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Chapter 2
MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

2.1. Mathematical Statements

A mathematical statement involves quantifiable ideas that are expressed in a complete
thought.

Examples 2.1.1

Normal statements in English language

a. The corn harvest of Maria is four times the corn harvest of Juan.
b. Maria’s earning is forty pesos less than twice the earning of Juan.
c. The land area of Pedro is short of 150 square meters to form three perfect
square land areas.

Corresponding mathematical statement in symbol form

a. M = 4J where M and J represent the corn harvest of Maria and Juan,
respectively.
b. M = 2J - 40 where M and J represent the earnings of Maria and Juan,
respectively.
c. A = 3x – 150 where A represents the land area of Pedro, x 2 represents a
2

perfect land area of unknown dimensions while the 150

square meters represent the number of known unit areas.
Operations
An operation is an action to be done on mathematical objects. It involves the four
fundamental arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and
others such as getting the roots of a number, or the value of the number when raised to a
certain exponent, etc.

Variables
A variable represents any unknown quantity and it can be replaced by any specific value.
The letters of the English alphabet are usually used as variables.

Example 2.1.2. Consider this math sentence,

2x+1>10, where x is any integer.

Here, x is the variable and can be replaced by any integer that satisfies the sentence.
An integer that can be used to replace x is any of the following: 5,6,7…

Expressions
Expressions are mathematical ideas formed by combining numbers and letters using the
different operations of mathematics. Expressions are in their simpler forms if they involve fewer
symbols, terms, or operations.

Example. Consider this expression,

A = (x + 3) (2x – 5).

The simpler form of the expression is

A = 2x2 - 5x + 6x – 15

The simplest form of the expression is

A = 2x2 + x – 15
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Note: The original expression involves three operations which are addition subtraction and
multiplication. The second expression is simpler than the original because it involves only two
kinds of operation which are addition and subtraction.

The third expression is the simplest because it contains fewer number of terms which is
three compared to the second expression which contains four terms.

Practice Exercises: Writing Mathematical Statements Using Variables

Determine which among the given choices is the correct symbol form of the statement in
each item.

1. The square of a number is always nonnegative.

A. x 2  1 B. x 2  0 C. 1  x 2 D. x 2 = 0
2. The sum of two numbers is greater than their product.
A. ab  a + b B. a + b  ab C. ab  a + b D. a + b > ba
3. The quotient of two numbers less 3 is equal to 6.
a 1
A. − 3 = 6 B. a   − 3 = 6 C. a + b = 6 D. ab - 3 = 6
b b
4. A number subtracted from its cube is 9.
A. y − x 3 = 9 B. x 3 − y = 9 C. y − y 3 = 9 D. y 3 - y = 9
5. Maria (y) is 4 times younger than her brother (x). Which one gives the age of Maria (y)?
4 x
A. y = x B. y = 4 x C. y = D. y =
x 4
6. A number y is four less than the product of two consecutive numbers.
A. y = 4 − x ( x + 1) B. y = x ( x + 1) − 4 C. y = x ( x + 2 ) − 4 D. y < 4 - x (x + 2)

Mathematical Statements Involving Sets

Sentences constructed on sets also present another form of mathematical expression
such that the focus of thought is on belongingness of objects to some specified groups. The
statements below are some typical examples of mathematical sentences that indicate
belongingness to groups.

1. Maria is a Filipino.
2. Pedro is among the Filipinos heroes who fought for freedom from foreign domination.
3. All Filipino people are hospitable and friendly.
4. Some people are either industrious or lazy.
5. People who are good in mathematics are also good in science.

In expressing a statement of the above form to its symbolic form, we may make use of
such symbols as " ∈” which stands for belongingness or being an element of a group, "∀” which
stands for “all”, "∃" which stands for “some”, and " → " which stands for “if-then” statement or a
statement that is expressible in “if-then” form. With these symbols, the symbolic forms of the
above statements may be as follows

1. 𝑀 ∈ 𝐹, where M represents Maria and F represents Filipino

2. 𝑃 ∈ 𝐹ℎ𝑓 , where P represents Pedro and 𝐹ℎ𝑓 represents Filipino heroes who fought for
freedom from foreign domination.
3. ∀𝑝[𝑝 ∈ 𝐹 → 𝑝 ∈ (𝐻 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑟 )] , where f represents a person, F represents Filipinos, H
represents the hospitable people and 𝐹𝑟 represents the friendly people.
4. ∃𝑝[ 𝑝 ∈ 𝐼 𝑜𝑟 𝑝 ∈ 𝐿], where P represents a person, I represents the industrious people
and L represents the lazy people.
5. ∀𝑝[ 𝑝 ∈ 𝑀 → 𝑝 ∈ 𝑆], where P represents people, 𝑝 ∈ 𝑀 represents a person good in
mathematics and 𝑝 ∈ 𝑆 represents a person good in science.

2.2 Types of Mathematical Statement According to Scope of Attribution

A statement may be classified according to scope of attribution of characteristics or

properties among the elements of a set, or a universe of discourse.
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Universal Statements are those that hold true for all elements of a set. These statements
attribute a property to all elements in a set or in a particular universe of discourse. They explicitly
or implicitly use universal quantifiers such as "all", "every" and "each." The corresponding
mathematical symbol representing such words is “∀". Example # 5 is a typical statement that
does not explicitly use “all”, or “every”, or “each", but its sense is understood to be a universal
statement. In other words, if a statement does not specify a particular number or fraction of the
elements that posses an attribute under consideration, then the default understanding of the
attribution is universal.

Example 2.2.1

The following are examples of universal statements.

1 1
1. For all x  4 ,  .
x 3
2. The square of a real number is nonnegative.
This statement is also equivalent to the following.
a. The square of each real number is non-negative.
b. The square of every real number is non-negative.
c. The squares of all real numbers are non-negative.
3. The product of a positive and a negative number is a negative number.

Translation in symbol form

1. ∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅 / 𝑥 ≥ 4 → 1/𝑥 < 1/3

2. ∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅 / 𝑥 2 ≥ 0
3. ∀𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ 𝑅 /(𝑥 > 0 , 𝑦 < 0) → (𝑥𝑦 < 0)

Existential Statements attribute a property to at least one object or entity, but not all, in
a particular universe of discourse. The corresponding symbol indicating existential statement is
"∃".

Example 3.1.3

The following are examples of existential statements.

1. There exists a real number x such that 2 x + 5 = 10 .
2. There exists a prime number that is even.
3. Some integers are multiples of 2 but are not multiples of 4.
4. Some numbers are both squares and cubes of other numbers.
5. There are numbers that can be expressed as product of some consecutive numbers.

Translation in symbol form

1. ∃𝑥 ∈ 𝑅 / 2𝑥 + 5 = 10
2. ∃𝑝 ∈ 𝑃, n ∈ Z/ 𝑝 = 2𝑛
3. ∃𝑥, 𝑛 ∈ 𝑍 / 𝑥 = 2𝑛 , 𝑥 ≠ 4𝑛
4. ∃𝑥, 𝑛, 𝑚 ∈ 𝑅 / 𝑥 = 𝑛2 , 𝑥 = 𝑚3
5. ∃𝑥, 𝑛 ∈ 𝑅 / 𝑥 = 𝑛(𝑛 + 1)

Exercise 2.1
Mathematics as a Form of Language

A. Identify whether the following statements are true or false.

Answer
1. Mathematics is a form of language. ______________
2.3x 2 − 4 x + 1 is a complete mathematical sentence? ______________
1 2
3. + x = 2 is a correct mathematical sentence ______________
x
4. Variables are used to represent known quantities. ______________
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5. Variables are used to express specific but unknown values. ____________

B. Translate the following Mathematically.

1. A number less its cube is zero.

2. The square of the sum of two numbers is 3 less than

their product.
3. The difference of the squares of two is greater than the
square of their difference.
4. The square root of the sum of three numbers is 4 more
than their product.
5. The cube root of the cube root of the square of a
number is 1.

C. Identify the type of the following statements.

1. There exists a number that is both even and prime. ___________________
2. For all positive numbers, if it is less than one,
then its cube is also less than 1. ___________________
3. The square of a positive number is always positive ___________________
4. For every real number, there is a corresponding
multiplicative inverse. ___________________
5. There exists a whole number less than every other
natural number. ___________________