MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

VARIABLES – Is something you imagine that it has one or more values but you don’t know what
they are. Is something you want whatever you say about it to be equally true for all elements in a
given set, and so you don’t want to be restricted to considering only a particular, concrete value
for it.
Example: Writing sentences using Variables
1. Are there numbers with the property that the sum of their squares equals the square of their sum
Answer: Are there number a a and b such that a2+b2 = (a+b)2
2. Given any real number, its square is non negative.
For any real number r, r2 ≥ 0
Exercise:
a. Are there numbers whose squares are smaller than the numbers themselves?

MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS
Universal Statement – Says that a certain property is true for all elements in a set
Conditional Statement – Says that if one thing is true then some other thing also has to be true.
Existential Statement – Says that there is at least one thing for which the property is true. (For
example: there is a prime number that is even)

Examples of Universal Statement:

For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal
Or
If a is a dog, then a is a mammal

Exercises for Universal Statements

Rewrite the following statement: For all real numbers x, if x is nonzero then x2 is positive.
a. If a real number is nonzero, then its square _____
b. For all nonzero real numbers x, _____
c. If x _____, then ____
d. The square of any nonzero real number is _____
e. All nonzero real numbers have _____.

UNIVERSAL EXISTENTIAL STATEMENTS VS EXISTENTIAL UNIVERSAL

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.

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al

For example,
Every real number has an additive inverse
Usually when a phrase includes “every”, “all”, “for all”, this indicates that it is a universal
statement (Every real number), the property “has an additive inverse” asserts the existence of
something --- an additive inverse for each real number.
It can be rewritten as
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 r.

An existential universal statement is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts that
a certain object exist and is universal because its second part says that the object satisfies a certain
property for all things of a certain kind.
For example:
There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer:
The first part of this statement is existential because there is “only” a positive integer, it is not
generalizing all integers. The second part is universal in a way that this specific integer is equal or
less than to every positive integer.

Exercise: Rewrite the following

Every pot has a lid
a. All pots ____
b. For all pots P, there is ____
c. For all pots P, there is a lid L such that _____.

There is a person in my class who is at least as old as every person in my class.

a. Some ____ is at least as old as ____
b. There is a person p in my class such that p is ____.
c. There is a person p in my class with the property that for every person q in my class, p is _____

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al

The Language of Sets
If S is a set, the notation x ∈ S means that x is an element of S. The notation x ∉ S means that x is
not an element of S.
For example, {1, 2, 3} denotes the set whose elements are 1, 2, and 3. A variation of the notation
is sometimes used to describe a verry large set, as when we write {1, 2, 3, …, 100} to refer all
integers from 1 to 100. A similar notation can also describe an infinite set, as when we write {1,
2, 3, …}
a. Let A={1, 2, 3}, B={3, 1, 2}, and C={1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3}. What are he elements of A, B, and C?
How are A, B, and C related?
b. Is {0} = 0?
c. How many elements are in the set {1, {1}}?
d. For each nonnegative integer n, let Un={n,-n}. Find U1,U2, and U0.

SYMBOL SET
R Set of all real numbers
Z Set of all integers
Q Set of all rational numbers, or quotients of integers
N Set of all natural numbers

Using Set-Builder Notation

Let S denote a set and let P(x) be a property that element of S may or may not satisfy. We may
define a new set to be the set of all elements x is S such that P(x) is true. We denote this set as
follows:
{x∈ S|P(x)}
Exercises: Describe each of the following sets.
1. {x∈ R|-2 < x < 5}
2. {x∈ Z|-2 < x < 5}
3. {x∈ Z+|-2 < x < 5}

Subsets
A basic relation between sets is that of subset.
If A and B are sets, then A is called a subset of B, written A⊆B, if, and only if, every element of
A is also an element of B.
A⊆B means that For all elements x, if x∈A then x∈B.
It follows from the definition of subset that for a set A not to be a subset of a set B means that there
is at least one element of A that is not an element of B
A⊈B means that For all elements x, if x∈A then x∉B.

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al

Proper Subset
A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of B is in B but there is at least one element
of B that is not in A
Example:
Let A = Z+, B ={n∈ 𝑍| 0 ≤ n ≤ 100}, and C={100, 200, 300, 400, 500}. Evaluate the truth and
falsity of each of the following statements
1. B ⊆ A
2. C is a proper subset of A
3. C and B have at least one element in common
4. C ⊆ B
5. C ⊆ C

Distinction between ∈ and ⊆

1. 2∈{1, 2, 3}
2.{2} ⊆ {1, 2, 3}
3. {2} ∈ {1, 2, 3}
4. {2} ⊆ {{1}, {2}}
5. 2 ⊆ {1, 2, 3}
6. {2}∈ {{1},{2}}

Ordered Pair
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
(a, b) = (c, d) means that a=c and b=d
Example:
1. Is (1, 2) = (2, 1)

2. Is (3, 5/10) = (√9, ½)

3. What is the first element of (1, 1)?

Cartesian Product
Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product A and B, denoted AxB and read “A cross B” is the set
of all ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A and b is in B

A x B ={(a, b)| a∈A and b∈B}

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al

Example: Let A={1, 2, 3} and B={u, v}
1. Find AxB
2. Find BxA
3. Find CxC
4. How many elements are in AxB, BxA and BxB?
5. Let R denote the set of all real numbers. Describe RxR.

The Language of Relations and Functions

Relation
Let A and B be sets. A relation R from A to B is a subset AxB. Given an ordered pair (x, y) in
AxB, x is related to y by R, written in 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.
The notation for a relation R may be written symbolically as follows:
xRy means that (x, y) ∈R
The notation x R y means that (x, y) ∉ R

Example:
1. Let A={1,2} and B={1, 2, 3} and define a relation R from A to B as follows:
Given any (x, y) ∈ A x B
𝑥−𝑦
(x, y) ∈ R means that is an integer
2

a. State explicitly which ordered pairs are in A x B which are in R

b. Is 1 R 3? Is 2 R 3? Is 2 R 2?
c. What is the domain and co-domain of R?

2. Define a relation C from R to R as follows: For any (x, y) ∈ R x R

(x, y) ∈ C means that x2 + y2 = 1

Function
A relation F from A to B is a function if, and only if:
1. Every element A is the first element of an ordered pair of F.
2. No two distinct ordered pairs in F have the same first element.

Example:

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al

1. Let A= {2, 4, 6} and B= {1, 3, 5}. Which of the relations Q, S, T defined below are functions
from A to B?
a. Q = {(2, 5), (4, 1), (4, 3), (6, 5)}
b. For all (x, y) ∈ A x B, (x, y) ∈ S means that y = x+1
c. T is defined by the arrow diagram

2. Let X={a, b, c} and Y={1, 2, 3, 4}. Which of the relations A, B, C defined below are
functions from X to Y?
a. A = {(a, 1), (b, 2), (c, 3)}
b. For all (x, y) ∈ A x B, (x, y) ∈ B means that x is a vowel and y is even
c. C is defined by the arrow diagram.

Excerpts from Mathematics in the Modern World: Chapter 1 by R.Aufmann et. al