Math for Liberal Arts Students

 Set theory and logic are similar in that they express practical, real-life situations and that they are applicable outside of a mathematical sphere, but also different in, obviously, that they express different concepts. Set theory deals with quantities and groups of elements, while logic deals with truths, falsehoods, etc.  Set theory would indicate:     D= (velociraptor, microraptor, deinonychus, dromaeosaurus) While logic would postulate:     D= Is a maniraptoran     V= Is a velociraptor    

 

  I don’t have any questions initially about logic- it's all, for lack of a better word, logical.   p, q, and r are all visually distinct letters that can be easily told apart at a glance, and are all next to each other sequentially in the alphabet, which makes them easy picks.   Sentences that are not statements are questions (“Is Jurassic Park a good movie?”,) commands (“Go watch Jurassic Park!” , ) and opinions (“Jurassic Park is a cinematic masterpiece.”)   A statement that is both true and false is a paradox (which is sort of inherently a paradox in and of itself, given that a paradox is both true and false,) but because a paradox inherently somehow contradicts itself in one way or another it either cannot be true or cannot be false.   Statement: “Most theropod dinosaurs had feathers.”   Symbolic: p= “Most theropod dinosaurs had feathers.”   Negation: “No theropod dinosaurs had feathers,” or alternatively “All theropod dinosaurs had feathers.”  

  Hello! My math experience has, unfortunately, been largely negative. I have always been in the "slow" math classes, due to the more abstract concepts that make up the bulk of disciplines such as algebra or calculus being difficult for me to grasp as a visual learner. Equations with no real-world applications have always been difficult for me. I've found mathematics to be mostly a source of stress and irritation- however, in the right fields (such as geometry or trigonometry,) I do very well. I'm not the most gifted math student- I certainly won't be earning any accolades for my mathematics performance- but I do very well when the math I'm doing has a practical, tangible real-world application.  In my own words, as I understand them: A set is any well and objectively defined group of elements that share something in common. For example, {The top 5 coolest dinosaurs} would not be a valid set, because "coolest" is a subjective term that cannot be clea

 Equal sets have the exact same elements, while equivalent sets have the same number of elements. Sets D= {microrapror, anchiornis, archaeopteryx} and F= {microraptor, anchiornis, archaeopteryx} are equal, because they have the same elements. Sets T= {troodon, latenivenatrix, stenonychosaurus} and A= {allosaurus, saurophaganax, labrosaurus} are not equal, due to having different elements, but are equivalent since they have the same number of elements.  The cardinal number of a set is the amount of unique elements within the set. Set A= {allosaurus, saurophaganax, labrosaurus} has a cardinal number of 3, while set S= {a,l,l,o,s,a,u,r,u,s} has a cardinal number of 8 (note how, because “a” occurs twice and “u” occurs twice, the second occurrences of both elements do not count towards the cardinal number as they are not unique.) Vent diagrams provide a useful visual method to understand the relationships between sets. Venn diagrams can, however, be confusing at times, and Venn diagrams for