CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY

CCAT Campus, Rosario, Cavite

LEARNING 2
MODULE CHAPTER

MATHEMATICS IN THE
MODERN WORLD

1|Ma them atics in t he M ode rn World Prepared By:

Mary Joy P. Handugan, LPT
 CHAPTER 2
MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

INTRODUCTION:

Language is the system of words, sign and symbols which people use to express ideas,
thoughts and feelings. It consists of the words, their pronunciation and the methods of
combining them to be understood by community. Language is a systematic means of
communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures or
marks having understood meanings (Merriam-Webster, 2017).
Mathematical Language is the system used to communicate mathematical ideas. The
language of mathematics is more precise than any other language one may think of. Like other
languages, it has its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, word order, synonyms, negations,
conventions, idioms abbreviations, sentence structure and paragraph structure. It has a
certain language features unparalleled in other languages, such as representation. The
language also includes a large component of logic. The ordinary language which gradually
expands to comprise symbolism and logic leads to learning of mathematics and its useful
application to problem situations.
All human languages have grammatical structures that distinguish between nouns and verbs.
These structures express the difference between the objects themselves and the actions
carried out by or on the objects. Numbers, measurements, shapes, spaces, functions,
patterns, data and arrangements are regarded as mathematical nouns, or objects while
mathematical verbs may be considered as the four main actions attributed to problem-
solving and reasoning. These actions represent the process one goes thru to solve a
problem.
Definitely, mathematics is a language. Expertise in this language can be gained by long and
carefully supervised experiences on its usage and application.
SYMBOLS
Instead of writing sentences with words, mathematical sentences are written in terms of
numbers and symbols. Mathematics uses symbols instead of words. The symbols can
designate numbers, variables, operations, functions, brackets, punctuations, and groupings
to help determine order of operations.
Examples:
There are the 10 digits: 0,1, 2,…9
There are symbols for operations: + - x ÷
And symbols that "stand in" for values: x, y,…
And many special symbols: π, Φ, =, ≤,…

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 Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO):

After the completion of the chapter, students should be able to:

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; and
4. Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language.

A. Characteristic of Mathematical Language

Mathematics is about ideas – relationships, quantities, processes, measurements,

reasoning and so on.

The use of language in mathematics differs from the language of ordinary speech in
three important ways, according to Jamison (2000).

1. Mathematical Language is non-temporal. There is no past, present or future in

mathematics.

2. Mathematical language is devoid of emotional content.

3. Mathematical language is precise.

Mathematics is a language in itself and mathematical language is precise, concise

and powerful. Likewise, it is clear and objective.

B. Mathematical Expression and Sentences

Mathematical Expression

• A mathematical analogue of an English noun.

• Consist of terms. The term of a mathematical expression is separated from
other terms with either plus or minus signs. A single term may contain an
expression in parentheses or other grouping symbols.
• Correct arrangement of mathematical symbols used to represent a
mathematical object of interest.
• A math expression is a collection of one or more terms, which are separated
by the signs (+, -, x, /).
• Is a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols.
• It does not contain a complete thought, and it cannot be determined if it is
true or false.
• The most common expression types are numbers, sets, and functions.

Example of mathematical expression:

1. The sum of 4 times a number n and 7. 4n+7

2. The sum of p and q less the sum of n and m. (p + q) - (n + m)
3. The square root of a number n. √𝒏

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Mathematical Sentence

Mathematical Sentence combines two mathematical expressions using a comparison

operator. These expressions either use numbers, variables, or both. The comparison
operators include equal, not equal, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than and less
than or equal to. The signs which convey equality or inequality are also called relation
symbols because they specify how two expressions are related. A mathematical expression
containing the equal sign is an equation. The two parts of an equation are called its
members. A mathematical expression containing the inequality sign is an inequality.

Examples of equation:

1. 4x + 3 = 19
2. 6y - 5 = 55
3. 10 + 1 = m
4. (x y z) 3 = 1
5. 58 - q = 25

Examples of inequality:

1. 15x - 5 < 3y
2. 18 > 16.5
3. 99 < x
4. 10 > 5xyz
5. a + b + c < 999

An open sentence in math means that it uses variables, meaning that it is not known
whether or not the mathematical sentence is true or false. A closed sentence, on the other
hand, is a mathematical sentence that is known to be either true or false.

Example of open sentence:

1. 2xy < 3y
2. The obtuse angle is N degrees.
3. 3x + 3y – 4z = 11
4. x+y=5
5. 25m = n

Example of true closed sentence:

1. 2 (x + y) = 2x + 2y
2. 18 (2) = 16.5
3. 9 is an odd number.
4. 3 (m + n) = ( m + n) + ( m + n) + ( m + n)
5. √25 = 5

Example of false closed sentence:

1. 9 is an even number.
2. 4+4=5
3. The square root of 4 is 1.
4. 2 = y0
5. 2d2 = 2d + d

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DIFFICULTIES IN THE MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

✓ The word "and means differently in Mathematics from English in use. The
mathematics "and" is equivalent to "plus".
✓ The different uses of a number to express quantity (cardinal). To indicate the order
(ordinal), and as a label (nominal).
✓ Mathematical objects may be represented in many ways i.e. sets and functions.

FUNCTIONS/CLASSIFICATIONS OF NUMBERS

✓ Nominal Numbers-attribute of subjects that is used for naming, labelling and

categorizing
✓ Ordinal Numbers-characteristic of subjects that is used for ranking or ordering.
✓ Cardinal Numbers-used for referring to quantity, measurement or number of pieces

C. Conventions in the Mathematical Language

Convention is a technique used by mathematician, engineers, scientists in which each

particular symbol has particular meaning. Greek and Latin letters are used as symbols for
physical quantities and special function.; and conventionally, for variables representing
certain quantities. Greek letters are used in many calculations. For example, the Greek letter
π (pi) is used to represent the number 3.14159. We often use α (alpha), β (beta), and ϴ
(theta) to represent angles. The Greek letter ∑ (sigma) is frequently used to represent the
summation of several numbers.

D. Four Basic Concepts

1. Sets

The concept of set is one of the most basic in mathematics. A set is a well-defined
collection of distinct objects. The objects that make up a set (also known as the set's
elements or members) can be numbers, people, letter s of the alphabet, other sets,
etc. Sets are conventionally named with capital letters. There is a simple notation for
sets. Braces are usually used to specify that the objects written between them belong
to a set.

1.1 There are two ways to describe a set, namely:

• Roster/Tabular Method, the elements in the given set are listed or

enumerated, separated by a comma, inside a pair of braces. An example
of the roster method is to write the set of numbers from 1 to 10 as {1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10}.

• Rule/Descriptive Method, the common characteristic of the elements are

defined. This method uses set builder notation where x is used to represent
any element of the given set.

Example:
{x: x > 3, x is a whole number} is the same as {4,5, 6,…}. { x: x > 3}
describes all numbers greater than 3. This set of numbers cannot be
represented as a list and is represented using a number line graph.

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 1.2 The following are kinds of sets:

• Empty/Null/Void set has no element and is denoted by '∅' or by pair of

braces with no element inside, i.e. { }.
• Finite set has countable number of elements.
• Infinite set has uncountable number oof elements.
• Universal set is the totality of all the elements of the sets under
consideration, denoted by U.

1.3 Two or more sets may be related to each other as described by the following:

• Equal sets have the same elements.

• Equivalent sets have the same number of elements.
• Joint Sets have at least one common element.
• Disjoint sets have no common element.
It can be denoted that equal sets are equivalent sets, however, not all equivalent sets are
equal sets.

1.4 A subset is denoted by the symbol ⊂ and read as ‘is a subset of’. Using this
symbol we can express subsets as follows: A ⊂ B; which means Set A is a subset
of Set B. Set A is said to be a subset of Set B if all the elements of Set A are also
present in Set B. In other words, set A is contained inside Set B. If the first set
equals the second set, then it is an improper subset. The symbol ⊊ is used to
mean an improper subset.

Example: If set A has {X, Y} and set B has {X, Y, Z}, then A is the subset of B
because elements of A are also present in set B.

Note: A subset can be equal to the set. That is, a subset can contain all the
elements that are present in the set.

Subsets are classified as

• Proper Subset
• Improper Subsets

A proper subset is one that contains a few elements of the original set whereas
an improper subset, contains every element of the original set along with the null
set.

For example, if set A = {2, 4, 6}, then,

Number of subsets: {2}, {4}, {6}, {2,4}, {4,6}, {2,6}, {2,4,6} and Φ or {}.

Proper Subsets: {}, {2}, {4}, {6}, {2,4}, {4,6}, {2,6}

Improper Subset: {2,4,6}

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The power set (or power set) of a Set A is defined as the set of all subsets of the Set A
including the Set itself and the null or empty set. It is denoted by P(A). Basically, this set is the
combination of all subsets including null set, of a given set.

How is Power set Calculated?

If the given set has n elements, then its Power Set will contain 𝟐𝒏 elements. It also represents
the cardinality of the power set.

Example of Power Set

Let us say Set A = { a, b, c }
Number of elements: 3
Therefore, the subsets of the set are:
{ } which is the null or the empty set
{a}
{b}
{c}
{ a, b }
{ b, c }
{ c, a }
{ a, b, c }
The power set P(A) = { { } , { a }, { b }, { c }, { a, b }, { b, c }, { c, a }, { a, b, c } }

Now, the Power Set has 𝟐𝟑 = 8 elements.

1.5 There are four operations performed on sets. Suppose, we named the two sets as
Set A and Set B, then:

• Union of Sets A and B [denoted by A U B] is a set whose elements are

found in “A or B” or in both.

In symbol: A U B = {x/x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

Let us consider an example, say; set A = {1, 3, 5} and set B = {1, 2, 4} then;
A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

• Intersection of sets A and B [denoted by A ∩ B] is a set whose elements

are common to both sets.

In symbol: A ∩ B = {x/x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

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 For example, A = {6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16}, B = {9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24} and C =
{4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28}.

The intersection of these 3 sets can be expressed as, A ∩ B ∩ C.

12 is the only common element in A, B and C.

Therefore, A ∩ B ∩ C = {12}

• Difference of sets A and B [denoted by A – B] is a set whose elements

are found in set A but not in set B.

In symbol: A - B = {x/x ∈ A or x ∉ B}

For example, If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}, then find A –

B and B – A.

Given,

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

B = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}

A – B = {1, 2} since the elements 1, 2 are there in A but not in B.

Similarly,

B – A = {7, 8}, since the elements 7 and 8 belong to B and not to A.

Also, we can show that A – B ≠ B – A.

• Complement of Set A [denoted by A’] is a set whose element are found

in the universal set but not in set A.

In symbol: A’ = {x/x ∈ U or x ∉ A}

For example, Set U = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12} and set A = {4, 6, 8}, then the
complement of set A, A′ = {2, 10, 12}.

1.6 The pictorial representation of relationship and operations of sets is the so-called
Venn-Euler Diagrams or simply Venn Diagrams. The universal set is usually
represented by a rectangle while circles within the rectangle usually represent its
subsets. The shaded region in the given diagrams illustrates the sets relation or
operation.

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 2. Functions

A function f from a set elements X to a set of elements Y is a rule that assigns to each
element x in X exactly one element y in Y. For example, let Set X consists of four
students and Set Y consists of their favorite subjects, respectively:

X = {Alyssa, Elijah, Steph, Shei}

X = {Chemistry, Math, Physics, Statistics}
Then, the result is a set of ordered pairs of the form (x, y) written as: {(Alyssa,
Chemistry), (Elijah, Math), (Steph, Physics), (Shei, Statistics)}
A function is generally denoted by f(x) where x is the input. The general representation
of a function is y = f(x).
The rules on performing operations of functions, f and g, are the following:

• The sum f + g is the function defined by:

y= (f + g) x = f(x) + g(x)
• The difference f – g is the function defined by:
y= (f – g) x = f(x) – g(x)
• The product f * g is the function defined by:
y= (f * g) x = f(x) * g(x)
• The quotient f/g is the function defined by:
y= (f / g) x = f(x) / g(x)
An example of a simple function is f(x) = x 2. In this function, the function f(x) takes the
value of “x” and then squares it. For instance, if x = 3, then f (3) = 9
3. Relations
A relation is a set of inputs and outputs, oftentimes expressed as ordered pairs (input,
output). A relation is a rule which associates each element of the first set (Set A) with
at least one element in the second set (Set B).
1. Disjoint sets A and B

B
A

2. Set A is a proper subset of set B, A ⊂ B

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 3. Union of sets A and B, A U B

A B

4. Intersection of sets A and B, A ∩ B

5. Difference of sets A and B, A – B

A B

6. Complement of a set A, A’

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A relation can be represented as a mapping diagram or a graph. Mapping or pairing from
domain to the range is one way to show correspondence in a relation.
For example, a relation can be represented as:

INPUT OUTPUT

0 -2

1 1

2 2

3 4

In which the lines connect the inputs with their outputs. The relation can also be represented
as

A function is a relation in which each input has only one output. A function is a rule which
uniquely associates elements of the first set (Set A) with the elements of the second set (Set
B); each element in Set A maps to only one element in Set B.
When an independent variable corresponds to more than one variable, it is a relation. A
relation is a correspondence between a first set of variables such that for some elements of
the first set of variables, there correspond at least two elements of the second set of variables
(Zorilla et al., 2016).
All functions are relations, but not all relations are functions.

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Name: _____________________________________________________________
Year & Section: _____________________________ Date: ___________________

ASSESSMENT 1

FUNCTIONS AND RELATIONS

A. Given the function f(x) = 2𝑥 2 and g(x) = 3x + 1, find:

1. f(x) + g(x)

2. f(X) – g(x)

3. f[g(x)]

4. 𝑓(𝑥)2

5. 𝑓(𝑥)3 – g(x) + 𝑔(𝑥)2

B. Given the function f(y) = 2𝑦 + 7and g(x) = 3x, find:

1. f(y) + g(x)

2. f(y) – g(x)

3. f[g(x)]

4. f(3) + g(-3)

5. f(5) + g(11)

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Name: _____________________________________________________________
Year & Section: _____________________________ Date: ___________________

ASSESSMENT 2:

SET

I. Identify the type of set (finite, infinite or empty) as described by the

following:

1. A = {stars in the galaxy} _________________________________

2. B = { } _________________________________

3. C = {1, 2, 3,…} _________________________________

4. D = {negative integers} _________________________________

5. E = {x/x > 5} _________________________________

6. F = { 0 } _________________________________

7. G = {multiples of 9} _________________________________

8. H = {Greek letters} _________________________________

9. I = {w, x, y, z} _________________________________

10. J = {numbers less than 11} _________________________________

II. Given: A = {integers between 1 and 10}

B = {even numbers less than 25}
C = {odd numbers less than 10}
Find:

1. A U C = _________________________________

2. B ∩ C = _________________________________

3. A ∩ (B U C) = _________________________________

4. A – C = _________________________________

5. B – A = _________________________________

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