PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Module No. 4
Mathematical Language and Symbols

Name of Student: _____________________________Student ID No._____________

Course Code: GE4 ______________________________Week No. 5&6 ____________
Course Title: Mathematics in the Modern World_____

I. Objectives
1. Discuss the variables and symbols of important kinds of mathematical statements.
2. Write sentences using variables.
3. Rewrite a universal conditional statement.

II. Lessons

Variables

A variable is sometimes thought of as a mathematical “John Doe” because you can use it
as a placeholder when you want to talk about something but either (1) you imagine that it has
one or more values but you don’t know what they are or (2) you want whatever you say it to be
equally true for all elements in a given set, and so you don’t want to be restricted to considering
only a particular, concrete value for it. To illustrate the first use consider asking

Is there a number with the following property: doubling it and adding 3 gives the same
result as squaring it?

In this sentence, you can introduce a variable to replace the potentially ambiguous word “it”:

Is there a number x with the property that 2 x + 3 = x2?

The advantage of using a variable is that it allows you to give a temporary name to what
you are seeking so that you can perform concrete computation with it to help discover its

possible values. To emphasize the role of the variable as a placeholder, you might write the
following:

Is there a number ▭ with the property that 2 ● ▭ + 3 = ▭2?

The emptiness of the box can help you imagine filling it in a variety of different values, some of
which might take the two sides equal and others of which might not.

To illustrate the second use of the variables, consider the statement:

No matter what might be chosen, if it is greater than 2, then its square is greater than
four.

In this case, introducing a variable to give a temporary name to the (arbitrary) number you
might choose enables you to maintain the generality of the statement, and replacing all
instances of the word “it” by the name of the variable ensures that possible ambiguity is
avoided:

No matter what number n might be chosen, if n is greater than 2, then n2is greater than
4.

Example 1 Use variables to rewrite this sentence more formally.

Are the numbers with the property that the sums of their squares equal the square of
their sum?

Solution 1
Are there numbers a and b with the property that a2 + b2 = (a + b) 2?
Or: Are there numbers a and b such that a2 + b2 = (a + b) 2?
Or: Do there exist any numbers a and b such that a2 + b2 = (a + b) 2?

Some important kinds of mathematical statements

`Three of the most important kind of sentences in mathematics are universal

A universal statement says that a certain property is true for all elements
in a set. (For example, all positive numbers are greater than zero.)

A conditional statement says that if one thing is true then some other
things also have to be true. (For example: if 378 is divisible by 18, then 328 is
divisible by 6.)

Given a property that may or may not be true, an existential statement

statements, conditional statements, and existential statements.
says that there is at least one thing for which the property is true (For example there In
the later sections, we will define each kind of statement carefully and discuss all of
 is a prime number that is even)
them in detail. The aim here is for you to realize that combinations of these statements can be
expressed in a variety of different ways. One way uses ordinary, everyday language and another
expresses the statement using one or more variables. The exercises are designed to help you
start becoming comfortable in translating from one way to another.

Universal Conditional statements

Universal statements contain some variation of the words “for all” and conditional
statements contain versions of the words “if-then”. A universal conditional statement is a
statement that is both universal and conditional. Here is an example

For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

One of the most important facts about universal conditional statements is that they can be
written in ways that make them appear to be purely universal or purely conditional. For
example, the previews statement can be written in a way that makes it conditional nature
explicit but its universal nature explicit.

If a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

Or: If an animal is a dog, then the animal is a mammal.

The statement can also be expressed to make its universal nature explicit and its conditional
nature explicit.

For all dogs, a is a mammal.

Or: All dogs are mammals.

The crucial point is that the ability to translate among various ways of expressing universal
conditional statements is enormously useful for doing mathematic and many parts of computer
science.

Example 2 Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:

For all real numbers x, if x is nonzero then x2is positive.

a. if a real number is nonzero, then its square _____
b. for all nonzero real number x, _____
c. if x _____, then _____
 Solution
a. is positive
b. x2 is positive
c. is a nonzero real number; x2is positive
III. Exercises

1. Use variables to rewrite this sentence more formally.

Given any real number, its square is nonnegative.
Solution
Given any real number n, n² is nonnegative.
For any given real number n, the n² is nonnegative.

2. Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:

For all real numbers x, if x is nonzero then x2is positive.

a. The square of any nonzero real number is _positive._

b. All nonzero real numbers have positive answers._

IV. Assessment
1. Use variables to rewrite the following sentences more formally.
a. Are there numbers whose square are smaller than the numbers themselves? b. A
prime number is an integer greater than one and whose only positive divisors are one
and itself.
Solution
a. Are there numbers a and b whose a² and b² are smaller than the numbers a and b. b.
A prime number n is an integer greater than one and whose only positive divisors are
one and n.

2. Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:

For all real numbers x, if x is greater than 2, then x2is greater than 4.
a. if a real number is greater than 2, then its square is _greater than 4.__
b. for all real numbers greater than 2, _have a square that is greater than 4.__
c. if x _is a real number greater than 2_, then _x² is greater than 4.__
d. the square of any real number greater than 2 is _greater than 4.__
e. all real numbers greater than 2 have a square that is greater than 4.__

V. References

Mathematics in the Modern World by REX Book Store, Inc. 2018

Mathematics in the Modern World by 3F E-Learning. 2018