By: Qazi Syed Sarim
Mathematics is a vast subject. Some students love it but most have fear of it. It is really an interesting, amazing and enjoyable subject but only if you have it’s basic knowledge.
We know that after J&K became a union territory, the competition has risen immensely. In this world of sharp competition knowledge of mathematics is very important. I myself love mathematics. That’s why today I wanted to write something about this great subject. So let me give you the Introduction of mathematics.
It started centuries before centuries when a mathematician namely Archemedes discovered numbers from 1 to 9. He is called the Father of Mathematics.
After Archemedes, came another mathematician known as Aryabhatta, you may have heard about him as he has invented zero (0). Later, came another person namely Brahamgupta, according to him if there are positive numbers so there should be also negative numbers. So he gave concept of negative numbers. After these scholars, many physists and mathematicians discovered numbers after 9 by joining numbers from 1 to 9.
In order to understand basics of mathematics we should learn following concepts.
1) Natural numbers: As the name suggests, the numbers that exist naturally i,e numbers starting from 1 and continue endlessly. Eg 1, 4, 6, 99, 627, 567 etc. Conclusion- 1 to ♾️ ( infinity).
2) Whole numbers: Numbers that start from zero and continue endlessly. Eg 0, 1, 6, 5, 8, 3, 7273 etc. Conclusion- 0 to ♾️ (infinity).
In competitive exams mostly to confuse students, the questions asked are like, are all Natural numbers whole numbers OR are all whole numbers natural numbers? So Natural numbers are numbers starting from 1 to infinity. And whole numbers are numbers starting from 0 to infinity. Therefore the doubt is clear i.e- All Natural numbers are whole numbers BUT all Whole numbers are not Natural numbers only because of 0.
3) Integers: All negative and positive numbers along with 0 are called integers. Eg -4, -15, 78, 567 etc.
4) Rational numbers- Numbers that are in the form of p/q where q is not equal to 0 and importantly both p and q are integers. Eg 2/3, -6/4 etc.
5) Irrational numbers- Simply numbers that are not in the form of p/q. Eg. √2, √3, √7, e (eulers)
6) Real numbers- When all rational and irrational numbers are combined they are called as real numbers. eg -22/7, √8 etc.
Now let’s discuss about four main branches of mathematics which are as under:
1) Arthematics: It is the basic study of mathematics in which we read about whole numbers, rational numbers, Natural numbers, odd numbers, even numbers, etc.
2) Geometry: It is combination of two words viz Geo and Metry. Geo means earth.
and metry means Measurement. So it is measurement of everything present on Earth.
3) Algebra: In algebra we study about the equations, terms, constants and variables.
4) Trigonometry: As the name suggests Trigonometry is study of triangles. It is deep study of triangles.
So I would like to conclude by saying that Mathematics is an amazing subject. It is useful in every field and even in our day to day lives. It is not like you choose mathematics and it is over. It will always help you in every walk of life. At last I would like to thank my mathematics tutors Sir Mushtaq Teli and Sir Peer Sohail for helping in understanding the basics of this wonderful area of knowledge called mathematics.
