GE 3: Mathematics in the Modern World Prelim

UNIT II: SPEAKING MATHEMATICALLY

Chapter II. MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

Learning objectives:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Discuss mathematical language,
2. Name and explain the meaning of mathematical symbols, and
3. Show appreciation to the mathematical language and symbols.

A. MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE
 Mathematics is a language in itself. It is used in communicating important ideas.
 Mathematics as a language is clear and objective.
 The language of mathematics is the system used by mathematicians to communicate mathematical ideas
among themselves.

Characteristics of Mathematical Language

1. Precise. Mathematical values can be measured of how close they are to each other.
2. Concise. Mathematics has lot of information clearly given and with the use of few words. It is brief but
comprehensive.
3. Powerful. Mathematics is one of the deepest and most powerful expressions of pure human reason.

B. MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS
a. Basic math symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
= equals sign equality 5 = 2+3
≠ not equal sign inequality 5≠4
sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01,
≈ approximately equal approximation
x ≈ y means x is approximately equal to y
> strict inequality greater than 5>4
< strict inequality less than 4<5
≥ inequality greater than or equal to 5≥4
≤ inequality less than or equal to 4≤5
() parentheses calculate expression inside first 2 × (3+5) = 16
[] brackets calculate expression inside first [(1+2)×(1+5)] = 18
+ plus sign addition 1+1=2
− minus sign subtraction 2−1=1
± plus - minus both plus and minus operations 3 ± 5 = 8 or -2

± minus - plus both minus and plus operations 3 ∓ 5 = -2 or 8

* asterisk multiplication 2*3=6
× times sign multiplication 2×3=6

⋅ multiplication dot multiplication 2⋅3=6

÷ division sign / obelus division 6÷2=3
/ division slash division 6/2=3

— horizontal line division / fraction

mod modulo remainder calculation 7 mod 2 = 1

. period decimal point, decimal separator 2.56 = 2+56/100
ab power exponent 23 = 8
a^b caret exponent 2 ^ 3= 8

√a square root √a ⋅ √a = a √9 = ±3
3
√a cube root 3
√a ⋅ 3√a ⋅ 3√a = a 3
√8 = 2
4
√a fourth root 4
√a ⋅ 4√a ⋅ 4√a ⋅ 4√a = a 4
√16 = ±2
n
√a n-th root (radical) for n=3, n√8 = 2

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GE 3: Mathematics in the Modern World Prelim

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

% percent 1% = 1/100 10% × 30 = 3
‰ per-mille 1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1% 10‰ × 30 = 0.3
ppm per-million 1ppm = 1/1000000 10ppm × 30 = 0.0003
ppb per-billion 1ppb = 1/1000000000 10ppb × 30 = 3×10-7
ppt per-trillion 1ppt = 10-12 10ppt × 30 = 3×10-10

b. Geometry symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

∠ angle formed by two rays ∠ABC = 30°

measured angle ABC = 30°

spherical angle AOB = 30°

∟ right angle = 90° α = 90°
° degree 1 turn = 360° α = 60°
deg degree 1 turn = 360deg α = 60deg
′ prime arcminute, 1° = 60′ α = 60°59′
″ double prime arcsecond, 1′ = 60″ α = 60°59′59″

line infinite line

AB line segment line from point A to point B

ray line that starts from point A

arc arc from point A to point B

= 60°

⊥ perpendicular perpendicular lines (90° angle) AC ⊥ BC

∥ parallel parallel lines AB ∥ CD

≅ congruent to equivalence of geometric shapes and size ∆ABC≅ ∆XYZ

~ similarity same shapes, not same size ∆ABC~ ∆XYZ

Δ triangle triangle shape ΔABC≅ ΔBCD

|x-y| distance distance between points x and y | x-y | = 5
π = 3.141592654...
π pi constant c = π⋅d = 2⋅π⋅r
is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle
rad radians radians angle unit 360° = 2π rad
c
radians radians angle unit 360° = 2πc
grad gradians / gons grads angle unit 360° = 400 grad
g
gradians / gons grads angle unit 360° = 400 g

c. Algebra symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
x x variable unknown value to find when 2x = 4, then x = 2
≡ equivalence identical to

≜ equal by definition equal by definition

:= equal by definition equal by definition

~ approximately equal weak approximation 11 ~ 10
≈ approximately equal approximation sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01

∝ proportional to proportional to y ∝ x when y = kx, kconstant

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Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

∞ lemniscate infinity symbol

≪ much less than much less than 1 ≪ 1000000

≫ much greater than much greater than 1000000 ≫ 1

() parentheses calculate expression inside first 2 * (3+5) = 16
[] brackets calculate expression inside first [(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18
{} braces set

⌊x⌋ floor brackets rounds number to lower integer ⌊4.3⌋ = 4

⌈x⌉ ceiling brackets rounds number to upper integer ⌈4.3⌉ = 5

x! exclamation mark factorial 4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24
|x| single vertical bar absolute value | -5 | = 5
f (x) function of x maps values of x to f(x) f (x) = 3x+5

(f ∘ g) function composition (f ∘ g) (x) = f (g(x)) f (x)=3x,g(x)=x-1 ⇒(f ∘ g)(x)=3(x-1)

(a,b) open interval (a,b) = {x | a < x < b} x∈ (2,6)

[a,b] closed interval [a,b] = {x | a ≤ x ≤ b} x ∈ [2,6]

∆ delta change / difference ∆t = t1 - t0
∆ discriminant Δ = b2 - 4ac
summation - sum of all values in
∑ sigma ∑ xi= x1+x2+...+xn
range of series

∑∑ sigma double summation

product - product of all values in

∏ capital pi ∏ xi=x1∙x2∙...∙xn
range of series
e constant / Euler's
e e = 2.718281828... e = lim (1+1/x)x , x→∞
number
Euler-Mascheroni
γ γ = 0.5772156649...
constant
φ golden ratio golden ratio constant
π = 3.141592654...
is the ratio between the
π pi constant c = π⋅d = 2⋅π⋅r
circumference and diameter of a
circle

d. Probability and statistics symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
probability
P(A) probability of event A P(A) = 0.5
function

P(A ⋂ B)
probability of
events probability that of events A and B P(A⋂B) = 0.5
intersection

P(A ⋃ B)
probability of
probability that of events A or B P(A⋃B) = 0.5
events union
conditional
probability of event A given event B
P(A | B) probability P(A | B) = 0.3
occured
function
probability density
f (x) P(a ≤ x ≤ b) = ∫ f (x) dx
function (pdf)
cumulative
F(x) distribution F(x) = P(X≤ x)
function (cdf)

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Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

μ population mean mean of population values μ = 10
E(X) expectation value expected value of random variable X E(X) = 10
conditional expected value of random variable X
E(X | Y) E(X | Y=2) = 5
expectation given Y
var(X) variance variance of random variable X var(X) = 4
σ2 variance variance of population values σ2 = 4
std(X) standard deviation standard deviation of random variable X std(X) = 2
standard deviation value of random
σX standard deviation σX = 2
variable X

median middle value of random variable x

cov(X,Y) covariance covariance of random variables X and Y cov(X,Y) = 4

corr(X,Y) correlation correlation of random variables X and Y corr(X,Y) = 0.6
ρX,Y correlation correlation of random variables X and Y ρX,Y = 0.6

summation - sum of all values in range

∑ summation
of series

∑∑ double summation double summation

value that occurs most frequently in

Mo mode
population
MR mid-range MR = (xmax+xmin)/2
Md sample median half the population is below this value
lower / first
Q1 25% of population are below this value
quartile
median / second 50% of population are below this value
Q2
quartile = median of samples
upper / third
Q3 75% of population are below this value
quartile
x sample mean average / arithmetic mean x = (2+5+9) / 3 = 5.333
s2 sample variance population samples variance estimator s2=4
sample standard population samples standard deviation
s s=2
deviation estimator
zx standard score zx = (x-x) / sx
X~ distribution of X distribution of random variable X X ~ N(0,3)
N(μ,σ2) normal distribution gaussian distribution X ~ N(0,3)
uniform
U(a,b) equal probability in range a,b X ~ U(0,3)
distribution
exponential
exp(λ) f (x) = λe-λx , x≥0
distribution
gamma
gamma(c, λ) f (x) = λ c xc-1e-λx / Γ(c), x≥0
distribution
chi-square
χ 2(k) f (x) = xk/2-1e-x/2 / ( 2k/2 Γ(k/2) )
distribution
F (k1, k2) F distribution
binomial
Bin(n,p) f (k) = nCk pk(1-p)n-k
distribution
Poisson
Poisson(λ) f (k) = λke-λ / k!
distribution

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Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

geometric
Geom(p) f (k) = p(1-p) k
distribution
hyper-geometric
HG(N,K,n)
distribution
Bernoulli
Bern(p)
distribution

e. Set theory symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
A = {3,7,9,14},
{} set a collection of elements
B = {9,14,28}
A∩B intersection objects that belong to set A and set B A ∩ B = {9,14}

A∪B union objects that belong to set A or set B A ∪ B = {3,7,9,14,28}

A⊆B {9,14,28} ⊆ {9,14,28}

A is a subset of B. set A is included in set
subset
B.

A⊂B proper subset / strict subset A is a subset of B, but A is not equal to B. {9,14} ⊂ {9,14,28}

A⊄B not subset set A is not a subset of set B {9,66} ⊄ {9,14,28}

A⊇B superset A is a superset of B. set A includes set B {9,14,28} ⊇ {9,14,28}

A⊃B {9,14,28} ⊃ {9,14}

A is a superset of B, but B is not equal to
proper superset / strict superset
A.

A⊅B not superset set A is not a superset of set B {9,14,28} ⊅ {9,66}

2A power set all subsets of A

power set all subsets of A

A={3,9,14},
A=B equality both sets have the same members B={3,9,14},
A=B
Ac complement all the objects that do not belong to set A
A = {3,9,14},
A\B relative complement objects that belong to A and not to B B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
A-B relative complement objects that belong to A and not to B B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A or B but not to
A∆B symmetric difference B = {1,2,3},
their intersection
A ∆ B = {1,2,9,14}

A⊖B
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A or B but not to
A ⊖ B = {1,2,9,14}
symmetric difference B = {1,2,3},
their intersection

A={3,9,14}, 3 ∈ A
element of,
a∈A set membership
belongs to

x∉A not element of no set membership A={3,9,14}, 1 ∉ A

(a,b) ordered pair collection of 2 elements
A×B Cartesian product set of all ordered pairs from A and B
|A| cardinality the number of elements of set A A= {3,9,14}, |A|=3
#A cardinality the number of elements of set A A= {3,9,14}, #A=3

aleph-null infinite cardinality of natural numbers set

cardinality of countable ordinal numbers

aleph-one
set

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Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

Ø empty set Ø={ } C = {Ø}

universal set set of all possible values

0∈
natural numbers / whole numbers set
0
(with zero) 0 = {0,1,2,3,4,...} 0

6∈
natural numbers / whole numbers set
1
(without zero) 1 = {1,2,3,4, 5, ...} 1

integer numbers set = {...-3, -2, -1,0,1,2, 3, ...} -6 ∈

rational numbers set = {x | x=a/b, a, b∈ } 2/6 ∈

real numbers set = {x | -∞ < x <∞} 6.343434∈

complex numbers set = {z | z=a+bi, -∞<a<∞, -∞<b<∞} 6+2i ∈

f. Logical symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

⋅ and and x⋅y

^ caret / circumflex and x^y
& ampersand and x&y
+ plus or x+y

∨ reversed caret or x∨y

| vertical line or x|y
x' single quote not - negation x'
x bar not - negation x
¬ not not - negation ¬x
! exclamation mark not - negation !x

⊕ circled plus / oplus exclusive or - xor x⊕y

~ tilde negation ~x

⇒ implies

⇔ equivalent if and only if (iff)

↔ equivalent if and only if (iff)

∀ for all

∃ there exists

∄ there does not exists

∴ therefore

∵ because / since

g. Numeral symbols
Name Western Arabic Roman Eastern Arabic Hebrew
zero 0 ٠
one 1 I ١ ‫א‬
two 2 II ٢ ‫ב‬
three 3 III ٣ ‫ג‬
four 4 IV ٤ ‫ד‬
five 5 V ٥ ‫ה‬
six 6 VI ٦ ‫ו‬

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Name Western Arabic Roman Eastern Arabic Hebrew

seven 7 VII ٧ ‫ז‬
eight 8 VIII ٨ ‫ח‬
nine 9 IX ٩ ‫ט‬
ten 10 X ١٠ ‫י‬
eleven 11 XI ١١ ‫יא‬
twelve 12 XII ١٢ ‫יב‬
thirteen 13 XIII ١٣ ‫יג‬
fourteen 14 XIV ١٤ ‫יד‬
fifteen 15 XV ١٥ ‫טו‬
sixteen 16 XVI ١٦ ‫טז‬
seventeen 17 XVII ١٧ ‫יז‬
eighteen 18 XVIII ١٨ ‫יח‬
nineteen 19 XIX ١٩ ‫יט‬
twenty 20 XX ٢٠ ‫כ‬
thirty 30 XXX ٣٠ ‫ל‬
forty 40 XL ٤٠ ‫מ‬
fifty 50 L ٥٠ ‫נ‬
sixty 60 LX ٦٠ ‫ס‬
ninety 90 XC ٩٠ ‫צ‬
one hundred 100 C ١٠٠ ‫ק‬

h. Greek symbols
Upper Case Letter Lower Case Letter Greek Letter Name English Equivalent Letter Name Pronounce
Α α Alpha a al-fa
Β β Beta b be-ta
Γ γ Gamma g ga-ma
Δ δ Delta d del-ta
Ε ε Epsilon e ep-si-lon
Ζ ζ Zeta z ze-ta
Η η Eta h eh-ta
Θ θ Theta th te-ta
Ι ι Iota i io-ta
Κ κ Kappa k ka-pa
Λ λ Lambda l lam-da
Μ μ Mu m m-yoo
Ν ν Nu n noo
Ξ ξ Xi x x-ee
Ο ο Omicron o o-mee-c-ron
Π π Pi p pa-yee
Ρ ρ Rho r row
Σ σ Sigma s sig-ma
Τ τ Tau t ta-oo
Υ υ Upsilon u oo-psi-lon

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Φ φ Phi ph f-ee
Χ χ Chi ch kh-ee
Ψ ψ Psi ps p-see
Ω ω Omega o o-me-ga

i. Roman numerals
Number Roman numeral
0 not defined
1 I
5 V
10 X
50 L
100 C
500 D
1000 M

5000 V
10000 X
50000 L
100000 C
500000 D
1000000 M

Chapter III. MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS AND SENTENCES

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Write down mathematical expressions and mathematical sentences correctly, and
2. Distinguish mathematical expressions from mathematical sentences.

Mathematical Expressions
Mathematical expressions are infinite combinations of symbols that are well-formed according to rules. They
include variables classified as either a free variable or a bound variable.
Examples:
x

y
3
 ∑ (2 nx)
n =1

Mathematical Sentences
Mathematical sentences make a statement about two expressions. The two expressions maybe numbers,
variables, or a combination of both. They can also use symbols or words like equals, greater than or less than.

a. Open sentence. It uses variables, maybe true or false mathematical sentence.

Examples:
 The obtuse angle is N degrees
 x+y=5
 11 – 8 = x

b. Closed sentence. It is a mathematical sentence that is known to be either true or false.

Examples:
 The square root of 9 is 3.
 9 is an odd number.
 10 – 2 = 7.
 1+1 = 3.

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Chapter IV. MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define mathematical statement, and
2. Discuss the different kinds of mathematical statements, and
3. Show appreciation to mathematical statement.

Mathematical statement is a sentence which is either true or false. It may contain words and symbols.

THREE IMPORTANT KINDS OF MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS

1. Universal statement
A universal statement says that a certain property is true for all elements in a set.
Example:
All positive numbers are greater than zero.

2. Conditional statement
A conditional statement says that if one thing is true, then some other thing also has to be true.
Example:
If 378 is divisible by 18, then 378 is divisible by 6.

3. Existential statement
Given a property that may or may not be true, an existential statement says that there is at least one thing for which
the property is true.
Example:
There is a prime number that is even.

Universal Conditional Statements

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

Example:
For all real numbers x, if x is nonzero, then x2 is positive.
We can rewrite this as:
a. If a real number is nonzero, then its square is positive.
b. For all nonzero real numbers x, x2 is positive.
c. If x is a nonzero real number, then x2 is positive.
d. The square of any nonzero real number is positive.
e. All nonzero real numbers have positive squares.

Universal Existential Statements

 A universal existential statement is a statement that is universal because its first part says that a certain property
is true for all objects of a given type, and it is existential because its second part asserts the existence of
something.
Example:
Every real number has an additive inverse.
We can rewrite this as:
a. All real numbers have additive inverse.
b. For all real numbers r, there is an additive inverse for r.
c. For all real numbers r, there is a real number s such that s is an additive inverse for r.

Existential Universal Statements

 An existential universal statement is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts that a certain
object exists and is universal because its second part says that the object satisfies a certain property for all things
of a certain kind.

Example:
There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
We can rewrite this as:
a. Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive integer.
b. There is a positive integer m that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
c. There is a positive integer m such that every positive integer is greater than or equal to m.
d. There is a positive integer m with the property that for all positive integers n, m ≤n .

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GE 3: Mathematics in the Modern World Prelim
Chapter V. LANGUAGE OF SETS
Learning objectives:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define sets,
2. Represent sets in different ways,
3. Differentiate the different kinds of sets, and
4. Write down ordered pairs symbolically.
A. SETS
A set is a collection of objects that have something in common, or follow a rule. The objects in the set are called
its members or elements. Braces are used to denote a set with elements separated by commas. Capital letters are
used to represent a set.
Note: Every object in a set is unique.

METHODS OF REPRESENTING SETS

a. Descriptive Method. A clear description of a set is enclosed in braces.
Example: N = {natural numbers less than 10}

b. Roster or Tabular Notation. All the members of the set are listed down and are enclosed in braces.
Example: B = {m, a, t, h}. This is the set B of all the letters in the word “math”.

c. Rule or Set-builder Notation. The elements of the set are represented by a general rule.
Example: A = {x|x > 4, x is a whole number}. This is read as “the set of all x such that x is greater than 4 and is a
whole number.

CARDINALITY OF A SET
Cardinality of a set refers to the number of elements in the set.
Examples:
1. A = {vowels in the English alphabet}. The cardinal number of A is 5. It is symbolically expressed as n(A) = 5.
2. B = {1, 3, 5,}. The cardinal number of B is 3.

TYPES OF SETS
a. Finite set. A set that contains countable/limited number of elements. The last element can be identified.
Examples:
1. C = {L, O, V, E}. The elements of set C can be counted.
2. N = {natural numbers less than 5}. The last element of set N can be identified.

b. Infinite set. It is a set that contains an unlimited number of elements. It is denoted with three dots (ellipsis) and is
read “and so forth”.
Examples:
1. D = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …}
2. W = {x|x is a whole number}

c. Singleton set. It is a set that contains one element only.

Examples:
1. N = {1}
2. M = {x|x is the capital of the Philippines}

d. Universal set. The totality of the elements that are involved in any specific discussion or situation. It is denoted by
capital letter U.
Examples:
1. U = {senior high school students in the Philippines}
2. U = {a, b, c, … , z}

e. Empty/null set. No element can be identified from a given set. It is denoted by the Greek letter phi ∅ .
Examples:
1. A = {x|x is a planet that have two rings}
2. B = {x|x is a whole number greater than 5 but less than 6}

f. Subset. A set whose elements are members of a given set. Given sets A and B, if all elements of set A are found in
set B, then A is a subset of B. Note that a set is a subset of itself. Also, a null set is always a subset of any set. The
number of subsets of any set is defined by 2n, where n is the number of elements in a set.

o Proper subset. Given sets A and B. A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of A is in B, but there is at
least one element of B that is not in A.
Examples:
1. The following sets illustrate the concept of subset.
Z = {horse, fox, rooster, snake, monkey, ox}
X = {fox}
Y = {rooster, snake}
W = {rooster, snake, monkey}
V={ }
It can be observed from the sets above that all the elements of X, Y, W can be found in Z, and all the elements
in Y are also found in W. Thus, the sets X, Y, W, and V are all subsets of Z.

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2. List down all the subsets of A = {triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon}. How many subsets does it have?
The subsets are:
{ }
{triangle}
{quadrilateral}
{pentagon}
{triangle, quadrilateral}
{triangle, pentagon}
{quadrilateral, pentagon}
{triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon}

Using 2n, the total number of subsets is 8.

3. Let A = Z-, B = {n∈ Z | 0≤ n ≤−150}, and C = {-150, -300, -450, -600, -750}. Evaluate the truth and falsity of each
of the following statements.
a. B is a subset of A
b. C is a proper subset of A
c. C and B have at least one element in common
d. C is a subset of B
e. C is a subset of C
Solutions:
a. False. Zero is not a negative integer. Thus, zero is in B but zero is not in A, hence, B is not a subset of A.
b. True. Each element in C is a positive integer and, hence, is in A, but there are elements in A that are not in C.
For instance, 1 is in A and not in C.
c. True. For example, -150 is in both C and B.
d. False. For example, -300 is in C but not in B.
e. True. Every element in C is in C. In general, the definition of subset implies that all sets are subsets of
themselves.

g. Equal sets. Sets A and B are equal if and only if all the elements of set A are in set B, and all the elements of B are in
A.
Examples:
1. A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} B = {5, 9, 7, 1, 3} Thus, A = B.
2. X = {s, Q, u, A, R, e} Y = {Q, A, R, s, e, u} Thus, X = Y.

h. Equivalent sets. Sets where a one-to-one correspondence exists. A one-to-one correspondence exists between two
sets A and B if we can pair an element of A with exactly one element of B.
Examples:
1. Y = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15} Z = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20} Thus, Y ↔ Z.
2. B = {1, 2, 3} F = {a, b, c} Thus, B ↔ F.

B. ORDERED PAIRS
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 if, and only if, a = c and b =d. Symbolically:
(a, b) = (c, d) means that a = c and b =d.
Examples:
1. Is (3, 5) = (5, 3)?

2. Is (11, 1510 ) (√ 121 , 32 )

= ?

3. What is the first element of (3, 6)?

Solutions:
1. No. By definition of equality of ordered pairs, (1, 2) = (2, 1) if, and only if, 1 = 2 and 2 = 1. But 1 ≠ 2, and so the
ordered pairs are not equal.

(
2. Yes. By definition of equality of ordered pairs, 11,
15
10 ) (√ 121 , 32 )
= if, and only if, 11 = √ 121 and
15 3
= .
10 2
Because these equations are both true, the ordered pairs are equal.
3. In the ordered pair (3, 6), the first element is 3.

C. CARTESIAN PRODUCT
Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A and B, denoted A x B and read “A cross B”, is the set of all
ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A and b is in B.
Symbolically:
A x B = {(a, b) | a ∈A and b ∈ B}.
Example:
Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {u, v}
a. Find A x B.
b. Find B x B.
c. Find B x A.
d. How many elements are in A x B, B x B, B x A?
Solution:
a. A x B = {(1, u), (1, v), (2, u), (2, v), (3, u), (3, v)}
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GE 3: Mathematics in the Modern World Prelim
b. B x B = {(u, u), (u, v), (v, u), (v, v)}
c. B x A = {(u, 1), (u, 2), (u, 3), (v, 1), (v, 2), (v, 3)}
d. A x B has six elements. B x B has four elements. B x A has six elements.
Chapter VI. LANGUAGE OF RELATIONS AND FUNCTIONS
Learning objectives:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define relation and function, and
2. Discuss relations and functions.

A. RELATIONS
Let A and B be sets. A relation R from A to B is a subset of A x B. Given an ordered pair (x, y) in A X B, x is related to
y by R ; x R y, if, and only if, (x, y) is in R . The set A is called the domain of R and the set B is called its co-domain.

Let A = {3, 5} and B = {3, 5, 6} and define a relation R from A to B as follows: Given any (x, y) ∈ A x B, (x, y) ∈ R
Example:

x− y
means that is an integer.
2
a. State explicitly which ordered pairs are in A x B and which are in R .
b. Is 3 R 5, 5 R 6, 5 R 5?
c. What are the domain and co-domain of R ?
Solution:
a. A x B = {(3,3), (3,5), (3,6), (5,3), (5,5), (5,6)}. To determine explicitly the composition of R, examine each order
pair in A x B to see whether its elements satisfy the defining condition for R.

(3, 3) ∈ R because
3−3
= 0, which is integer.
2
(3, 5) ∈ R because
3−5
= -1, which is integer.
2
(3, 6) ∉ R because
3−6 −3
= , which is not an integer.
2 2
(5, 3) ∈ R because
5−3
= 1, which is integer.
2
(5, 5) ∈ R because
5−5
= 0 , which is integer.
2
(5, 6) ∉ R because
5−6 −1
= , which is not an integer.
2 2

Thus, R = {(3,3), (3,5), (5,3), (5,5)}.

b. Yes. No. Yes.

c. The domain of R is {3, 5} and the co-domain is {3, 5, 6}.

B. FUNCTIONS
A function F from a set A to a set B is a relation with domain A and co-domain B that satisfies the following two
properties:

For every element x in A, there is an element y in B such that (x, y) ∈ F.

For all elements x in A and y and z in B, if (x, y) ∈ F, then y = z.
i.
ii.

Example:

Let A = {3, 5, 7} and B = {2, 4, 6}. Which of the relations Q, and R, defined below are functions from A to B?

b. For all (x, y) ∈ A x B, (x, y) ∈ S means that y = x -1.

a. R = {(3, 6), (5, 2), (5, 4), (5, 6)}

Solution:
a. R is not a function because it does not satisfy property (2). The ordered pairs (5, 2), (5, 4), and (5,
6) have the same first element but different second elements.

example, 7 ∈ A but there is y in B such that y = 7 – 1 = 6.

b. S is a function. It is true that every element of A is the first element of an ordered pair in S. For

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