Translating Words into Mathematical Symbols

Translating Words to Symbols

Practical problems seldom, if ever, come in equation form. The job of the problem solver is to translate the problem from phrases and statements into mathematical expressions and equations, and then to solve the equations.

As problem solvers, our job is made simpler if we are able to translate verbal phrases to mathematical expressions and if we follow the five-step method of solving applied problems. To help us translate from words to symbols, we can use the following Mathematics Dictionary.

MATHEMATICS DICTIONARY
Word or Phrase Mathematical Operation
Sum, sum of, added to, increased by, more than, and, plus +
Difference, minus, subtracted from, decreased by, less, less than -
Product, the product of, of, multiplied by, times, per
Quotient, divided by, ratio, per ÷
Equals, is equal to, is, the result is, becomes =
A number, an unknown quantity, an unknown, a quantity x (or any symbol)

Source: OpenStax, https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/PreAlgebra/Fundamentals_of_Mathematics_(Burzynski_and_Ellis)/11%3A_Algebraic_Expressions_and_Equations/11.05%3A_Applications_I-_Translating_Words_to_Mathematical_Symbols
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