Topic X Mathematical

Concepts

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Explain what is meant by mathematical concepts; 2. Differentiate between mathematical facts and concepts; and 3. List the mathematical facts for each mathematical concept.

INTRODUCTION

In mathematics, concepts refer to the basic mathematical knowledge needed for solving mathematical problems. A concept is a group of related mathematical facts. You have to learn related mathematical facts before you can understand a mathematical concept. For example, the concept of a quadrilateral involves the knowledge of the parallelogram, rectangle, rhombus and trapezium, as shown in Figure 7.1.

Figure 7.1: Example of a mathematical concept

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A mathematical fact is a true mathematical statement. This topic will discuss various concepts in mathematics, namely numerical concepts, geometrical concepts, statistical concepts and algebraic concepts.

7.1

NUMERICAL CONCEPTS

In this sub-topic, you will be exposed to numerical concepts.

7.1.1

Concept of Real Numbers

The concept of real numbers involve the knowledge of rational and irrational numbers. (a) Rational number: Any number that can be expressed as an exact fraction.

Example of rational numbers: (b)

1 3 3 13 , , 0.4, , , 3 4 1 2

Irrational number: Any number that cannot be expressed in the form of a fraction. Example of irrational numbers:

2, 3, 5,S

Look at the number system in Figure 7.2. As you can see, all the numbers are interrelated.

Figure 7.2: Concept of real numbers

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ACTIVITY 7.1
List two mathematical facts in the real number system.

7.1.2

Concept of FractionG

Generally, a fraction is part of a whole number. For instance, when a cake is cut into two equal slices, each slice is a fraction of the cake. A fraction consists of a numerator and a denominator. An example of this is shown below:

The concept of fraction involves the knowledge of proper fraction, improper fraction and mixed numbers/fractions. (a) Proper fraction: The numerator is smaller than the denominator.

Examples:
(b)

3 1 ; 5 6 7 6 ; 3 6 1 57 and 3 9

Improper fraction: The numerator is greater than, or equal to the denominator.

Examples:
(c)

Mixed numbers/fractions: Comprises an integer and a proper fraction.

Examples: 1

SELF-CHECK 7.1
What are the mathematical facts behind the concept of fraction? Discuss.

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Do the following exercise to test your understanding.

ACTIVITY 7.2
Can you think of other mathematical facts involved in the concept of fraction? Discuss with your course mates in myLMS.

7.2

GEOMETRICAL CONCEPT

The geometrical concept comprises various concepts pertaining to angles and quadrilaterals.

7.2.1

Concept of Angles

The concept of angles involves the knowledge of straight angles, right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles, reflex angles, complementary angles, supplementary angles and vertically opposite angles as well as others. See Figure 7.3.

Figure 7.3: Types of angles

(a) (b) (c) (d)

A full circle has a measure of 360. A straight angle is equal to 180. A right angle is equal to 90. An acute angle is less than 90.

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(e) (f) (g)

An obtuse angle is between 90 and 180. A reflex angle is between 180 and 360. Complementary angles add up to 90 (see Figure 7.4).

Figure 7.4: Complementary angles

(h)

Supplementary angles add up to 180 (see Figure 7.5).

Figure 7.5: Supplementary angles

(i)

Vertically opposite angles are equal (see Figure 7.6).

Figure 7.6: Vertically opposite angles

When a transversal cuts two parallel lines (see Figure 7.7): Corresponding angles are equal; Alternate angles are equal; and Co-interior angles are supplementary.

Figure 7.7: A transversal cutting through two parallel lines and its related angles

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Try the following exercise to test your understanding.

SELF-CHECK 7.2
List three mathematical facts about the concept of angles.

7.2.2

Concept of Triangles

The concept of triangles involves the knowledge of acute-angled triangles, rightangled triangles, obtuse-angled triangles, equilateral triangles, isosceles triangles and scalene triangles as well as the sum of angles in a triangle. (a) All sides of a scalene triangle are of different lengths (see Figure 7.8).

Figure 7.8: Scalene triangle

(b)

An isosceles triangle has two sides of equal length (see Figure 7.9).

Figure 7.9: Isosceles triangle

(c)

All sides and angles of an equilateral triangle are equal (see Figure 7.10).

Figure 7.10: Equilateral triangle

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(d)

An obtuse-angled triangle has one angle greater than 90 (see Figure 7.11).

Figure 7.11: Obtuse-angled triangle

(e)

All angles of an acute-angled triangle are less than 90 (see Figure 7.12).

Figure 7.12: Acute-angled triangle

(f)

A right-angled triangle has one angle of 90 (see Figure 7.13).

Figure 7.13: Right-angled triangle

(g)

The sum of angles in a triangle is 180 (see Figure 7.14).

Figure 7.14: Sum of angles in a triangle

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Try the following exercise to test your understanding.

SELF-CHECK 7.3
List three mathematical facts related to the concept of triangles.

7.2.3

Concept of Quadrilaterals G

The concept of quadrilaterals involves the knowledge of parallelograms, rectangles, rhombus, squares, kites and trapeziums. (a) The opposite sides of a parallelogram are parallel and equal. The opposite angles are equal (see Figure 7.15).

Figure 7.15: Opposites of a parallelogram

(b)

The opposite sides of a rectangle are parallel and equal, and all internal angles are 90 (see Figure 7.16).

Figure 7.16: Opposite sides of a rectangle

(c)

The opposite sides of a rhombus are parallel and all sides are equal (see Figure 7.17).

Figure 7.17: Opposite sides of a rhombus

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(d)

The opposite sides of a square are parallel, all sides are equal and all internal angles are 90 (see Figure 7.18).

Figure 7.18: Opposite sides of a square

(e)

A kite has two pairs of adjacent equal sides. Each pair of opposite angles are equal (see Figure 7.19).

Figure 7.19: Angles of a kite

(f)

A trapezium has one pair of opposite sides that are parallel (see Figure 7.20).

Figure 7.20: Opposite sides of a trapezium

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Do the following exercise to test your understanding. SELF-CHECK 7.4 List three mathematical facts related to the concept of quadrilaterals.

7.3

STATISTICAL CONCEPTS

Statistical concepts include the concept of central tendency.

7.3.1

Concept of Central Tendency

Central tendency refers to a variables typical and most common values. Generally, these are the values around which most values tend to cluster or converge. The three primary measures of central tendency are mode, median and mean. (a) (b) Mode: Median: This is the value with the greatest frequency. In other words, it is the most commonly occurring value. This is the value which has an equal number of values higher and lower than it, i.e., the middle value or the average of two middle values. This is the sum of the values of all divided by the number of cases.

(c)

Mean:

Try the following exercise to test your understanding.

ACTIVITY 7.3
List down some other mathematical facts found in statistics.

7.4

ALGEBRAIC CONCEPTS

Basic algebra consists of knowledge of the following term, coefficient, expression, equation and constant (see Figure 7.21).

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Figure 7.21: Algebraic expression

(a) (b) (g) (c) (d)

Expressions which contain letters that are used to represent unknown numbers are called algebraic expressions. A term of an algebraic expression is the product of numbers and/or unknowns.

Example: 2a is a term.
A term which has no unknown is called a constant term. An equation contains an equal (=) sign.

Try the following exercise to test your understanding.

ACTIVITY 7.4
1. 2. List three mathematical facts related to the concept of algebra. Define the term mathematical fact and give an example.

x x x x

A mathematical fact is a true mathematical statement. The concept of real numbers involves the knowledge of rational and irrational numbers. Fraction involves the knowledge of proper fraction, improper fraction and mixed numbers/fractions. The geometrical concept involves knowledge about angles and quadrilaterals.

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x x x x x

The concept of angles involves knowledge of straight, right, acute, obtuse, reflex, complementary, supplementary and vertically opposite angles as well as others. The quadrilateral concept involves knowledge of parallelograms, rectangles, rhombus, squares, kites and trapeziums. Central tendency refers to a variables typical and most common value(s). The three primary measures of central tendency are mode, median and mean. Basic algebra consists of knowledge of terms, coefficients, expressions, equations and constants.

Acute angle Coefficient Constant Denominator Equilateral triangle Irrational numbers Isosceles triangle Mean Median Mode

Numerator Obtuse angle Parallelogram Quadrilaterals Reflex angle Rhombus Scalene triangle Trapezium Unknown Whole numbers