Main post link -> https://brilliant.org/assessment/techniques-trainer/algebra-glossary/
Thanks to the members who contributed to our glossary discussion, we now have an Algebra glossary available to everyone on Brilliant:
BRILLIANT ALGEBRA GLOSSARY
Please take a look and let us know what you think. This is still very much a community project, so please feel free to reply to this discussion with feedback, as well as terms that you think still need to be added or definitions that should be revised or improved.
Thanks again to all of our original contributors for their help!
Rules to keep things organized and civil:
- Top level replies (replies in the box directly below this message) should only contain a single term that you think belongs in the glossary. One term per post. Make sure your term isn't already listed (you might want to use your browser's search function), so we can avoid duplicates.
- Reply to the term you want to define with a defintion you'd like to propose. One definition per reply.
- Vote up terms and definitions you like. If you see a definition you disagree with, vote it down and write a better one.
- IMPORTANT: Only one term or definition per post, please.
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Comments
Telescoping series
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A telescoping series a series whose partial sums eventually only have a fixed number of terms after cancellation.
Example: i=1∑ni(i+1)1=1−n+11
zero
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(of a polynomial) See 'root' [in the glossary].
Arithmetic, Geometric, and Harmonic Mean
(should be separate definitions?)
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Arithmetic Mean (AM), Geometric Mean (GM), Harmonic Mean (HM)
I think they should be together because we usually apply one of them to obtain the other.
Let a1,a2,…,an be non-negative real numbers, then the
Arithmetic mean of these numbers is na1+a2+…+an
Geometric mean of these numbers is na1⋅a2⋅…⋅an
Harmonic mean of these numbers is a11+a21+…+an1n
And
na1+a2+…+an≥na1⋅a2⋅…⋅an≥a11+a21+…+an1n
with equality if and only if a1=a2=…=an
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RMS > AM > GM > HM
where RMS is the Root of Mean of Square of the given numbers
Summation sign Σ
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Σ, (pronounced ˈsɪɡmə ) is a mathematical operation of adding a sequence of number of like terms, the result is their sum or total. More generally, if m and n are integers and m≤n, then the summation from k equals to m to n of ak is the sum of all the terms am,am+1,am+2,…,an. We write
k=m∑nak=am+am+1+am+2+…+an
and call k the index of the summation , m the lower limit of the summation of the summation, and n the upper limit of the summation.
We also can state k=m∑n as ∑k=mn
For example, k=3∑7(k2+k+10)=(32+3+10)+(42+4+10)+(52+5+10)+(62+6+10)+(72+7+10)
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I'm used to calling the limits as lower and upper bounds, so I guess it should be included for the odd ones like me.
SFFT (Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick/Simon's Favorite Factoring Theorem)
Just a note: I'm posting these theorems because they are commonly abbreviated, and rookie problem solvers might get confused as to what they mean.
Of course, Binomial Theorem is too important for me to exclude.
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States that the expression xy+ax+by can be factorized as (x+b)(y+a)−ab.
Example problem: Find all integer solutions to x1+y1=61.
Solution: Adding the LHS gives xyx+y=61.
Cross multiplying gives xy=6x+6y; reorder to make xy−6x−6y=0.
Use SFFT to get (x−6)(y−6)=36. Since x,y are integers, that means x−6 and y−6 are also integers. Therefore, they are factors of 36 which multiply to 36.
The rest of the solution is left as an exercise to the reader. ;)
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Wow ! Awesome
Exponent
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Exponent is a number or an unknown or a variable or an expression that denotes the measure or dimension of repeatation of multiplication of again a number or an unknown or a variable or an expression to itself.
Power
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Power of a number or an unknown or a variable or an expression is the measure or dimension of repeatation of multiplication of that number or unknown or variable or expression to itself.
Pi, π
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π is a mathematical constant that is defined to be the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It is approximately equals to 3.14159265358979
W.L.O.G
(Posting for rookies like me who din't get abbreviations)
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W.LO.G. stands for 'without loss of generality'.
It is used before an assumption in a proof which narrows the premise to some special case; it is implied that the proof for that case can be easily applied to all others, or that all other cases are equivalent.
For example, consider the following theorem:
A proof: Assume without loss of generality that the first object is red. If either of the other two objects is red, we are finished; if not, the other two objects must both be blue and we are still finished.
This works because exactly the same reasoning (with "red" and "blue" interchanged) could be applied if the alternative assumption were made, namely that the first object is blue.
[Definition and example taken from Wikipedia]
[I see that some alphabets aren't getting much love! So I'm going to add a few more.]
z-axis
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The z-axis is the third axis in a three-dimensional coordinate system. Typically the x-axis and y-axis are thought of as being in a horizontal plane, with the z-axis pointing up.
Diophantine?
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Diophantine refers to Diophantus of Alexandria. A Diophantine equation is a polynomial equation that allows two or more variables to take integer values only.
Multiplication sign ∏
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∏ [upper case pi] is used to denote the product of some numbers or terms.
For example: i=2∏5i simply denotes the product of i's where i starts out at 2, is incremented by 1 for each successive terms and stops at 5
So, i=2∏5i=2×3×4×5=120.
[See Summation sign, ∑ to notice the analogy between ∑ and ∏.]
Terms
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Terms can be numbers, variables (alone or multiplied with numbers or constants, which is the co-efficient of the variables concerned), unknowns (alone or multiplied with numbers or constants, which is the co-efficient) that constitutes an expression alone or in addition or substraction (by + or − sign) to other terms.
A term is a part of a sum. For example, in the polynomial ax^2+ bx+ c, the first term is ax2, the second term is bx, and the third term is c. The different terms in an expression are separated by addition (or subtraction) signs.
Binomial Theorem
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States that for any numbers a,b and positive integer n, that: (a+b)n=(0n)anb0+(1n)an−1b1+⋯+(n−1n)a1bn−1+(nn)a0bn.
RRT (Rational Root Theorem)
LHS and RHS (Left Hand Side and Right Hand Side)
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Denotes which side of the equality sign the author is talking about. LHSRandom Math=RHSMore Random Math
Prime Number
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This is number theory, isn't it?
A prime number is a positive integer greater than 1 that can only be divided by 1 and itself.
Concatenation
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In mathematics, concatenation of two or more numbers is the joining of their numerals. For example, the concatenation of 314 and 159 is 314159
I honestly think this term doesn't deserve to be in the glossary. What good could come out of using that word anywhere?
weighted average
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A weighted average (also weighted arithmetic mean) of a group of numbers x1,x2,x3,...,xn is: w_1x_1+ w_2x_2 + w_3x_3+ w_n+ x_n where the w’s are a group of positive numbers such that: w_1+ w_2 + w_3+... w_n= 1.
Each number xi has a corresponding weight wi. A larger value of wi means that xi should be given greater significance in calculating the weighted average.
Radicals
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is the radical symbol. It is used to indicate the taking of a root of a number. yx means the yth root of x and (yx)y=x.
In the example above, y is the index of the radical. If no index is specified, then the square root is meant. A radical always means to take the positive value [this is called the principal root]. For example: if you square both 5 and −5 you're going to get 25. But 25=5.
Quadratic Equation
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Quadratic normally refers to something with degree 2.
For example: ax2+bx+c=0,a=0 is a quadratic equation because the power ofx is 2.
Slope of a line
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The slope of a line is a number that measures how steep the line is. The slope of a line is defined to be \frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}, where \Delta y is the change in the vertical coordinate and Δx is the change in the horizontal coordinate between any two points on the line.
A horizontal line has a slope of zero. As a line approaches being a vertical line, its slope approaches infinity.
Rationalizing factor
Vieta's Formulas
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Let P(x)=anxn+an−1xn−1+.......+a1x+a0 be a polynomial and x1,x2......,xn be its roots.
Vieta's Formulas give us a relation between the coefficients of the polynomial P(x) and its roots:
(x1+x2......+xn)=an−an−1
(x1x2+x2x3.....+x1xn)=anan−2
⋮
(x1x2....xn)=−1nana0
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The problem with Vieta's formulas at this level is that it is not clear what the information represented by the elipses is . This doesn't seem particularly helpful when solving problems, just by looking at it.
Determinant
Matrix
Quartic Function
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In mathematics, the term 'quartic' describes something that pertains to the "fourth degree".
x4+3x3+12x−2 is a quartic polynomial.
Quintic Function
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The word 'quintic' means 'of the fifth degree'.
For example: a quintic equation is a polynomial equation of degree 5.
5x5−68x3+89=0 is a quintic equation.
Cubic Function
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[I suggest that you change this to just 'cubic'. That way we won't need different definitions for words like 'cubic polynomial', 'cubic equation', 'cubic field'. Dame goes for 'quintic' and 'quartic'. I'm adding my definition for 'cubic'].
Cubic refers to the third power/degree of a term. For example P(x)=x3+7x+13 is a cubic polynomial for x because it is a degree-3 polynomial [the highest power of x is 3, see 'degree'].
Linear Function
Polar Form (of a complex number)
Exponential Form (of a complex number)
Algebra
Arbitrary constant
Unknowns
Radians
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Radian is a unit for measuring angles.
The radian measure of an angle is found by measuring the length of the intercepted arc and dividing it by the radius of the circle. For example, the circumference of a circle is 2πr, so a full circle (360 degrees) equals 2π radians. Also, 180 degrees equals π radians, and a right angle (90 degrees) has a measure of 2π radians.
Numerator
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The numerator is the number above the bar in a fraction.
For example: in the fraction 137, 7 is the numerator
Denominator
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The denominator is the bottom part of a fraction. In the fraction 137, 13 is the denominator.
there is a typo in "argument" section. in pi/2 = 45. it must be pi/4.
PIE (Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion)
EDIT: Ignore please. Thanks Calvin.
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This would be under combinatorics
CRT (Chinese Remainder Theorem)
EDIT: ignore, this should be in Number Theory, correct?
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Yes, that counts as Number Theory.
Imaginary Number i
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Already taken care of.
Irrational numbers
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Already taken care of.