COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

MATHEMATICS IN MODERN WORLD

(S.Y 2021-2022)

Chapter 2 : Language, Symbols and Conventions of Mathematics

Learning Objectives :

At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to:

 Discuss the language, symbols and conventions of Mathematics

 Discuss the characteristics of mathematical language
 Compare and contrast expressions and sentences
 Identify the truth value of mathematical sentences
 Translate English phrases/sentences to mathematical
expressions/sentences
 Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language

INTRODUCTION

Mathematics has its own language which we are familiar with. For example, the
digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 are already part of our existence. We use them when shopping,
measuring distances and even allocating our resources. By all means, Mathematics can
be seen anywhere.

People always find difficult to understand mathematical concepts not necessarily

because it is difficult, but because they are being presented in a foreign language—the
language of mathematics. But the language of Mathematics can be learned, but only
requires the effort needed to learn it just like any other language.

In this section, you will be learning the usefulness of mathematical symbols as a

precise form of shorthand. You will also learn the distinction between English
sentences/expressions and Mathematical expressions/sentences. This will extend your
ideas about the mathematical conventions in which you are going to bridge in your next
lessons.

Activity 10: Translate Me!

WORD PHRASE TRANSLATION Recall
some
1. A number b divided by thirty six

2. A product of a number z and eighty four

3. Four times the square of a number t

4. Sixty six subtracted from a number p.

5. The difference of the square root of a number r

and 37
6. Forty nine added to n is 60.

7. Eight divided by twice a number x is 4.

8. x diminished by twelve is forty-six.

9. The sum of a number p and its cube equals 10.

10. The square root of 256 is 13.

commonly used symbols you usually associate with mathematical operations.

Translate the following word phrase into mathematical symbols. Write your answer on the space
provided. (This activity only serves as a review on your prior knowledge about mathematical symbols
commonly used in mathematical word phrases. There’s no pressure in answering this part. This only
serves as the basis of your teacher)

Let’s Analyze and Prepare

 In order to prepare you to the lesson, answer the questions below. Write your answers
on the space provided.

1. How did you find the previous activity?

2. Did you find it hard to translate word phrases to mathematical symbols? Why?

3. Why do you think studying the language of mathematics is importance?

In the previous activity (Translate Me!), you were tasked to translate word phrases to
mathematical symbols. In order to do so, you must be familiar with the key words indicating
various operations. For instance, the first item can be written as 𝑏 ÷ 36 or 𝑏/36. You have
known that the keyword “divided by” indicates that the operation is division. Meanwhile, the
second item can be written as 𝑧 × 84 or 𝑧 ∙ 84 or 84𝑧. It is known that the keyword “product
of” is associated with multiplication. On the other hand, the sixth item is written as 𝑛 + 49 =
60. The term “added to” indicates that the operation is addition. The eighth item is expressed
as 𝑥 − 12 = 46. It is noted that the keyword “diminished by” means the operation is
subtraction. If you have observed, the sixth and eighth items are written as equations. The
word “is” is translated as the equal sign (=) in mathematics.

You will know more of the different mathematical symbols and its associated
keywords as we go along the lesson.

Let’s Discover

Now, let’s talk about language of mathematics in this section.

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), and
 powerful (able to express complex thoughts with relative ease)

Let’s recall what we have learned in our English class. In English, nouns are used to
name people, places, things, events.
 Example 1: Abby, CPSU, book, Christmas

Meanwhile, sentences are used to state complete thoughts. A typical English sentence
has at least one noun, and at least one verb.

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.
Expressions include numbers, sets, functions, matrices, ordered pairs, groups and
vectors.

Example 3: 10, 5 + 5, x , x + 2

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: Is it true? Is it false? Is it sometimes
true/sometimes false?
 Let’s proceed now with the conventions used in mathematics.

Conventions in the Mathematical Language

A mathematical convention is a fact, name, notations, or usage which is generally agreed upon by
mathematician. For example, one evaluates multiplication before addition following the principle of
PEMDAS (Parenthesis, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction). Mathematicians
abide by conventions to be able to understand what they write without constantly having to redefine basic
terms. Almost all mathematical names and symbols are conventional (Sirug, 2018).

In mathematics, we use symbols instead of words. We are familiar with the ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and the different operations. For instance, we associate the symbol “+” with addition, “–“
with subtraction, “×” with multiplication and “÷” with division.
Looking back in your previous task, you were asked to translate those English phrases to mathematical
symbols. It would be easier if you know the key words associated with the different operations. Table below
present some of the keywords related to an operation.

As in the case for spoken mathematical language, in written or printed mathematical discourse,
mathematical expressions containing a symbolic verb, like = (equal), < (less than), > (greater than), etc. are
treated as complete sentences.

Typographical conventions in mathematics provide uniformity across mathematical texts and help
individual to grasp new concepts quickly. Mathematical notations include letters from various alphabets, as
well as special mathematical symbols. Letters often have specific, fixed meanings in particular areas of
mathematics. For instance, we use the start of the alphabet (a, b, c, …) to denote constants or fixed values
while the end of the alphabet (…, x, y, z) to denote variables. Greek letters are used in many calculations.
For instance, we use the Greek letter 𝜋, reas as “pi” to represent the unending 3.14159…. Also, angles are
represented by α (‘alpha’), β (‘beta’), and θ (‘theta’). The Greek capital letter ‘sigma’ or Σ is frequently used
to represent the addition of several numbers (Sirug, 2018).

The use of subscripts (e.g. 𝑥𝑛) and superscripts (e.g. 𝑥𝑛) is also an important convention. A subscript
is a small number, or other symbol, written to the bottom right of a variable to distinguish different
instances of a variable. On the other hand,
superscripts are commonly used to indicate raising to a power. For example, 53 means
5 × 5 × 5 (Sirug, 2018).

Operation Symbol Key Words

Addition + sum, plus, add, total of, increased by, more than, Let’s
combined, altogether, additional, together, both, added to
Do It
Subtraction − less (than), minus, decreased by, difference, reduce,
lost, left, remainder, dropped, diminished, subtract from
Multiplication × or ∙ multiplied, times, per, as much, twice, by, product,
doubled, tripled
Division ÷ divided by, quotient, out of, ratio, per, part
 I. Let’s identify whether the following is an English noun, a mathematical expression,
an English sentence, or a mathematical sentence. In each sentence (English or
mathematical), identify the verb.
1. CPSU 6. apples
2. College 7. 5 – 3x = 11
3. 5 + 3 = 8 8. Tricia went to the market.
4. The sun is shining. 9. x + y = 0
5. 2x = 10 10. afternoon

Solution:

Items 1, 2, 6, and 10 are English nouns.

Items 3, 5, 7, and 9 is an example of a mathematical sentence. Since it is a sentence, the verb
there is the equal sign (=).
Items 4 and 8 are English sentence. The verbs are ‘is’ and ‘went’ respectively.
 II. Let’s classify each entry as a mathematical expression, or a mathematical
sentence. If it is a sentence, determine whether is true, false, or sometimes
true/sometimes false.

1. 190 – 21

2. 1 + 2 = 3

3. ½

4. x − 26

5. 20 − 5 = 20

6. 11 + 12 + x = 50

Solution:

Items 1, 3, and 4 are mathematical expressions while items 2, 5, and 6 are mathematical
sentences. Item 2 is a true sentence, while item 5 is a false sentence. However, item 6 is an
example of a sentence that is sometimes true/sometimes false.

III. Let’s translate each of the following phrases into mathematical phrases. Use as few
variables as possible.

1. The product of two numbers

Solution:
Recall that we use the small letters at the end of the alphabet such as x, y, z to denote
variables
We let x be the first number
y be the second number
The product may be represented by parentheses ( ) or brackets [ ] or ∙
Hence, the product of two numbers can be written as (𝑥)(𝑦) or [𝑥][𝑦] or 𝑥 ∙ 𝑦
2. The sum of a number and 5
Solution:
We let x be the number. The keyword there is ‘sum’ indicating that the operation is
addition. Thus, we write the sum of a number and 5 as 𝑥 + 5.

3. One-half times the sum of two numbers

Solution:
We let x as the first number and y as the second number. The operations will be
multiplication (the keyword is ‘times’) and addition (the keyword is ‘sum’). So, we
write it is as 1 (𝑥 + 𝑦).
2

4. Five less than a number

Solution:
We let x as a number. The keyword in the phrase is ‘less than’ which indicates
subtraction. Thus, we write it as 𝑥 − 5.

5. Three times a square of a number.

Solution:
We let x as a number. The keyword there is ‘times’ which means the operation is
multiplication. Also, when we talk about squaring a number, it means that a number is
raised to the power of 2. So, we write it as 3 ∙ 𝑥2 or 3(𝑥2) or 3𝑥2.

Let’s Try Some More

I. Let’s classify each entry as a mathematical expression, or a mathematical
sentence. If it is a sentence, determine whether is true, false, or sometimes
true/sometimes false.
1. x ÷ 12
2. x ÷ 5 = 2
3. 5 + 9 + x = x + 9 + 5
4. a + b + c 5.
x + y = 16
Solution:

Items 1 and 4 are merely mathematical expressions. In contrast, items 2, 3, and 5 are
mathematical sentences.

Item 2 is a sometimes true/sometimes false sentence. If x is 10, then the sentence is true.
On the other hand, for other values of x, the sentence becomes false.

Item 3 is a true sentence since for any value of x, the both side of the equations remains
equal.

Item 5 is a sometimes true/sometimes false sentence. For instance, it is true when x = 10

and y = 6 and it is false when x = 8 and y = 9.

II. Let’s translate each of the following phrases into mathematical phrases. Use as few
variables as possible.

1. the sum of squares of two numbers

Solution:
We let x and y be the two numbers. We square the numbers first before getting their
sum. So, we write it as 𝑥2 + 𝑦2.

2. 8 added to the product of a number and 5

Solution:
We let x be the number. We will have the product of x and 5 first before 8 is added.
So, we write is as (𝑥 ∙ 5) + 8 or 5𝑥 + 8

3. The difference of a number and 5 is 13.

Solution:
We let x be the number. The keyword is ‘difference’ which indicate that the
operation is subtraction. So, we write it as 𝑥 − 5 = 13.

4. the ratio of two numbers

Solution:
We let x and y be the two numbers. Since the keyword here is ‘ratio’, the
operation must be division. So, we write it as 𝑥 ÷ 𝑦 or 𝑥.
𝑦
5. thrice the sum of 4 and x
Solution:
The word ‘thrice’ means that it is multiplied by 3. So, we will get the sum of 4 and x
first and then multiple the sum by 3. It will be written as (4 + 𝑥) ∙ 3 or 3(4 + 𝑥).
Let’s Have Your Turn

Activity 10: What am I?

I. Classify each entry as a mathematical expression (EXP), or a mathematical sentence
(SEN). Classify the truth value of each entry that is a sentence: true (T), false (F), or
sometimes true/sometimes false (ST/SF).
Examples: 1 + 7 + 8 EXP

1+2=3 SEN, T

1. 13 + r 6. 7 = 3 + 5
2. xyz 7. 0 = 2 – t
3. 25 + 50 = 35 + 40 8. t + t + t
4. x + 0 = x 9. 0 = 1
5. x2 + 4x + 4 = 0 10. t – 1 = 1 – t

Activity 11: Let’s Translate!

Translate each of the following phrases/sentences into mathematical

expressions/sentences. Use as few variables as possible. Show your solution.
1. the square of the sum of three numbers

2. the cube of a number diminished by 4

3. Five added to twice a number is 15

 4. The sum of 8 and x is greater than the product of 2 and y

5. one third of the sum of four and z

Let’s Sum It Up
Write your Thoughts!

To summarize what you have learned in this lesson, answer the following question. Limit
your answer to 100 words.
Why is it important to study the language of mathematics?
Reference/s:

Aufmann, R. N., et al. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World (Chapter 2).
Philippines: Rex Book Store
Sirug, W. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Mindshapers Co. Inc.
https://www.rapidtables.com/math/symbols/Basic_Math_Symbols.html
http://www.mash.dept.shef.ac.uk/Resources/web-mathlanguage.pdf
https://www.mathsisfun.com/mathematics-language.html

TEACHER’S CONTACT DETAILS:

Teacher : ALVIN R. DIPAGAN,ME

Cellphone Number: 09101164316
FB/Messenger: Alvin Dipagan Abalos
Email Address:[email protected]