abc’s for the aspiring mathematician

BY WYATT HANSEN

ABC’s For The Aspiring Mathematician

A

Angle Bisector- An angle bisector refers to the the ray (or the line) that divides an angle into two congruent angles. The bisector will divide the angle equally in half.

B

Bisector- An angle or a line is bisected when they are cut into two equal parts. The line cutting the angle or line into 2 equal parts is referred to as the bisector. To bisect mean to cut into equal parts.

C

Chord- The segment which joins two points on a circle.

D

Diameter- A chord that passes through the center of a circle. Also the length of a line that cuts the shape in half.

E

Equation- A statement showing the equality of two expressions usually separated by left and right signs and joined by an equals sign.

F

Furlong- A unit of measurement - the side length of one square of an acre. One furlong is approximately 1/8 of a mile, 201.17 meters and 220 yards.

G

Greatest Common Factor- The largest number common to each set of factors that divides both numbers exactly. E.g., the greatest common factor of 10 and 20 is 10.

H

Hyperbola- One type of conic section. The hyperbola is the set of all points in a plane. The difference of whose distance from two fixed points in the plane is the positive constant.

I

Inequality- A mathematical equation containing either a greater than, less than or not equal to symbols.

J

Jump Discontinuity- A discontinuity for which the graph steps or jumps from one connected piece of the graph to another. Formally, it is a discontinuity for which the limits from the left and right both exist but are not equal to each other.

K

Kilometer- A unit of measure that equals 1000 meters.

L

Logarithm - A power to which a base, [actually 10] must be raised to produce a given number. If nx = a, the logarithm of a, with n as the base, is x.

M

Monomial - An algebraic expression consisting of a single term.

N

Natural Numbers - Regular counting numbers.

O

Opposite Reciprocal- The result of taking the reciprocal of a number and then changing the sign.

Opposite Reciprocal of 5 is -5

P

Perpendicular- When two lines or line segments intersect and form right angles.

Q

Quintic Polynomial- A polynomial having a degree of 5.

R

Right angle- An angle that is 90 dergrees.

S

Sphere- SphereA three dimensional solid consisting of all

points equidistant from a given point. This point is the center of the sphere.

T

Torus- A doughnut shape. Formally, a torus is a surface of revolution obtained by revolving (in three dimensional space) a circle about a line which does not intersect the circle.

V

Vinculum- The horizontal line drawn as part of a fraction or radical.

W

Whole Number- A whole number doesn't contain a fraction. A whole number is a positive integer which has 1 or more unit and can be positive or negative.

X

X-Axis- The horizontal axis in a coordinate plane.

Y

Y-Axis- The vertical axis in a coordinate plane.

Z

Zero Slope- The slope of a horizontal line. A horizontal line has slope 0 because all its points have the same y-coordinate.

References

Dictionary.comhttp://math.about.com/library/blw.htmBing Imageshttp://www.mathwords.com/s/step_discontinui

ty.htm