Ulearngo

Addition Notation

A college student has a part-time job. Last week he worked 3 hours on Monday and 4 hours on Friday. To find the total number of hours he worked last week, he added 3 and 4. The operation of addition combines numbers to get a sum. Learn about addition here.

By the end of this lesson and the next few, you should be able to:

  • Use addition notation
  • Model addition of whole numbers
  • Add whole numbers without models
  • Translate word phrases to math notation
  • Add whole numbers in applications

addition

Use Addition Notation

A college student has a part-time job. Last week he worked \(3\) hours on Monday and \(4\) hours on Friday. To find the total number of hours he worked last week, he added \(3\) and \(4.\)

The operation of addition combines numbers to get a sum. The notation we use to find the sum of \(3\) and \(4\) is:

\(3 + 4\)

We read this as three plus four and the result is the sum of three and four. The numbers \(3\) and \(4\) are called the addends. A math statement that includes numbers and operations is called an expression.

Addition Notation

To describe addition, we can use symbols and words.

Operation Notation Expression Read as Result
Addition \(+\) \(3 + 4\) three plus four the sum of \(3\) and \(4\)

Example

1. Translate from math notation to words:

  1. \(7 + 1\)
  2. \(12 + 14\)

Solution

  1. The expression consists of a plus symbol connecting the addends 7 and 1. We read this as seven plus one. The result is the sum of seven and one.
  2. The expression consists of a plus symbol connecting the addends 12 and 14. We read this as twelve plus fourteen. The result is the sum of twelve and fourteen.

2. Translate from math notation to words:

  1. \(8 + 4\)
  2. \(18 + 11\)

Solution

  1. The expression consists of a plus symbol connecting the addends 8 and 4. We read this as eight plus four. The result is the sum of eight and four.
  2. The expression consists of a plus symbol connecting the addends 18 and 11. We read this as eighteen plus eleven. The result is the sum of eighteen and eleven.

Optional Video: Adding Two-Digit Numbers With Base-10

This video below by Mathispower4u explains addition of two digit whole numbers by using base ten blocks.

This lesson is part of:

Introducing Numbers

View Full Tutorial

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