Lecture Note 1 Revision of basic concepts

Arithmetic is one of the oldest and elementary branches of mathematics,

originating from the Greek word ‘Arithmos’, which means ‘number’.
Arithmetic involves the study of numbers, especially the properties of
traditional operations, such as:

 Addition
 Subtraction
 Multiplication
 Division

The arithmetic operators based on these operations are ‘+’, ‘-’, ‘×’ and ‘÷’.
Let us learn here all the important topics of arithmetic with examples.

What is Arithmetic?
Arithmetic is the fundamental of mathematics that includes the operations
of numbers. These operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. Arithmetic is one of the important branches of mathematics, that
lays the foundation of the subject ‘Maths’, for students.

History of Arithmetic

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The Fundamental principle of number theory was provided by Carl
Friedrich Gauss in 1801, according to which, any integer which is greater
than 1 can be described as the product of prime numbers in only one way.
Arithmetic is another name given to number theory. The four elementary
operations in arithmetic are addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. All these operations are discussed in brief here.

Arithmetic operations
The basic operations under arithmetic are addition and subtraction,
division and multiplication, although the subject involves many other
modified operations.

Addition (+)
Addition is among the basic operations in arithmetic. In simple forms,
addition combines two or more values into a single term, for example: 2 +
5 = 7, 6 + 2 = 8, where ‘+’ is the addition operator.

The procedure of adding more than two values is called summation and
involves methods to add n number of values.

The identity element of addition is 0, which means that adding 0 to any

value gives the same result. The inverse element of addition is the
opposite of any value, which means that adding the opposite of any digit
to the digit itself gives the additive identity. For instance, the opposite of 5
is -5, therefore 5 + (-5) = 0.

Examples of addition:

 8 + 10 = 18
 12 + 5 = 17fder

Subtraction (−)
Subtraction can be labelled as the inverse of addition. It computes the
difference between two values, i.e., the minuend minus the
subtrahend. The operator of 5zrs subtraction is (-).

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If the minuend is greater than the subtrahend, the difference is positive. If
the minuend is less than the subtrahend, the result is negative, and 0 if the
numbers are equal.

For example,

 4–3=1
 3 – 4 = -1

Multiplication (×)
Multiplication also combines two values like addition and subtraction, into
a single value or product. The two original values are known as the
multiplicand and the multiplier, or simply both as factors.

The product of a and b is expressed as a·b or a × b, where ‘×’ is the

multiplication operator. In software languages wherein only, characters are
used that are found in keyboards, it is often expressed as, a*b (* is called
asterisk).

For example,

 4 × 5 = 20
 2×3=6

Division (÷)
The division is the inverse of multiplication. The operator used for the
division method is ‘÷’ or ‘/’ sometimes. It computes the quotient of two
numbers, the dividend that is divided by the divisor.

The quotient is more than 1 if the dividend is greater than the divisor for
any well-defined positive number else, it is smaller than 1.

For example,

 10 ÷ 2 = 5
 9÷3=3

What is Arithmetic Sequence?

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An arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers, where the difference
between one term and the next is a constant. For example, 1, 4, 7, 10, 13,
16, 19, 22, 25, … is an arithmetic sequence with common difference equal
to 3. It is also termed arithmetic progression and is commonly represented
as:

a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, a + 4d, ………. ,a + (n – 1) d

Where,

a = first term

d = common difference between the terms

n = number of terms

Arithmetic Solved Problems

Question 1: The sum of the two numbers is 50, and their difference is
30. Find the numbers.

Solution: Let the numbers be x and y. Now, as per the given situation,

x + y = 50……………………(i)

and x – y = 30………………(ii)

We can write, x = 50-y, from eq.(i),

Therefore, putting the value of x in eq(ii), we get,

50 – y – y = 30

50 -2y = 30

2y = 50-30= 20

y = 20/2 = 10

and x = 50 – y = 50-10 =40

Therefore, the two numbers are 40 and 10.

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Question 2: Solve 25 + 5 (27 ÷ 3) – 9.

Solution: 25 + 5(27 ÷ 3) – 9

⇒ 25 + 5(9) – 9

⇒ 25 + 45 – 9

⇒ 70 – 9 = 61

Practice Questions on Arithmetic

1. Solve: 4 + 3 x 10 – 1
2. Solve: 246 x 132
3. Solve: 9/10 – 3/20
4. 65 is what percent of 500?

Arithmetic operations is a branch of mathematics, that involves the study of

numbers, operation of numbers that are useful in all the other branches of
mathematics. It basically comprises operations such as Addition, Subtraction,
Multiplication and Division.

These basic mathematical operations (+, -, ×, and ÷) we use in our everyday life.
Whether we need to calculate the annual budget or distribute something equally to
a number of people, for every such aspect of our life, we use arithmetic
operations.

Basic Arithmetic Operations

The four basic arithmetic operations in Maths, for all real numbers, are:

 Addition (Finding the Sum; ‘+’)

 Subtraction (Finding the difference; ‘-’)
 Multiplication (Finding the product; ‘×’)
 Division (Finding the quotient; ‘÷’)

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Let us discuss all these four basic arithmetic operations with rules and examples
in detail.

Addition Definition
The addition is a mathematical process of adding things together. The addition
process is denoted by ‘+’ sign. It involves combining two or more numbers into a
single term. In addition, process, the order does not matter. It means that the
addition process is commutative. It can involve any type of number whether it be
a real or complex number, fraction, or decimals.

Example: 4.13 + 3.87 = 8

The addition of more than two numbers, values or terms is also known as a
summation of terms and can involve n number of values.

Addition Rules
The following are the addition rules for integers:

 Addition of two positive integers is a positive integer

 Addition of two negative integers is a negative integer
 While adding positive and negative integers, subtract the integers and use
the sign of the largest integer number

Subtraction Definition
The subtraction operation gives the difference between two numbers. Subtraction
is denoted by ‘- ‘sign. It is almost similar to addition but is the conjugate of the
second term. It is the inverse process of addition. The addition of the term with
the negative term is known as subtraction. This process is mostly used to find how
many are left when some things are taken away.

Example: 15 – 7

The term can also be re-written as 15 + (-7)

Adding terms we have, 8.

Subtraction Rules
The following are the subtraction rules for integers:

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  If both the signs of the integers are positive, the answer will be the
positive integer
 If both the signs of the integers are negative, the answer will be the
negative integer
 If the signs of the integers are different, subtract the values, and take the
sign from the largest integer value.

Multiplication Definition
Multiplication is known as repeated addition. It is denoted by ‘×’ or ‘*’. It also
combines with two or more values to result in a single value. The multiplication
process involves multiplicand, multiplier. The result of the multiplication of
multiplicand and the multiplier is called the product

Example: 2 × 3 = 6

Here, “2” is the multiplier, “3” is the multiplicand, and the result “6” is called the
product.

The product of two numbers says ‘a’ and ‘b’ results in a single value term ‘ab,
‘where a and b are the factors of the final value obtained.

Multiplication Rules
The following are the multiplication rules for the integers.

 The product of two positive integers is a positive integer

 The product of two negative integers is a positive integer
 The product of positive and negative integer is a negative integer

Division Definition
The division is usually denoted by ‘÷ ‘and is the inverse of multiplication. It
constitutes two terms dividend and divisor, where the dividend is divided by the
divisor to give a single term value. When the dividend is greater than the divisor,
the result obtained is greater than 1, or else it would be less than 1.

Example: 4 ÷ 2 = 2

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Here, “4” is the dividend, “2” is the divisor, and the result “2” is called the
quotient.

Division Rules
The following are the division rules for integers:

 The division of two positive integers is a positive integer

 The division of two negative numbers is a positive integer
 The division of integers with different signs results in the negative integer.

Mathematical Operations
The basic mathematical operations are the four arithmetic operations that we have
already learned in the above sections.

Addition and subtraction are inverse operations of each other. It means if the
addition of two numbers gives the third number, then subtraction of an added
number from the third number will result in the original number.

Example:

4 + 7 = 11

Now, if we subtract 7 from 11, we get;

11 – 7 = 4

Thus, we got the original number.

Similarly, multiplication and division are also inverse operations.

If 4 x 5 = 20

Then,

20/5 = 4

Thus, we can see, these mathematical operations are related to each other. Also,
these operations are the simplest form of mathematical calculations, which can be
easily understood by everyone.

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Basic Arithmetic Properties
The basic arithmetic properties for real numbers are:

 Commutative property
 Associative property
 Distributive property

Commutative Property
This property is applicable only for two arithmetic operations, i.e., addition and
multiplication.

Suppose A and B are two numbers, then, according to commutative property;

A+B = B+A Example: 1 + 2 = 2 + 1

AxB=BxA Example: 1 x 2 = 2 x 1

Thus, the order of numbers in addition and multiplication does not change the
result.

Associative Property
Like commutative property, the associative property is also applicable to addition
and multiplication.

A+(B+C) = (A+B)+C Example: 1 + (2+3) = (1+2)+3

Ax (B x C) = (A x B) x C Example: 1 x (2 x 3) = (1 x 2) x 3

Thus, if we change the grouping of numbers, the result does not change.

Distributive Property
According to the distributive property, if A, B and C are any three real numbers,
then,

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A x (B + C) = A x B + A x C

Example: 2 x (3 + 4) = (2 x 3) + (2 x 4)

2x7=6+8

14 = 14

Hence, proved.

Solved Examples
Q.1: Add 23 and 40 and then subtract 20 from the sum.

Solution: On adding 23 and 40, we get;

Sum = 23 + 40 = 63

Now subtracting 20 from the sum, we get;

63 – 20 = 43

Q.2: Solve: 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20.

Solution: Given, 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20

It is clear that 20 is added to itself five times, thus, we can write;

5 times of 20 = 5 x 20 = 100

If we add them directly, the answer remains the same.

Q.3: Find the value of (6 x 4) ÷ 12 + 72 ÷ 8 – 9.

Solution: Given,
(6 x 4) ÷ 12 + 72 ÷ 8 – 9
⇒ (24 ÷ 12) + (72 ÷ 8) – 9 [BODMAS rule]
⇒2+9–9
⇒ 11 – 9
⇒2

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