Mo d u l e 2

Mathematical
Language and
Symbols
Prepared by:

Maiko H. Anicoy
Math 111 Instructor
 Objectives
Module At the end of this module, challenge yourself
to:
• compare and contrast expression and
sentences;
• acknowledge that mathematics is a useful
language;
• discuss the language, symbols and
conventions of mathematics;
• explain the nature of mathematics as a
language;
• identify and discuss the four basic concepts
in mathematical language;
•
Lesson in the Module

Expressions VS Sentences
Lesson 1
Language of Set
Lesson 2
m p l e 3
Relation and FunctionE xa
Lesson 3
 Lesson 1

Expressions
VS
Sentences
 Mathematical
Expression
A mathematical expression is the mathematical analogue
of an English noun; it is a correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols used to represent a mathematical
object of interest. It does not state a complete thought and
does not make sense to ask if an expression is true or
false. The most common expression types are numbers,
sets, and functions.
EXAMPLES:
 Mathematical
Sentences
A mathematical sentence is the analogue of an English
sentence; it is a correct arrangement of mathematical
symbols that states a complete thought. Sentences have
verbs. In the mathematical sentence “3 + 4 = 7”, the verb
is “=”. A sentence can be (always) true, (always) false, or
sometimes true/sometimes false.
 Mathematical
Sentences
EXAMPLES:
1+2=3 is true
1+2=4 is false
x=2 is sometimes true or sometimes false; if it
is true when x is 2, and false otherwise
x+3=3+x is (always) true, no matter what number is
chosen for x.
 Lesson 2

Language of
Set
 Sets
Set theory is the branch of mathematics that studies
sets or the mathematical science of the infinite. The
study of sets has become a fundamental theory in
mathematics in 1870s which was introduced by Georg
Cantor (1845-1918), a German mathematician. A set
is a well-defined collection of objects; the objects are
called the elements or members of the set. The
symbol ∈ is used to denote that an object is an
element of a set, and the symbol ∉ denotes that an
object is not an element of a set.
 Sets
EXAMPLES: Some examples of sets
 TWOWAYSTOREPRESENTSET

Roster method is when the elements of the set are enumerated

and separated by a comma, it is also called tabulation method.

Example:
 TWOWAYSTOREPRESENTSET

Rule method or set-builder notation is used to describe

the elements or members of the set it is also called set
builder notation, symbol is written as .

Example:
 Finite and Infinite
Sets
A finite set is a set whose elements are limited
or countable, and the last element can be
identified. On the contrary, an infinite set is a
set whose elements are unlimited or
uncountable, and the last element cannot be
specified.
 Finite and Infinite
Sets
EXAMPLES:

Finite Set

Infinite Set
 Unit and Empty
Sets
A unit set is a set with only one element, it is
also called singleton. On contrary, the unique
set with no elements is called the empty set (or
null set), it is denoted by the symbol ∅ or { }.
In addition, all sets under investigation in any
application of set theory are assumed to be
contained in some large fixed set called the
 Unit and Empty
Sets
EXAMPLES
Unit Set

Empty Set
 CARDINALNUMBER

The cardinal number of a set is the number of

elements or members in the set, the cardinality of set
A is denoted by n(A). For example, given set , the
cardinal number of is or while the set , which can
also be written as has a cardinal number of is or
 Operations on Sets
UNION OF SETS
For two given sets A and B, A∪B (read as A union B) is the set of distinct
elements that belong to set A and B or both. The number of elements in A
∪ B is given by n(A∪B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A∩B), where n(X) is the
number of elements in set X.

Example: If A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {4, 5, 6, 7}, then the union of A and

B is given by
A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}.
 Operations on Sets
INTERSECTION OF SETS
For two given sets A and B, A∩B (read as A intersection B) is the set of
common elements that belong to set A and B. The number of elements in
A∩B is given by n(A∩B) = n(A)+n(B)−n(A ∪B), where n(X) is the
number of elements in set X.

Example: If A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {3, 4, 5, 7}, then the intersection of A

and B is given by
A ∩ B = {3, 4}.
 Operations on Sets
SET DIFFERENCE
The set operation difference between sets implies subtracting the elements
from a set which is similar to the concept of the difference between
numbers. The difference between sets A and B denoted as A − B lists all
the elements that are in set A but not in set B.

Example: If A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {3, 4, 5, 7}, then the difference

between sets A and B is given by
A - B = {1, 2}.
 Operations on Sets
COMPLEMENT OF A SET
The complement of a set A denoted as A′ or Ac (read as A complement) is
defined as the set of all the elements in the given universal set(U) that are
not present in set A.

Example: If U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} and A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, then the

complement of set A is given by
A' = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9}.
U = {x| x is a positive integer lesser than or equal to
30}
A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28,
30}
B = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28}

Solve:

1. A∪B
2. A∩B
3. A-B
4. A’
U = {x| x is a positive integer lesser than or equal to
30}
A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28,
30}
B = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28}

Solve:

1. A∪B
2. A∩B
3. A-B
4. A’
 Lesson 3

Relation and
Function
 Relation
A relation is a set of ordered pairs. If x and y
are elements of these sets and if a relation
exists between x and y, then we say that x
corresponds to y or that y depends on x and is
represented as the ordered pair of (x, y). A
relation from set A to set B is defined to be any
subset of A×B. If R is a relation from A to B
and (a, b)R, then we say that "a is related to "
 Relation
Example:

Let be the set of car brands, and be the set of countries of the
car manufacturer.

Then gives all possible pairings of the elements of A and B, let

the relation R from A to B be given by
 Relation
Example:

Let Y = {0, 1, 2} and Z = {0, 1}, define a relation R from Y to Z

as follows: Given any (x, y) ∈ Y x Z,
(x, y) ∈ R means that is an integer.
Function
A function is a relation in which, for each value of
the first component of the ordered pairs, there is
exactly one value of the second component. The set
X is called the domain of the function. For each
element of x in X, the corresponding element y in Y
is called the value of the function at x, or the image
of x. The set of all images of the elements of the
domain is called the range of the function. A
function can also be expressed as a correspondence
or mapping from one set to another.
Function
Domain Range

The mapping in figure at the a s

right is a function that b
assigns to x to y. The
t
domain of the function is c u
{a,b,c,d}, while the range is d v
{s,t,u,v}.
Function
Let us have another example by using set of ordered
pairs of the relations. Now let us determine whether
each of the following relations is a function.
Function

Domain Range

1 3
2 4
4 6
Function

Domain Range
-2 1
-1 3
0 5
1 7
2
Function

Domain Range

0
3 1
7 2
9 4
Mo d u l e 2

Mathematical
Language and
Symbols
Prepared by:

Maiko H. Anicoy
Math 111 Instructor