Questions tagged [terminology]
How words are used in mathematics or mathematics education
118 questions
9 votes
1 answer
247 views
What do you call the temporary insertion of a term and its opposite?
Transforming $(a+b)(a-b)$ into $a^2-b^2$ is easy: three distributions, two associations, one cancellation, and two factorings. Going from $a^2-b^2$ to $(a+b)(a-b)$ is harder: You have to know to ...
- 191
2 votes
1 answer
220 views
Is "well-supported" a synonym for "total relation"? "Well-defined" for "single-valued"?
I was reading this answer to a question about injective functions and was caught off guard by the terms "total" and "single valued" describing properties a relation might have. ...
- 8,434
-1 votes
1 answer
148 views
Either this OR that and the Unsaid! [closed]
I am reading logic and in it I am reading OR, so comes along this Sentence, Either this or that, (for an Expression pVq). So currently we are in the Logic universe where hardly anything exists, except ...
- 419
10 votes
2 answers
457 views
The origin of "concave up" and "concave down"
The terms "concave up" and "concave down" seem to only appear in introductory calculus textbooks written for freshmen college students in USA. Elsewhere in mathematics, we don't ...
user22368
2 votes
1 answer
97 views
Difference between pre-algebra and early algebra in primary school teacher education
The context here is a course for primary school teachers who want to get a qualification for teaching mathematics. "Algebra" does not therefore mean university level or proof-based algebra. ...
- 9,181
4 votes
2 answers
275 views
What is the correct math term for "same form"?
I am trying to find the correct math term to describe the relationship between equations that have the same “form.” I used the word form but was told that it was incorrect. Let me give you an ...
- 41
3 votes
1 answer
225 views
Examples of different languages with mathematically different names for concepts
Multilingual classroom Having pupils of many different native languages, and many languages in general, has been getting quite common in Norwegian classrooms, too. In many other countries this has ...
- 9,181
10 votes
8 answers
3k views
"Pure Imaginary" or "Purely Imaginary"?
Quick Question: A complex number $z$ with real part $Re(z) = 0$, i.e. something like $-17i$ -- would you call it "pure imaginary", or "purely imaginary"? I'm not a native English ...
- 1,009
11 votes
2 answers
997 views
What is the terminology for "self-referral" integrals in calculus?
In the topic of integration and anti-derivatives in Calculus we come across cases where the attempt at integration by parts brings us back to the original integral, the most basic example being $\int ...
- 1,410
5 votes
4 answers
530 views
Educational resources commonly address slant asymptotes. Why not general polynomial asymptotes?
Back in 2018, I wrote a post about asymptotes of rational functions in which I addressed not only horizontal and slant/oblique asymptotes, but also the general case of "polynomial asymptotes.&...
- 13.1k
1 vote
1 answer
171 views
Idea of using LLMs to help communicate ideas in math
What do you guys think about the ideas presented in this short text: https://github.com/yougetyourmanwww/AI-for-math/blob/main/AI.md The text is about how LLMs like chatGPT can be used for when doing ...
- 19
1 vote
2 answers
712 views
How should an educator answer a student who asks "Can this theorem be deduced in other systems of set theory?"
If the educator decides to handle the situation by declaring that the question is beyond the scope of the course, then would it be fair to ensure that the course description and course syllabus ...
user12816
1 vote
4 answers
253 views
Naming the procedure of converting the place values of digits
Let's say I have the numeral 2.263,3 thousands, and convert it to 2.263.300 units. How do we describe what I have done to the numeral regarding units ? I know it has to do with the place values of the ...
- 145
-5 votes
1 answer
135 views
Does the "Middle School Mathematics domains" refer to (I) through (V) topics?
Does the "Middle School Mathematics domains" on page 3 of https://www.ets.org/content/dam/ets-org/pdfs/praxis/5164.pdf refer to the the following 5 topics/categories? (I) Numbers and ...
- 93
1 vote
3 answers
389 views
Is it correct to state that a cone has no faces?
Faces are attributes of polyhedra, so it doesn't make sense to ask how many faces a cone has. Are there traditional scholars that use faces attached to cones? How do different countries deal with the ...
- 2,652