Mathematics SL Notation List PDF
Mathematics SL Notation List PDF
Mathematics SL Notation List PDF
Notation list
Of the various notations in use, the IB has chosen to adopt a system of notation based on the
recommendations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This notation is used in
the examination papers for this course without explanation. If forms of notation other than those listed
in this guide are used on a particular examination paper, they are defined within the question in which
they appear.
Because students are required to recognize, though not necessarily use, IB notation in examinations, it
is recommended that teachers introduce students to this notation at the earliest opportunity. Students
are not allowed access to information about this notation in the examinations.
Students must always use correct mathematical notation, not calculator notation.
the set of positive rational numbers, {x | x , x 0}
is an element of
is not an element of
Union
52 Mathematics SL guide
Notation list
Intersection
is a proper subset of
is a subset of
a|b a divides b
1 th
a1/ n , n
a a to the power of , n root of a (if a 0 then n
a 0)
n
x for x 0, x
x modulus or absolute value of x , that is
x for x 0, x
is approximately equal to
is greater than
is less than
u
i 1
i u1 u2 ... un
n
the rth binomial coefficient, r = 0, 1, 2, …, in the expansion of (a b)n
r
n! n(n 1)(n 2) 3 2 1
Mathematics SL guide 53
Notation list
dy
the derivative of y with respect to x
dx
b
y dx the definite integral of y with respect to x between the limits x a and x b
a
 the angle at A
ˆ
CAB the angle between [CA] and [AB]
54 Mathematics SL guide
Notation list
v the vector v
the vector represented in magnitude and direction by the directed line segment
AB from A to B
a the position vector OA
a the magnitude of a
| AB| the magnitude of AB
P( A) probability of event A
x1 , x2 , ... Observations
n
number of ways of selecting r items from n items
r
B(n, p) binomial distribution with parameters n and p
X ~ B(n, p) the random variable X has a binomial distribution with parameters n and p
2 population variance
Mathematics SL guide 55
Notation list
x
z standardized normal random variable, z
cumulative distribution function of the standardized normal variable with
distribution N(0, 1)
56 Mathematics SL guide