MATH VOCABULARY FOR BASIC CALCULATIONS

plus

multiplication
(to multiply)

minus

or 5 3

multiplicand multiplier
7

3
=

Example:
6 - 4

or

or :

divided by

There are several ways of expressing subtraction:

Example:
4 / 2 or 4 2 or 4 : 2

four divided by two

to take one quantity away from another

minuend
subtrahend
10
3
=

product
21

seven times three is twenty-one

(or seven multiplied by three is/makes
twenty-one)

sum
10

Six minus four

Subtraction,
subtract

5 * 3

a mathematical operation where a

number is added to itself a number of
times

to join two o more numbers (or

quantities) to get one number (called the
sum or total)

addend
addend
3
+
7
=

Example:
5 x 3 or

Five times three

Example:
2 + 2

Two plus two

add, addition

x or * or times

division (to divide)

sharing o grouping a number into

equal parts

difference
7

dividend
divisor
quotient
20
:
2
=
10
remainder: amount left over after dividing a number.
9 4

Ten deduct three = seven

Ten subtract three = seven
Ten take away three = seven
Ten minus three = seven
Ten less three = seven
or the difference between ten and three.
They all mean the same thing: 10 3 = 7

1 2

r: remainder left over

divisible: can be divided without a remainder.
e.g. 20 is divisible by 2 and 10
factor (divisor): a number that divides exactly into another
number.
e.g. 2 and 10 are factors of 20
1

equals (is equal to)

Example:
2 + 2 = 4

set

collection of items
symbol: { }
members of a set are called elements
{ 2, 4, 6, 8 } There are 4 elements in this set

Venn diagram

a diagram using circles or other shapes to

show the relationship between sets

Two plus two equals four

(or two plus two is equal to
four)

is not equal to

Example:
12 15

Twelve is not equal to

fifteen

<

is less than

Example:
7 < 10

Seven is less than ten

>

is greater than

Example:
12 > 8

Twelve is greater than eight

is less than or equal to

Example:
4 + 1 6

Four plus one is less than or

equal to six

is greater than or equal to

Example:
5 + 7 10

Five plus seven is greater

than or equal to ten

Real numbers may be classified as:

natural numbers

whole numbers

integers

rationals

counting numbers from one to infinity

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...
counting numbers from zero to infinity
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...
positive numbers and negative numbers and
zero, but not fractions or decimals
..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...
integers, fractions, terminating and
repeating decimals
..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...
1
1
, 0.5, = 0.142857142857... , ...
4
7

irrationals

fraction

non-terminating and non-repeating decimals

= 3.14159295359... , 2 = 1.414213... ,
2.010010001... , ...

any part of a group, number or whole

Example:

1
2

one half

3
4

numerator
denominator

Example:

1
1
1 =1+
2
2
One and one half

1
3

one third

Example:

1
1
3 = 3+
3
3
Three and one third

1
4

one quarter

Example:

1
1
=2+
4
4
Two and one quarter
2

5 2 5
,
,
9 3 6
five ninths, two thirds,
five sixths

Example:

2
2
=4+
3
3
Four and two thirds
4

(Read the top number as a

cardinal number, followed by
the ordinal number + s )

5
30

five over thirty

proper fraction

numerator is less than the denominator.

factor

4
Example:
5

numerator is greater than or equal to

denominator.

improper
fraction

Example:

5
4

whole number and a fraction.

mixed number

1
5

Example: 2 = 2 +

1
5

equivalent
fractions

fractions that represent the same number.

reduce

we reduce a fraction by finding an equivalent

fraction in which the numerator and
denominator are as small as possible.

Example:

Example:

power of (number)

a whole number that divides exactly into

another number
a whole number that multiplies with
another number to make a third number

proper factor

all the factors of a number except 1 and the

number itself

composite

a number with more than two factors

Example: 12 is a composite number

1 4 5
= =
2 8 10

The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12

prime number

12 4
=
15 5

number that has exactly two factors

number that can only be divided by itself
and one
Example: 2 is a prime number
Note: 1 is not a prime number. It only has one
factor (1), not two.

the number of times a base number is

multiplied by itself
prime factor

a factor that is also a prime number

104
Index
(exponent)

Example: 5 is a prime factor of 30

Read as

Expanded

Value

Base number

32

three squared or
three to the power of two

33

53

five cubed or
five to the power of three

555

125

25

two to the power of five

22222

32

104

ten to the power of four

10101010

10 000
4

factorise

to write a number as a product of its factors

square number

12 = 4 3

prime
factorisation

to write a number as a product of its prime

factors

Example: 9 is a square number because 9 = 32

12 = 2 2 3 = 22 3

greatest
common
factor or
divisor (GCF)

the biggest number that will divide two or

more other numbers exactly

least common
multiple
(LCM)

the smallest number that is the multiple of two

or more other numbers

a number that results from multiplying

another number by itself

A square number can be represented in the

shape of a square.

Example: the greatest common factor of

30, 45 and 60 is 15

Example: the least common multiple of

3, 4 and 6 is 12

cube number

a number that results from multiplying

another number three times by itself

Example: 125 is a cube number because

125 = 53
A cubed number can be represented in the
shape of a cube.

53 = 125

square root of
a number

a number when multiplied by itself gives the

original number

Example:

cube root of a
number

9 = 3 33 = 32 = 9

one of three identical factors of a number

that is the product of those factors

Example:

125 = 5 555 = 53 = 125

sequence

A sequence is a set of numbers that follow a

pattern.

Examples:
5, 9, 13, 17, 21, are the first five
terms of a sequence that goes up in 4s
3, 6, 12, 24, 48, are the first five
terms of a sequence that doubles
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, is the sequence of
square numbers
1, 8, 27, 64, 125, is the sequence of
cube numbers
If you work out the pattern, you can work out the next numbers in
the sequence. Below are some examples:

a) The rule is to add 6 each time

So the next numbers would be 27 + 6 = 33

b) The rule is to multiply by 3 each time

So the next numbers would be 54 3 = 162

even number

a number that is divisible by 2

Example: 3788
Even numbers end with 2, 4, 6, 8 or 0
The sequence of even numbers is:
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and so on

odd number

a number that is not divisible by 2

Example: 4399
Odd numbers end with 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9
The sequence of odd numbers is:
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and so on