminologies.
2. Differentiate two ways in describing sets.
3. Perform basic operations on set.
4. Define what a relation and a function is.
5. Translate relation and function into a diagram.
6. Name and apply the different properties of a relation
and function.
7. Identify the domain and range in a relation and
function.
8. Evaluate a function.
9. Define and perform a binary operation.

Introduction

In this module, it will be discussed the four basic concepts in mathematics such as
sets and its basic operation, the functions, relations and the binary operations.

Discussion:

I. SETS AND SUBSETS

A. The Language of Sets

Use of the word “set” as a formal mathematical term was introduced

in 1879 by Georg Cantor. For most mathematical purposes we can think of a set intuitively,
as Cantor did, simply as a collection of elements.

So, by definition:

A set is a collection of well-defined objects.

Illustration:

A set of counting numbers from 1 to 10.

 A set of an English alphabet from a to e.
A set of even numbers
A set of an integers

Note: A set is denoted with braces or curly brackets { } and label or name the set
by a capital letter such as A, B, C,…etc.

a. A set of counting numbers from 1 to 5.

A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }

b. A set of English alphabet from a to d.

B = { a, b, c, d }

c. A set of all even positive integers.

C = { 2, 4, 6, 8, … }

d. A set of an integers.
D = { …, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}

Now, 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.

So, what is an element of a set?

Element of a set
Each member of the set is called an element and the  notation
means that an item belongs to a set.

Illustration:

Say A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
1  A; 3  A; 5  A
Is 6 is an element of set A? Since in a given set A above, we could not see six as
an element of set A, thus we could say that;

6 is not an element of set A or

6A

Note: Each element is a set should be separated by comma.

Terminologies of Sets
 1. Unit Set

Unit set is a set that contains only one element.

Illustration:
A = { 1 }; B = { c }; C = { banana }

2. Empty set or Null set; 

Empty or null set is a set that has no element.

Illustration:
A={ }
A set of seven yellow carabaos

3. Finite set

A finite set is a set that the elements in a given set is countable.

Illustration:
A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 }
B = { a, b, c, d }

4. Infinite set

An infinite set is a set that elements in a given set has no end or not
countable.
Illustration:

A set of counting numbers

A = { …-2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, … }

5. Cardinal Number; n

Cardinal number are numbers that used to measure the number of

elements in a given set. It is just similar in counting the total number of element in a set.

Illustration:
A = { 2, 4, 6, 8 } n=4
B = { a, c, e } n=3

6. Equal set
 Two sets, say A and B, are said to be equal if and only if they have
equal number of cardinality and the element/s are identical. There is a 1 -1
correspondence.

Illustration:
A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} B = { 3, 5, 2, 4, 1}
7. Equivalent set

Two sets, say A and B, are said to be equivalent if and only if they
have the exact number of element. There is a 1 – 1 correspondence.

Illustration:
A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 } B = { a, b, c, d, e }

8. Universal set

The universal set U is the set of all elements under discussion.

Illustration:

A set of an English alphabet

U = {a, b, c, d, …, z}

9. Joint Sets

Two sets, say A and B, are said to be joint sets if and only if they
have common element/s.

A = { 1, 2, 3}B = { 2, 4, 6 }

Here, sets A and B are joint set since they have common element
such as 2.

10. Disjoint Sets

Two sets, say A and B, are said to be disjoint if and

only if they are mutually exclusive or if they don’t have common element/s.

A = { 1, 2, 3}B = { 4, 6, 8 }

B. Two ways of Describing a Set

 1. Roster or Tabular Method

It is done by listing or tabulating the elements of the set.

2. Rule or Set-builder Method

It is done by stating or describing the common characteristics of the

elements of the set. We use the notation A = { x / x … }

Illustration:

a. A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
A = {x | x is a counting number from 1 to 5}
A = { x | x  N, x < 6}

b. B = { a, b, c, d, …, z }
B = {x | x  English alphabet}
B = { x | x is an English alphabet}

C. Subsets

A subset, A  B, means that every element of A is also an element

of B.

If x  A, then x  B.
In particular, every set is a subset of itself, A  A.

A subset is called a proper subset, A is a proper subset

of B, if A  B and there is at least one element of B that is not in A:

If x  A, then x  B and there is an element b such that b 

B and b  A.

NOTE1: The empty set. or {} has no elements and is a subset of every set
for every set A, A  A.

The number of subsets of a given set is given by 2n , where n is the

number of elements of the given set.
 Illustration:
How many subsets are there in a set

A = {1, 2, 3 }? List down all the subsets of set A. Number of subsets = 2n = 23 =

8 subsets

With one element

{1} ; {2} ; {3}

With two elements

{ 1, 2 } ; { 1, 3 }; { 2, 3 }

With three elements

{ 1, 2, 3 }

With no elements
{ }

D. Ordered Pair

Given elements a and b, the symbol (a, b) denotes the ordered pair
consisting of 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 iff a = c
and b = d. Symbolically;

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

Illustration:

a) If (a, b) = (3, 2), what would be the value of a and b.

Here, by definition that two ordered pairs (a,b) and (c,d) are equal iff a = c
and b = d.
Hence, a = 3 and b = 2.

b) Find x and y if (4x + 3, y) = (3x + 5, – 2).

Solution:

Since (4x + 3, y) = (3x + 5, – 2), so

4x + 3 = 3x + 5
Solving for x, we got x = 2 and obviously y = – 2.
 E. OPERATION ON SETS

Sets can be combined in a number of different ways to produce another set. Here
are the basic operations on sets.

1. Union of Sets

The union of sets A and B, denoted by A  B , is the set defined as:

A  B = { x | x  A or x  B }

Example 1: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5} , then

A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} .

Example 2: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 2, 4, 5} , then

A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} .

Note that elements are not repeated in a set.

2. Intersection of Sets

The intersection of sets A and B, denoted by A  B , is the set defined as :

A  B = { x | x  A and x  B }

Example 1: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 2, 4, 5}

then A  B = {1, 2} .

Example 2: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5}

then A  B = 

3. Difference of Sets

The difference of sets A from B , denoted by A - B , is the set

defined as

A - B = { x | x  A and x  B }
 Example 1: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 2, 4, 5}
then A - B = {3} .

Example 2: If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5} ,

then A - B = {1, 2, 3} .

Example : 3 If A = {a, b, c, d } and B = {a, c, e } ,

then A - B = {b, d } .

Note that in general A - B  B - A

4. Compliment of Set

For a set A, the difference U - A , where U is the universe, is called

the complement of A and it is denoted by Ac . Thus Ac is the set of
everything that is not in A.

Example: Let U = { a, e, i, o, u } and A = { a, e }

then Ac = { i, o u }

5. Cartesian Product

Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A and B, denoted by A x B

and read as “A cross B”, is the set of all ordered pair (a,b) where a is in A and b is
in B. Symbolically:
A x B = {(a, b) | a  A and b  B}

Note that A x B is not equal to B x A.

Illustration:

If A = { 1, 2} and B = {a, b}, what is A x B?

A x B = {(1,a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b)}. How many elements in a A x B?

Example 1: Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {a, b}. Then

A x B = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b), (3, a), (3, b)} .
 Example 2: For the same A and B as in Example 1,

B x A = {(a, 1), (a, 2), (a, 3), (b, 1), (b, 2), (b, 3)} .

Venn Diagram

A Venn diagram is an illustration of the relationships between and among sets,

groups of objects that share something in common. Usually, Venn diagrams are used to
depict set intersections (denoted by an upside-down letter U). This type of diagram is used in
scientific and engineering presentations, in theoretical mathematics, in computer applications,
and in statistics.

Venn Diagram on Sets Operation

A. Union of Sets B. Intersection of Sets

C. Difference of Sets D. Complement

Self- Learning Activity

Directions: Do as indicated.
1. Tell whether the following is true or false:
1. Empty set is also called a unit set.
2. {  } is an empty set.
 3. A set with two elements has 2 subsets.
4. Equivalent set is also an equal set.
5. Counting number is an example of a finite set.

2. List down all the subsets of a set

A = { a, b, c, d }.

3. If A = {1,2,3} and B={i,o,u}, find A x B.

4. Find x and y if (x – y, x + y) = (6, 10)

5. Let U = {{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}; A = {1, 3, 5, 7}, B = {2, 4, 6, 8} and C =

{3, 6, 9,
0}. Find the following:

a) A  B b) B  C c) A’  B’ d) (A  B)’

6. A group of students were asked whether they are like basketball,

softball, or both. If 456 like basketball, 384 like softball, and 252 like
both games, how many students were there?

7. A survey of 100 fourth year high school students revealed that 42 like
mathematics, 62 like Filipino, 44 like History, 22 like both Math and
History, 25 like both Math and Filipino, 17 like Filipino and History,
and 10 like all the three subjects. How many like Math only? Filipino
only? History only? How many did not like any of the three subjects?