Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

First Semester, Academic Year 2018-2019

GEC 104 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

WRITTEN REPORT IN
LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS

Submitted by:

BAYLON, JULIE ANNE

CABATU, ERICKA
CAGAYAT, JOSE ANGELO
CENTENO, JOHN MICHAEL
DINGLE, HANNAH MARIE
DELA CRUZ, MA. KRISTINE NICOLE
RAMOS, NHESZETTE

BSEE - 1B

Submitted to:

A/PROF. ENRICO R. RIVANO

October 24, 2018

 RATIONALE

Language facilitates communication and meaning-making. It allows people to

express themselves and maintain their identity. Likewise, language bridges the gap among

people from various cultural origins without prejudice to their background and upbringing,

also known as the intercultural communication.

In relation, every language facilitates the usage of characters or symbols which

allows them to act freely, independently, and uniquely from other languages, having their

own lexicon and definitions alike. An example of this would be the Mandarin language,

having different characters for sun, moon, stars, things like house, chair and table, and many

more. The same goes to the Greek language consisting of Greek letters which are varying

from the English language alphabet.

Having its own symbol system, Mathematics is also considered and is mostly known

to be more than solving numerical and worded problems, but is rather a form of language,

especially in the scientific and economic academe. Thus, like its other counterpart, the

English language or any language in general, it faces the same dilemmas of the latter, having

the same issues regarding contexts. Various mathematical words, like common English

terminologies, display different shades of meaning, leading to some becoming

miscommunicated.

Furthermore, the complexity of some mathematical concepts rises as time goes by,

making it more challenging for people, especially for learners to catch up becoming more

left behind in every lesson or topic they take.

Seeing these premises, the reporters were able to come up to the idea that learning

and understanding the language of mathematics, including the comparison of mathematical

expressions and sentences, the fundamentals of logic, and the language of relations and

functions, is a vital and major necessity for students, especially that of engineering

programs.

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After the completion and culmination of this report, all learners and reporters are

expected to be able to:

1. understand the language of mathematics, including its symbols, terminologies, meaning

and usage in the daily life;

2. compare, contrast and clarify the concepts and definitions of mathematical expressions

and mathematical sentences;

3. recognize and describe the different forms of fundamentals of logic; and

4. explain the language of relations and functions.

TOPIC DISCUSSION

TABLE 1. COMPARISON BETWEEN ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS

CATEGORY ENGLISH MATHEMATICS

Name given to an object of interest Noun Expression

Person: Carol Number: 8

Place: Manila Set:{8}

Thing: dog Function: f(x)

1 4
- Matrix: [ ]
−2 3
- Ordered Pair: (x, y)

Statement with complete thought Sentence Sentence

True (T): The capital of
the Philippines is True (T): 1+1=2
Manila.
False (F): The capital
of the Philippines is False (F): 1+1=11
Makati.
Sometimes True/
Sometimes False
ST/SF: x=1
(ST/SF): The dog is
black.

This table distinguishes some basic concepts from the English language and its

counterpart in the Mathematical one.

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THE LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS

Language is a “systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or

conventional symbols” (Chen, 2010, p. 353). It is the code humans use as a form of

expressing themselves and communicating with others. It may also be defined as a system of

words used in a particular discipline.

These definitions describe language in terms of the following components:

 a vocabulary of symbols or words

 a grammar consisting of rules on the use of these symbols

 a community of people who use and understand these symbols

 a range of meanings that can be communicated with these symbols

Since all of the abovementioned components are found in mathematics, it also

qualifies as a language. Mathematics is a system of communication about objects like

numbers, variables, sets, operations, functions and equations. It is a collection of both

symbols and their meaning shared by a global community of people who have an interest in

the subject.

Mathematics is a universal language, the only one shared by all human beings

regardless of culture, religion, and gender. A person uses same calculation process when

computing, for example, interest earned for investments in peso, dollar, yen, or euro. Not

everyone can be proficient in English, French or Chinese but most possess math literacy. This

shared language called numeracy connects people across continents and through time.

Mathematics is not just for math majors, but for everyone. It is not just about calculating

complicated equations, but about making lives more efficient, more secure, richer and fuller.

ELEMENTS OF THE MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

Mathematics uses many of symbols. There are:

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  ten digits (0, 1, 2, . . . 9)

 symbols for operations (+, -, x, ÷)

 symbols representing values (x, y, z, etc.)

 other special symbols

Letters often have special uses as follows:

TABLE 2. SPECIAL USES OF LETTERS IN MATHEMATICS

Start of the alphabet a, b, c For constants (Fixed values)

From I to n I, j, k, n Positive integers (For counting)
End of the alphabet x, y, z For variables (Unknowns)

The table distinguishes the various uses of letters and what they represent when

used in a mathematical expression or in a mathematical sentence.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

Mathematical language is precise which means it is able to make very fine

distinctions or definitions among a set of mathematical symbols. It is concise because a

mathematician can express otherwise long expositions or sentences briefly using the

language of mathematics. The mathematical language is powerful, that is, one can express

complex thoughts with relative case. For example, “the sum of any two real numbers is also

a real number” can be:

∀𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 ∈ ℝ

Mathematics is a symbolic language. Some of the symbols you may encounter are

the following:

TABLE 3. SOME SYMBOLS AND THEIR DEFINITION

SYMBOL MEANING
Σ The sum of
∃ There exists
∀ For every (for any)
∈ Element of (member of)
∉ Not an element of (not a member of)

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 ⊆ Subset of`
⇔ If and only if
⇒ If . . ., then
ℝ Set of real numbers
ℕ Set of natural numbers
ℤ Set of integers
ℚ Set of rational numbers
∞ Infinity

The table defines some widely used symbols in mathematics.

Mathematics is the language of sciences, business, economics, music, architecture,

arts, and even politics. There is an intimate connection between the language of

mathematics and the English language. The left brain hemisphere which is responsible for

controlling language is also the same part of the brain in charge of tasks involving

mathematics.

EXPRESSIONS VS. SENTENCES

A sentence must contain a complete thought. In the English language, an ordinary

sentence must contain a subject and a predicate. Similarly, a mathematical sentence must

state a complete thought. An expression is a name given to an object of interest. The term

“1+2” is a mathematical expression but not a mathematical sentence. Below are some

examples of mathematical expressions:

a. an ordered triple (a, b, c)

b. A function f(x)

c. The set {1, 3, 5}

TRUTH OF SENTENCES

Mathematical sentences may either be true or false but not both

Example:

a. ∀𝑥 ∈ ℝ, 𝑥 2 ≥ 0, For any real number x, its square is greater than or equal to 0. TRUE

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 b. ∃𝑚, 𝑛 ∈ 𝑍, 𝑚 − 𝑛 ≤ 𝑚 + 𝑛, There exist integers m and n such that m minus n is less

than or equal to m plus n. TRUE

c. 10 = √100, Ten is the square root of 100.

d. 10 > 9, Ten is greater than nine.

e. 10 ∈ (2𝑛, 𝑛 ∈ 𝑁), Ten is an even number.

The word “is” from the third to fifth example mean equality, inequality or a membership

in a set.

Numbers can be:

a. Cardinal – used for counting and answer the question “how many?”

b. Ordinal – tell the position of a thing in terms of first, second, third, and so on

c. Nominal – used only as a name or to identify something (not as an actual value or

position)

VARIABLES

A variable is sometimes thought of as a mathematical “John Doe” because you can

use it as a placeholder where you want to talk about something but wither (1) you imagine

that has one or more values but you don’t know what they are, or (2) you want whatever

you say about it to be equally true for all elements in a given set, and so you don’t know

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 2x + 3 = x2?”

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 The advantage of using a variable is that is allows you to give a temporary name to

what you are seeking so that you can perform concrete computations 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 2[ ] + 3 = [ ]2?”

The emptiness of the box can help you imagine filling it in with variety of different

values, some of which might make the two sides equal and others of which might not.

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

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

greater than 4.”

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 world “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 n2 is greater

than 4.”

SOME IMPORTANT KINDS OF MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS

Three of the most important kinds of sentences in mathematics are:

1. Universal Statement - a certain property is true for all elements in a set.

2. Conditional Statement - if one thing is true, then some other thing also has to be

true.

3. Existential Statement - given a property that may or may not be true, there is at

least one thing for which the property is true.

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 Universal Conditional Statements - contains some variation of the words “for all”

and conditional statements contain versions of the words “if-then”. Simply, it is a statement

that is both universal and conditional.

Example:

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

As a universal conditional statement, it can be rewritten to make its conditional

nature explicit but its universal nature implicit as:

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

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

It can also be rewritten to make its universal nature explicit but its conditional

nature implicit as:

For all dogs a, a is a mammal.

Or: All dogs are mammals.

Universal Existential Statements - it 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.

By this statement, we are hypothesizing that all real numbers have an additive

inverse. However, it is known that different real numbers have different additive inverse.

Knowing that, it can be rewritten as:

All real numbers have additive inverse.

Or: For all real numbers r, there is an additive inverse for r.

Or: For all real numbers r, there is a real number s such that s is an additive inverse

for.

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 Existential Universal Statements - it 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.

Example:

There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer.

This statement is true because the number one is a positive integer, and it satisfies

the property of being less than or equal to every positive integer. It can also be rewritten as:

Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive integer.

SOME FUNDAMENTALS OF LOGIC

Sometimes, people do not agree on various issues which leads to argument but

never actually get to the bottom of it. To avoid such instances, while also upholding certainty

in the validity of mathematical statements, mathematics employs the powerful language of

logic in asserting truths of statements.

Proposition - any statement which can be either true (T) or false (F), but not both.

Example:

9 is a prime number.

This statement is false, since prime numbers have no other factors than 1 and itself,

and 9 can be expressed as 3 x 3.

Truth Table - a table that shows the truth value of a compound statement for all

possible truth values of its simple statements.

Negation - is a statement where the word is not introduced in the negative

statement.

Example:

R: 6 is an odd number.

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 The negation of this statement is that 6 is not an odd number or 6 is an even

number. In symbols,  R .

Logical Connectives - is the mathematical equivalent of a conjunction in English. The

most common are:  &  , which means “and” and “or”, respectively.

Implications - composed of two parts, premise and conclusion, it is a statement

usually in the form of “if-then”, having the “if” statement imply for the “then” statement.

- Converse - interchanging the “if” and “then” statements

- Inverse - changing both the “if” and “then” statements into their corresponding

negations.

- Contrapositive - interchanging the “if” and “then” statements of the inverse form.

Quantifiers - used to describe the variable(s) in a statement.

- Universal Quantifier - “for all” or “for every”; denoted as 

- Existential Quantifier - “there exists” or “for some”; denoted as 

THE LANGUAGE OF RELATIONS AND FUNCTION

Objects in mathematics may be related in a various ways. A set A may be said to be

related to a set B if A is a subset of B, or if A is not a subset of B, have atleast one element in

common. A number x may be said to be related to a number y if x < y, or if x is a factor of y,

or if x2 + y2= 1.

Example:

Let A=[0, 1, 2] and B=[1, 2, 3] and let us say that the element x in A is related to an

element y in B if, and only if, x is less than y. Let us use the notation x  y as a shorthand for

the sentence “x is related to y.” Then,

0  1 since 0 < 1

0  2 since 0 < 2

0  3 since 0 < 3

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 1  2 since 1 < 2

1  3 since 1 < 3

2  3 since 2 < 3

On the other hand, if the notation is x Ꞧ y, then

1 Ꞧ1 since 1=1

2 Ꞧ 1 since 2>1

2 Ꞧ2 since 2=2

Cartesian Product

A x B = {(x, y)| x  A and y  B}

Relation

Let A and B be sets. A relation  from A and B is a subset of A x B. Given an

ordered pair (x, y) in A x B, x is related to y by  , written x  y, if and only if, (x, y) is in  .

The set A is called the domain of  and B is the co-domain.

Then, x  y means that (x, y)  

Conversely, x Ꞧy means that (x,y)  

Arrow Diagram of Relation

Suppose  is a relation from a set A to a set B. This is obtained as follow:

1. Represent the elements of A as points in one region and the elements of  as

points in another region.

2. For each x in A and y in B, draw an arrow diagram from an x to y if, and only if, x is

related to y by  .

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 properties:

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

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 2. For all elements x in A and y and z in B.

if (x,y)  F and (x,z)  F, then y=z

These properties can be rewritten less formally as: A relation F from A to B is a

function if and only if:

1. Every element of A is the first element of an ordered pair of F.

2. No two distinct ordered pairs in F have the same first element.

Notation

If A and B are sets and F is a function from A to B the given any element x in A. the

unique element in B that is related to x by F is denoted F(x) which is read “F of x”.

Functions Machines

Another useful way to think of a function is a machine. Suppose f is a function from

X to Y and an input x of X is given. Imagine f to be a machine that processes x in a certain

way to produce the output f(x). This is illustrated in Figure 2.2.

FIGURE 1. FUNCTION MACHINE

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SUMMARY

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