COLEGIO DE SAN FRANCISCO JAVIER OF RIZAL,

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, INC.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

II. SPEAKING MATHEMATICALLY

Module 4 VARIABLES
The Language of Sets
The Language of Relations and Functions

OBJECTIVES

 At the end of this module, the student would be able to:

1. Discuss the language, symbols, and conventions of mathematics (K).
2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a language (K).
3. Perform operations on mathematical expressions correctly (S).
4. Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language (V).

INTRODUCTION
The aim of this chapter is to introduce you to a mathematical way of thinking that can serve you in a wide of
variety of situations. Often when you start work on a mathematical problem, you may have only a vague sense of how to
proceed. You may begin by looking at examples., drawing pictures playing around with notation, rereading the problem to
focus on more of its details, and so forth. The closer you get to a solution, however, the more your thinking has to
crystalize. And the more you need to understand, the more you need language that expresses mathematical ideas clearly,
precisely and unambiguously.
This chapter will introduce you to some of the special language that is a foundation for much mathematical
thought, the language of variables, sets, relations, and functions. Think of the chapter like the exercises you would do
before an important sporting event. Its goal is to warm up your mental muscles so that you can do your best.

CONTENT DISCUSSION

Variables

A variable is sometimes thought of as a mathematical “John Doe” because you can use it as a placeholder when you want to
talk about something but either (1) you imagine that it has one or more values but you don’t know what they are, or (2) you want
whatever you say about it to be equally true for all elements in a given set, and so you don’t know want to be restricted to
considering only a particular, concrete value for it. To illustrate the first use, consider asking
Is there a number with the following property: doubling it and adding 3 gives the same result as squaring it?

In this sentence you can introduce a variable to replace that potentially ambiguous word “it”:
Is there a number c with the property that 2x + 3 = x2?

The advantage of using a variable is that it allows you to give a temporary name to what you are seeking so that you can
perform concrete computations with it to help discover its possible values. To emphasize the role of the variable as a
placeholder, you might write the following.
Is there a number with the property that 2∙ +3= 2

The emptiness of the box can help you imagine filling it in with a variety of different values, some of which might make the two
sides equal and others of which might not.

To illustrate the second use of variables, consider the statement:

No matter what number might be choses, if it is greater than 2, then its square is greater than 4.

In this case introducing a variable to give a temporary name to the (arbitrary) number you might choose enables you to maintain
the generality of the statement, and replacing all instances of the word “it” by the name of the variable ensures that possible
ambiguity is avoided:
No matter what number n might be choses, if n is greater than 2, then n 2 is greater than 4.

Example 1: Writing Sentences using Variables

Use variables to rewrite the following sentences more formally.
 a. Are there numbers with the property that the sum of their squares equals the square of their sum?
b. Given any real number, its square is nonnegative.

Solution:
a. Are there numbers a and b with the property that a 2 + b2 = (a + b)2?
Or: Are there numbers a and b such that a2 + b2 = (a + b)2?
Or: Do there exist any numbers an and b such that a 2 + b2 = (a + b)2?
b. Given any real number, r, r2 is nonnegative.
Or: For any real number r, r 2 ≥0.
Or: For all real numbers r, r 2 ≥0.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 1: ANSWER ME

Use variables to rewrite the following sentences more formally.

a. Are there numbers whose square are smaller than the numbers themselves?
b. A prime number is an integer greater than 1 and whose only positive divisors are 1 and itself.

SOME IMPORTANT KINDS OF MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS

Three of the most important kinds of sentences in mathematics are universal statements, conditional statements and existential
statements:

Says that a certain property is true for all elements in a

set. (For example: All positive numbers are greater than
Universal Statement
zero)

Says that if one thing is true then some other things also
Conditional Statement has to be true. (For example: If 378 is divisible by 18,
then 378 is divisible by 6.)

Existential Statement Given a property that may or may not be true, this
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)

In later sections we will define each kind of statement carefully and discuss all of them in detail. The aim here is for you
to realize that combinations of these statements can be expressed in a variety of different ways. one way uses
ordinary, everyday language and another expresses the statement using one or more variables. The exercises are
designed to help you start becoming comfortable in translating from one way to another.

Universal Conditional Statements

Universal statements contain some variation of the words “for all” and conditional statements contain versions of the words “if –
then.” A universal conditional statement is a statement that is both universal and conditional. Here is an example:
For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

One of the most important facts about universal conditional statements is that they can be written in ways that make them appear
to be purely universal or purely conditional. For example, the previous statement can be rewritten in a way that makes it conditional
nature explicit but its universal nature implicit:
If a is a dog, then a is a mammal.
Or: if an animal is a dog, then the animal is a mammal.

The statement can also be expressed so as to make its universal nature explicit and its conditional nature implicit:
For all dogs a, a is a mammal.
Or: All dogs are mammals.

The crucial point is that the ability to translate among various ways of expressing universal conditional statements is enormously
useful for doing mathematics and many parts of computer science.

Example 2: Rewriting a Universal Conditional Statement

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:
For all real numbers x, if x is a nonzero then x2 is positive.
a. If a real number is zero, then its square ___
b. For all nonzero real numbers x, ___
c. If x __, then ___
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 d. The square of any nonzero real number is ___
e. All nonzero real numbers have ___

Solution:
a. Is positive
b. X2 is positive
c. Is a nonzero real number; x2 is positive.
d. Positive
e. Positive squares (or: squares that are positive)

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 2: ANSWER ME
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:

For all real numbers x, if x is greater than 2, then x2 is greater than 4.

a. If real number is greater than 2, then its square is __

b. For all real numbers greater than 2, ___
c. If x __, then ___
d. The square of any real number greater than 2 is ___
e. All real numbers greater than 2 have___

Universal Existential 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. For example:
Every real number has an additive inverse.

In this statement the property “has an additive inverse” applies universally to all real number. “Has an additive inverse” asserts the
existence of something – an additive inverse – for each real number. However, the nature of the additive inverse depends on the
real number, different real numbers have different additive inverses. Knowing that an additive inverse is a real number, you can
rewrite this statement in several ways, some less formal and some more formal:
All real number have additive inverses.
Or: 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 in an additive inverse for.

Introducing names for the variables simplifies references in further discussion. For instance, after the third version of the statement
you might go on to write. When r is positive, s is negative, when r is negative, s is positive, and when r is zero, is also zero.

One of the most important reasons for using variables in mathematics is that it gives you the ability to refer to quantities
unambiguously throughout a lengthy mathematical argument, while not restricting you to consider only specific values for them.

Example 3: Rewriting a Universal Existential Statement

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement: 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 ___

Solution:
a. Have lids
b. a lid for P
c. L is a lid for P

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 3: ANSWER ME
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement: All bottles have cup.

a. Every bottle ___

b. For all bottles B, there __
c. For all bottles B, there is a cap C such that ___

Existential Universal Statements

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An existential universal statement is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts that a certain object exists 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:
This statement is true because the number one is a positive integer, and it satisfies the property of being less than or equal to every
positive integer. We can rewrite the statement in several ways, some less formal and some more formal.
Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive integer.
Or: There is a positive integer m that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
Or: There is a positive integer m such that every positive integer is greater than or equal to m.
Or: There is a positive integer m with the property that for all positive integers n, m ≤n .

Example 4: Rewriting an Existential Universal Statement

Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement in three different ways:
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 __

Solution:
a. A person in my class; every person in my class.
b. At least as old as ever person in my class.
c. At least as old as q.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 4: ANSWER ME
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following in three different ways:

There is a bird in this flock that is at least as heavy as every bird in the flock.

a. Some __ is at least as heavy as __

b. There is a bird b in this flock such that b is ___
c. There is a bird b in this flock with the property that for every bird b in the flock, b is ___

Some of the most important mathematical concepts, such as the definition of limit of a sequence, can only be defined using
phrases that are universal, existential, and conditional, and they require the use of all three phases “for all,” “there is,” and “if-then.”
For example, if a1, a2, a3, … is a sequence of real numbers, saying that
The limit of an, as n approaches infinity is L.

means that
For all positive real numbers ε , there is an integer N such that
For all integers n, if n > N then −ε < an−L< ε .

REFERENCES
Aufmann R. N, et al, Mathematics Excursions 14th Edition

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