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Saturday, October 6, 2018

THE STUDY OF MATHEMATICS AND THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES

    Mathematics is the study of measurements, properties and relationships of quantities and signs,using numbers and symbols.The quantities are sets and things that we interact with in our daily life.Mathematics deals with logical reasoning and quantitative calculations to solve daily life problems.It is considered as the underlying language of science.
    To ease the teaching and learning of mathematics, it is broadly divided into branches namely: Foundation, Algebra,Analysis,Geometry and Applied Mathematics which includes theoretical mathematics and science.These branches are listed here with respect to secondary and high school mathematics.As you study further, you will likely meet other branches.Below are some brief explanations of the above branches.
 1)FOUNDATION: This is used to refer to the formulation and analysis of the language,anxious and topical methods on which all of mathematics rests.This provides the base for the understanding of mathematics.It involves formulating meaningful mathematical statements and analyzing them logically.
2) ALGEBRA: It involves the study of solutions of one or several equations; the study of some mathematical structures  like groups, rings,fields,arithmetic and number theory, and recently;  functions.
3)ANALYSIS :The basic branch is calculus.Calculus is divided into differential calculus which arises from the problem of finding the gradient of a tangent line to a curve at a point ; integral calculus which arises from the problem of measuring lengths, areas,volumes and other quantities as limits by means of approximating polygonal figures. For example, the area of a circle may be found as the limiting value of the areas of inscribed regular polygons as the number of sides of the polygons increase indefinitely.
4)GEOMETRY:: It is the study of the shape, size, and other properties of figures, and the nature of space.Geometry is also divided into Euclidean geometry, Coordinate geometry,topology,Algebraic geometry,Differential geometry etc.
5)APPLIED MATHEMATICS :It includes numerical methods and computer science.It seeks concrete solutions, which which may be approximate or exact to mathematical problems. It helps to solve daily life's problems indirectly.For example to construct things like vehicles,planes,ships and many others thre design and testing process is largely carried out by computer simulation using mathematical tailored software. Applied mathematics also includes mathematical physics, mathematical biology, mathematical statistics and probability theory.
   The next article will be about the usefulness of mathematics, some prominent mathematicians ; their area of study and sample lesson plans on Grade 8(form3) Algebra .




 

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