Basic Operations of Mathematics

In basic mathematics there are many ways of saying the same thing:


Symbol        Words Used
+          Addition, Add, Sum, Plus, Increase, Total
-          Subtraction, Subtract, Minus, Less, Difference, Decrease, Take Away, Deduct
×          Multiplication, Multiply, Product, By, Times, Lots Of
÷          Division, Divide, Quotient, Goes Into, How Many Times


Description -

1.  Addition is ...
... bringing two or more numbers (or things) together to make a new total.

  The numbers to be added together are called the "Addends":




2.  Subtraction is ...
... taking one number away from another.



Minuend - Subtrahend = Difference
Minuend: The number that is to be subtracted from.
Subtrahend: The number that is to be subtracted.
Difference: The result of subtracting one number from another.



3.   Multiplication is ...
.. (in its simplest form) repeated addition.

Here we see that 6+6+6 (three 6s) make 18

It could also be said that 3+3+3+3+3+3 (six 3s) make 18


But you can also multiply by fractions or decimals, which goes beyond the simple idea of repeated addition:

Example: 3.5 × 5 = 17.5
which is 3.5 lots of 5, or 5 lots of 3.5





4.  Division is ...
... splitting into equal parts or groups. It is the result of "fair sharing".

Division has its own special words to remember.

Let's take the simple problem of dividing 22 by 5. The answer is 4, with 2 left over. Here we illustrate the important words:







Which is the same as: