For the 2004 song by Brooke Fraser, see Arithmetic (song). For the 1703 Russian textbook, see Arithmetic (book).
Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that studies numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms.
Arithmetic systems can be distinguished based on the type of number they operate on. Integer arithmetic restricts itself to calculations with positive and negative whole numbers. Rational number arithmetic involves operations on fractions that lie between integers. Real number arithmetic includes calculations with both rational and irrational numbers and covers the complete number line.
Another distinction is based on the numeral system employed to perform calculations. Decimal arithmetic is the most common. It uses the basic numerals from 0 to 9 and their combinations to express numbers. Binary arithmetic, by contrast, is used by most computers and represents numbers as combinations of the basic numerals 0 and 1. Some arithmetic systems operate on mathematical objects other than numbers, such as interval arithmetic and matrix arithmetic.
Arithmetic operations form the basis of many branches of mathematics, such as algebra, calculus, and statistics. They play a similar role in the sciences, like physics and economics. Arithmetic is present in many aspects of daily life, for example, to calculate change while shopping or to manage personal finances. It is one of the earliest forms of mathematics education that students encounter. Its cognitive and conceptual foundations are studied by psychology and philosophy.
The practice of arithmetic is at least thousands and possibly tens of thousands of years old. Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and the Sumerians invented numeral systems to solve practical arithmetic problems in about 3000 BCE. Starting in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, the ancient Greeks initiated a more abstract study of numbers and introduced the method of rigorous mathematical proofs. The ancient Indians developed the concept of zero and the decimal system, which Arab mathematicians further refined and spread to the Western world during the medieval period. The first mechanical calculators were invented in the 17th century. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the development of modern number theory and the formulation of axiomatic foundations of arithmetic. In the 20th century, the emergence of electronic calculators and computers revolutionized the accuracy and speed with which arithmetic calculations could be performed.
Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that studies numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider...
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( /ˌærɪθˈmɛtɪk ˈmiːn/ arr-ith-MET-ik), arithmetic average, or just the mean or average (when the context...
In mathematics, modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, where numbers "wrap around" when reaching a certain value, called the modulus...
An arithmetic progression or arithmetic sequence (AP) is a sequence of numbers such that the difference from any succeeding term to its preceding term...
The arithmetic IF statement is a three-way arithmetic conditional statement, first seen in the first release of Fortran in 1957, and found in all later...
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points...
(or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions...
In computing, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a combinational digital circuit that performs arithmetic and bitwise operations on integer binary numbers...
The IEEE Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic (IEEE 754) is a technical standard for floating-point arithmetic established in 1985 by the Institute...
Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that is widely used for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business...
real numbers by using the product of their values (as opposed to the arithmetic mean which uses their sum). The geometric mean is defined as the nth root...
formalizing arithmetic was not well appreciated until the work of Hermann Grassmann, who showed in the 1860s that many facts in arithmetic could be derived...
mathematics, arithmetic geometry is roughly the application of techniques from algebraic geometry to problems in number theory. Arithmetic geometry is...
Presburger arithmetic is the first-order theory of the natural numbers with addition, named in honor of Mojżesz Presburger, who introduced it in 1929....
Saturation arithmetic is a version of arithmetic in which all operations, such as addition and multiplication, are limited to a fixed range between a...
Arithmetic coding (AC) is a form of entropy encoding used in lossless data compression. Normally, a string of characters is represented using a fixed number...
In mathematical logic, the arithmetical hierarchy, arithmetic hierarchy or Kleene–Mostowski hierarchy (after mathematicians Stephen Cole Kleene and Andrzej...
In number theory, an arithmetic, arithmetical, or number-theoretic function is generally any function f(n) whose domain is the positive integers and whose...
purpose. The arithmetic mean, also known as "arithmetic average", is the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The arithmetic mean of a set...
and work in the foundations of mathematics. His book the Foundations of Arithmetic is the seminal text of the logicist project, and is cited by Michael Dummett...
skills taught in schools: reading, writing and arithmetic (the "R's" refer to, "Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic"). The phrase appears to have been coined...
In number theory, the Lagarias arithmetic derivative or number derivative is a function defined for integers, based on prime factorization, by analogy...
In computer programming, an arithmetic shift is a shift operator, sometimes termed a signed shift (though it is not restricted to signed operands). The...