Language, notation and formulas

## Learning outcomes

### 1 Communicating mathematics

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# 1.1 Writing mathematics

How do you write mathematics that can be read and easily understood by anyone else, such as a tutor or another student?

It takes practice, but the following guidelines may be helpful.

- Ensure that what you write consists of sentences. Too many people believe that mathematics is a language which is entirely made up of unfamiliar symbols. It is not. Many symbols act in part merely as abbreviations which, when read, can be translated back into spoken words.

- Ensure that there are sufficient words of explanation so that the reader is led, line by line, through your proposed solution or argument.

◄Contents►Next: 1.2 Talking and writing mathematics

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