Mathematics in the Modern World

First Semester SY 2018 – 2019

By: Erovita Teresita Bacud Agustin

 CHAPTER 2
Mathematical Language and Symbols
(Week 2 to Week 4)
At the end of the chapter you will be able to:
1. Discuss the language, symbols and
conventions in mathematics;
2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a
language mathematical concepts;
3. Perform operations on mathematical
expressions correctly; and
4. Use mathematical language to describe
and solve problems with mathematics content.
 WEEK 2
Mathematical Language
Characteristics Of Mathematical Language
! It is non – temporal.
! It has no emotional content.
! It is concise and precise.
 It is non – temporal.
It has no past, present and future.
There is no conjugation of words in
Mathematics in the manner that English
has a conjugation of verbs.
 It has no emotional content.
Math language carries no emotional content.
It has no equivalent words for joy, happiness,
despair, or sadness.
It also does not speak about values in the
manner that people speak about human
values in society.
 It is precise and concise.
Math language is precise and concise. It is
exact and accurate in its statements and as a
consequence, it has no need for unnecessary
words. This is not always helpful to students,
because being novice in Math they need a little
more elaboration, more exploration and more
explanation from their teachers.
 Parts of Speech for Mathematics
1.Numbers are the very first symbols that can be
used to represent quantity. These are nouns
(objects) in the English language.
2. Operation symbols like +, -, ÷, x, ∧,and ∨ can act
as connectives in a mathematical sentence.
3. Relation symbols such as =, ≤, and ~ are used
for comparison and act as verbs in the
mathematical language.
 Parts of Speech for
Mathematics
4. Grouping symbols such as ( ), { },
and [ ] are used to associate groups of
numbers and operators.
5. Variables are letters that represent
quantities and act as pronouns.
 Mathematical Expression
A mathematical expression is a group of characters or
symbols representing a quantity and/or expression.

An algebraic expression is a mathematical expression

which contains numbers, variables represented by
letters and operations that indicate addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division.

ADDITION SUBTRACTION MULTIPLICATION DIVISION

Plus Minus Times Divided by
The sum of The difference of The product of The
Increased by Decreased by Multiplied by quotient of
Total Fewer than Per
More than Less than
Added to Subtracted from
Example 1
Translating verbal phrases to
Mathematical expressions :
1. 5 plus 2 is equal to the square root of
49.
2. 10 divided by 2 is less than 3.
3. The sum of two numbers is 7.
Example 2
Translating verbal phrases to
Mathematical expressions :
1. The sum of number and 10
2. The difference of a number and 20
3. The product of 15 and a number
4. The quotient of 30 and a number
5. One – tenth of a number
Answers
1. n + 10
2. n – 20
3. 15 x n
4. 30 ÷ n
5. (1/10) n
Example 3
Translate the following verbal phrases
into mathematical expressions:

1. Three – fifths of 450

2. The sum of 2 numbers less 15
3. Twenty percent of the total cost
4. Triple the quantity of sales less taxes
5. The difference of gross sales and total
expenditures
Answers
1. (3/5)(450)
2. x+y-15
3. Let x be the total cost
0.20x
4. Let x be the quantity of sales
y be the taxes
3(x-y)
5. Let x be the gross sales
y be the total expenditures
x-y
Example 4
Translate the following verbal sentences into
mathematical sentences:

1. Fifteen percent of the total expenditures is

P15,000.
2. Gross sales less taxes is P20,000.
3. My classmate’s monthly allowance is twice
what my roommate receives in a month. Their
combined monthly allowances is P36,000.
4. Jakob’s average of two exams is 96. The first
exam is 8 points higher than the second.
Answers in Example 4

1. Let x be the total expenditures

0.15x=15,000
2. Let x be the gross sales
y be the taxes
a – b = 20,000
3. Let x be my classmate’s monthly allowance
y be my roommate’s monthly allowance
x = 2y
x + y =36,000
4. Let x be Jakob’s first exam
y be Jakob’s second exam
(x + y)/2 = 96
x=8+y
 SEATWORK
Chapter 2 : Math as a Language