MBT1033 Lecture Note

Transportation Quantitative Techniques

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O V E RV I E W O F M AT H E M AT I C AL N O T AT I O N S AN D
RULES
Dr. Muhammad Zaly Shah B. Muhammad Hussein1
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Faculty of Built Environment

1.1 Introduction

Quantitative techniques are tools that convert raw data into meaningful
information that will aid the decision making process. As planners are quite
involved in making important decisions (some of which are irreversible and
have great economic, environmental, and social implications), it is crucial
that planners have a good grasp of at least basic quantitative techniques.

Despite their importance, planners often shy away from learning these
quantitative tools as they are often associated with heavy mathematics or the
dreaded statistics. This fear of mathematics can be eased out by first giving
the students the opportunity to develop the right foundation for learning it. In
this lecture, we will develop these quantitative skills gradually by first
concentrating on giving the necessary background for the tasks ahead. This
means giving the students all the required mathematical skills for the tasks.

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

Read and understand basic mathematical notations

Perform simple summation using the Σ symbol

Perform arithmetic operations on the summation operator Σ

Recognize and understand real numbers

Understand the commutative, associative, and the distributive
properties of real numbers

Round real numbers to a specified decimal places

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Email: [email protected], Office: B11-307, Ph: (07) 5537348, HP: (013) 7426251
© 2003-2007 Muhammad Zaly Shah
MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

1.2 The Basic of Mathematical Notations

There are some basic definitions that one must know before dealing with
mathematical notation. Below are some of them:

1.2.1 Variable

A variable represents a known characteristic or phenomenon of a population

or sample. It can take more than one value. A variable can either be
quantitative (e.g. height, income, etc.) or qualitative (e.g. gender, religion,
etc.). For example, we obtained the weight (in kg) of four Urban Planning
students and they are:

Student’s Weight (in kg) = {56, 48, 69, 49}

Therefore, we say that the weight of these students is a variable because it is a

characteristic of these four Urban Planning students.

In mathematics, however, we normally denote a variable with a letter/

alphabet. For the above data, we can, for example, use the letter w to denote
the student’s weight (in kg) and rewrite the previous set of observations as
simply:

w = {56, 48, 69, 49}

where w = student’s weight in kg. A variable can be denoted by uppercase or

lowercase letter. By conventions, uppercase variable will refer to the
population’s characteristic and lowercase variable represents sample’s
characteristic.

1.2.2 Number of Observations, n

Let’s look at three sets of numbers represented by the variables x, y and z:

x = {34, 61, 45, 22, 17}

y = {2.5, 1.7, 2.0, 3.5, 3.2}
z = {8, 6, 4}

In the above examples, we say that both x and y have n = 5 observations.

However, z only has n = 3 observations.

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Later, when we deal with population data, you will see that the uppercase N is
also used to represent the number of observations.

1.2.3 Counter

In mathematics, and particularly statistics, we normally deal with a lot of

numbers of observations. One small example is the following set of data with
n = 10 observations.

b = {90, 85, 76, 92, 85, 53, 74, 85, 90, 66}

where b = the marks obtained in DBP2133 test.

What the data tell us is that the first student that we measured obtained 90 in
the test. The second student obtained 85 while the third got 76, and so on and
so forth. Looking at the data, we can see that there are three students that
obtained 85 for their DBP2133 test. Also, there are two students that obtained
90. Complication, therefore, arises when we want to refer to any of these
duplicate marks. For example, if we want to refer to the mark of 85, are we
referring to the mark obtained by the second, the fifth or the eights student?

To avoid this problem, mathematicians use counter to refer to the individual

value in a set of observations. A counter normally is represented by the letters
i, j and k. For our data above, we can choose, for instance, the letter i to be
our counter. Therefore, when we refer to i = 3, we know for certain that we
are referring to the mark obtained by the third student, i.e. 76. Similarly,
when we refer to i = 8, we are clear that it is the last of the three 85 marks that
we are referring to, thus, the confusion is avoided.

Most of the times, counters are used together with the variable. When this
happen, the counter becomes the subscript to the variable as shown below:

bi
Subscript
Thus, b2 is the second item, i.e. when i = 2, in set b. Given the earlier set b
representing DBP2133 test marks, b2 is, therefore, the mark obtained by the
second student which is 85.

The following example illustrates the many uses of counters in mathematics.

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Example 1 Counter in Action

Using our b = DBP2133 test result dataset above, identify the set determined
by:

a) i = 4
b) i = n
c) i = 1, 2, …, n
d) b7
e) a = { b3, b8}

Solution

Using again our b = DBP2133 test result dataset above, we will look at each
of the above problems involving counter individually. But, first let’s rewrite
our dataset b below for easy reference:

b = {90, 85, 76, 92, 85, 53, 74, 85, 90, 66}

In (a), which is i = 4, we are referring specifically at the fourth result in b (i.e.

b4) and this is given as 92. This is very straightforward.

On the other hand, question (b) is not that clear cut. This is because, for i = n,
we must first know what n is. In our dataset b, n is 10 as the dataset b has ten
observations. Therefore, when i = n, and n = 10, then question (b) can be
rewritten as i = 10. Consequently, we are referring to the tenth value of b, or
b10 , which is the mark 66.

What about i = 1, 2, …, n as in question (c)? Knowing that n = 10 for the

dataset b, we can rephrase this question to be i = 1, 2, …, 10. Next, we need
to know what the three dots as in ‘…’ refer to. Simply, it means that the
number in i should be continually counted after the number 2 until it reaches
10. In other words:

i = 1, 2, …, 10 is equivalent to i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Therefore, for our dataset b, when our counter says that i = 1, 2, …, n, we are
actually dealing with the entire member of the dataset b, from b1 to b10,
inclusive.

As for question (d), b7 is similar to question (a) except that now i = 7. Hence,
b7 is equal to 74.

Finally, question (e) requires us to construct a new dataset a where a has two
observations. The observations for a are extracted from the dataset b and
these two observations are specified as the third and the eighth member of

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

dataset b, or b3 and b8, respectively. Therefore, since b3 = 76 and b8 = 85, the

dataset a then becomes a = {76, 85}.

1.3 The Summation Operator, Σ

Summation in statistics is denoted by the Greek capital letter Sigma, Σ. The

summation operator Σ has two parameters, which are its lower-limit and its
upper-limit. The complete notation for Σ is as follows:

upper − limit

∑
lower −limit

The summation then starts from the lower-limit up to and including the
upper-limit counter. The following example illustrates the use of lower and
upper-limit counter in the summation operator, Σ.

Example 2 Summation

For the dataset X given below:

X = {34, 61, 45, 22, 17}

Compute:

3
a) ∑X
i =1
i

N
b) ∑X
i =1
i

Solution

3 upper − limit
(a) Comparing ∑X
i =1
i with ∑
lower −limit
, we know that the lower limit for this

summation problem starts from the first observation, i.e. X 1 when i = 1, up to

the upper limit which is observation number three, i.e. X 3 when i = 3.
Therefore, we need to sum items i = 1, …, 3 in X and ignore the rest. These
items are given by the set { X 1 , X 2 , X 3 } = {34, 61, 45}.

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Hence,

∑X
i =1
i = X1 + X 2 + X 3

= 34 + 61 + 45
= 140

(b) Again using the following notation

upper − limit

∑
lower −limit

and compare it with

∑X
i =1
i

we see that the lower-limit has been specified to start at i = 1, but not the
upper-limit. However, upon close inspection, N is actually a variable
representing the number of observations in X. And, since X has 5
observations, N is therefore equals to 5 (i.e. N = 5). Replacing N with 5, we
then have the final form of the summation problem as shown below:

∑X
i =1
i

Therefore, the summation involves the items i = 1, 2, …, 5 which incidentally

means all the items/observations in X. With that, we can now solve the
summation problem:

N 5

∑X
i =1
i = ∑X
i =1
i

= X1 + X 2 + X 3 + X 4 + X 5
= 34 + 61 + 45 + 22 + 17
= 179

Note:

Normally, when we want to sum ALL the observations, we simply use ∑X

N
rather than ∑X
i =1
i to make things simpler. Therefore,

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

∑X = ∑X
i =1
i

5
= ∑X
i =1
i

= X1 + X 2 + X 3 + X 4 + X 5
= 34 + 61 + 45 + 22 + 17
= 179

1.4 Arithmetic Operations Involving the Summation

Operator, Σ

Summation is undoubtedly very important in statistics. Many arithmetic

operations (e.g. addition, multiplication, etc.) can be performed on the
summation operator, Σ. One example is shown below:

∑ ( X − 3)
What the above problem tells us is that we must subtract 3 from each
individual item/observation in the dataset X before summing them up. Let’s
use some examples to illustrate the mathematical operations involving the
summation operator.

Example 3 Arithmetic operation and summation

Using dataset X introduced earlier in Example 2, solve the following

problems:

a) ∑ ( X − 3)
b) (∑ X ) − 3
c) ∑ 2X

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Solution

The dataset X given in Example 2 is reproduced below:

X = {34, 61, 45, 22, 17}

(a) The operation ∑ ( X − 3) indicates that we must subtract 3 from each of

the individual member in X, thus:

∑ ( X − 3) = ∑( X
i =1
i − 3)

= ( X 1 − 3) + ( X 2 − 3) + ( X 3 − 3) + ( X 4 − 3) + ( X 5 − 3)
= ( 34 − 3) + ( 61 − 3) + ( 45 − 3) + ( 22 − 3) + (17 − 3)
= 31 + 58 + 42 + 19 + 14
= 164

(b) The operation ( ∑ X ) − 3 requires us that we first sum the items/

observations in X, after which we subtract 3 from the result. These steps
are shown below:

 N 
(∑ )
X − 3 =  ∑ Xi  − 3
 i =1 
= ( X1 + X 2 + X 3 + X 4 + X 5 ) − 3
= ( 34 + 61 + 45 + 22 + 17 ) − 3
= 179 - 3
= 176

The results in (a) and (b) show that we must be careful when we operate
on the summation operator. As can be seen, although (a) and (b) are
almost identical, except for the placement of the parentheses, the results
are not!

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

(c) The operation ∑ 2X is almost similar to (a) above in that we have to

multiply each individual observation in X by 2 before summing them up:

∑ 2X = ∑ 2X
i =1
i

= 2 X1 + 2 X 2 + 2 X 3 + 2 X 4 + 2 X 5
= 2 ( 34 ) + 2 ( 61) + 2 ( 45 ) + 2 ( 22 ) + 2 (17 )
= 68 + 122 + 90 + 44 + 34
= 358

1.5 Real Numbers

There are many types of numbers in mathematics like complex numbers,

integers, etc. However, in statistics, we often deal with a particular type of
numbers which is the real numbers. Real numbers consist of all numbers
between negative infinity ( −∞ ) and positive infinity ( +∞ ). In between these
two extreme bounds, you have not only positive and negative integers (whole
numbers) but also fractions and decimals like 23 and 4.86, respectively.

When real numbers is designated as either negative (e.g. -5.30) or positive

(e.g. +9.44) numbers, we say these numbers are signed numbers. Sometimes,
we want to ignore the algebraic sign (positive or negative) in the signed
numbers. When we do so, we are looking only at the absolute value of the
signed numbers. Taking the absolute number of a signed numbers is denoted
by putting a signed number x in between two vertical bars, e.g. |x|. Thus, the
absolute value for -8 is done by taking |-8|, giving just 8. It follows that, for
some signed number x:

−x = +x = x (1.1)

Therefore, given two numbers having opposite sign, e.g. -5 and +5, their
absolute value is equal as:

−5 = +5 = 5

The algebraic sign (i.e. positive or negative) of a real number must be used
with extreme care as it affects the result of many arithmetic operations.

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

1.6 Properties of Real Number s

In performing arithmetic operations on real numbers, one must know the

three important characteristics of real numbers. These characteristics are the
(1) commutative, (2) associative, and (3) distributive properties (Hinkle, et
al., 1994). Let’s look at each of these properties in more detail.

1.6.1 Commutative Property

When two real numbers are said to possess a commutative property, the order
in which these numbers are added or multiplied is indifferent. Given two real
numbers, X and Y, the commutative property for the addition operation can be
generally stated as:

X + Y = Y + X (1.2)

For example, if X = 4 and Y = 12, we will see that either X is first added to Y,
or vice versa, will give the same answer of 16 as:

4 + 12 = 12 + 4 = 16

Commutative property is equally applicable for multiplication. Again, for two

numbers, X and Y, the multiplication follows:

( X )(Y ) = (Y )( X ) (1.3)

So, when X = 4 and Y = 12, we see that:

(4)(12) = (12)(4) = 48

However, commutative property cannot be applied when the arithmetic

involves subtraction and/or division. Thus, for subtraction:

X −Y ≠ Y − X (1.4)

This is true when we have X = 4 and Y = 12, (X – Y) gives –8 while (Y – X)

equals to 8.

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Similarly, for division operation, the commutative property is also not

applicable as:

X Y
≠ (1.5)
Y X

4 12
Again, using X = 4 and Y = 12, we see that = 0.33 while = 3.
12 4

1.6.2 Associative Property

If the commutative property involves a two-number operation, the associative

property, on the other hand, is used in a three-number operation. Given three
real numbers denoted by W, X, and Y, which two numbers are added first, and
then the result added to the third is not important as either sequence will give
the same result. For addition, this is stated mathematically as:

(W + X ) + Y = W + ( X + Y ) (1.6)

To prove the associative property when adding three real numbers, we will
assign W = 3, X = 4 and Y = 5. Hence, using Eq. (1.6).

(3 + 4) + 5 = 3 + (4 + 5)
(7) + 5 = 3 + (9)
12 = 12

Similarly, the associative property involving multiplication states that the

different sequence in which these numbers are multiplied is not important as
they all give the same result. For multiplication, the associative property is
stated mathematically as:

(WX )Y = W ( XY ) (1.7)

We show below that Eq. ((1.7) is correct when W = 3, X = 4 and Y = 5:

(3 × 4) × 5 = 3 × (4 × 5)
(12) × 5 = 3 × (20)
60 = 60

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

1.6.3 Distributive Property

The distributive property of real numbers says that given three real numbers
W, X and Y, the product of a number (e.g. Y) with the sum of the remaining
two numbers (e.g. W and X) is equivalent to the sum of Y multiplied with W
and Y multiplied with X. Algebraically, the distributive property is stated as:

Y (W + X ) = YW + YX (1.8)

Again, we prove Eq. (1.8) with a numerical example when W = 3, X = 4 and

Y=5

5 × (3 + 4) = (5 × 3) + (5 × 4)
5 × 7 = 15 + 20
35 = 35

1.7 Rounding Numbers

Quite frequently, our statistical computations require us dividing between two

different numbers. Or, we might need to multiply between two numbers,
where one or both of them are decimal numbers. When these happen, the
outcome of our computations would almost certainly result in decimal
numbers.

Decimal numbers, like 2.3466 or -0.45, can either be terminating decimal

number or one that extends indefinitely. An example of a terminating decimal
number is when we divide 133 by 16 (i.e. 133 16
) resulting in 8.3125, where the
decimal digit (i.e. the value after the decimal point) stops after certain
decimal places, in this case four (see Figure 1).

Decimal point
3rd decimal place
4th decimal place
8.3125
Decimal digits

Figure 1: Decimal number system

A decimal number that extends indefinitely is one that has decimal digits that
goes on and on without the end in sight. A popular example is the constant
number pi ( π ) with value of 3.141592654… In either case, regardless of
whether the real numbers are with terminating or non-terminating decimals,

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

the result of our computation can only contain certain significant digits – the
number of decimal digits to be included in the final answer.

The process of rounding decimal numbers involves two steps:

(1) Determine the decimal places for the initial answer, and
(2) Round the number

Step 1
The convention to be followed when determining the decimal places is that
the initial answer must contain (n + 2) decimal places where n is the
maximum decimal places among a set of original numbers.

Step 2
Once we have determined the decimal places for the initial answer, we will
now round the initial answer so that the final answer contains only (n + 1)
decimal places. When rounding, consider only the last decimal digit. If the
last decimal digit is greater or equal to 5, then add 1 to the decimal digit
before it. Else, when the decimal digit is less than 5, simply drop the last digit
so the remaining digits become the final answer.

Let’s look at the following example to illustrate the steps in rounding

numbers.

Example 4 Rounding numbers

Perform the following computations and round the results appropriately:

a) 5.4 ÷ 3.78
b) 17 ÷ 9.3
c) 20 ÷ 6 = 3.333333333….

Solution

(a) Dividing 5.4 by 3.78 gives 1.428571429.

Step 1: Determine n, the largest decimal places within the original data

The number of decimal places in 5.4 is one, while the number of

decimal places in 3.78 is two. Therefore, n is two (i.e. n = 2).

Using the formula (n + 2), the decimal places for the initial
answer is determined to be (2 + 2) = 4. Therefore, the initial
answer when we divide 5.4 by 3.78 should be reported as:

5.4 ÷ 3.78 = 1.4285 (only 4 decimal digits)

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Step 2: Round the number so that the final answer contains significant
digits with only (n + 1) decimal digits

Our initial answer was determined previously as 1.4285 with 4

decimal digits. But, the final answer must only contain (n + 1) =
(2 + 1) = 3 decimal digits. To achieve this, we will only look at
the last decimal digit as shown below:

Last decimal digit

1.428 5

Since the last decimal digit is equal to 5, we will now increase

the decimal digit before it by one. Thus, our initial answer of
1.4285, after rounding to (n + 1) = 3 decimal places, becomes
1.429 having only 3 significant digits.

Therefore, the complete computation should have been:

5.4 ÷ 3.78 = 1.4285 = 1.429

(b) Dividing 17 by 9.3 gives 1.827956989.

Step 1: Determine n, the largest decimal places within the original data

The number of decimal places in 17 is zero, while the number of

decimal places in 9.3 is one. Therefore, n is one (i.e. n = 1).

Using the formula (n + 2), the decimal places for the initial
answer is determined to be (1 + 2) = 3. Therefore, the initial
answer when we divide 17 by 9.3 should be reported as:

17 ÷ 9.3 = 1.827 (only 3 decimal digits)

Step 2: Round the number so that the final answer contains significant
digits with only (n + 1) decimal digits

Our initial answer was determined previously as 1.827 with 3

decimal digits. But, the final answer must only contain (n + 1) =
(1 + 1) = 2 decimal digits. To achieve this, we will only look at
the last decimal digit as shown below:

Last decimal digit

1.82 7

Since the last decimal digit, i.e. 7, is equal or greater than 5, we

will now increase the decimal digit before it by one. Thus, our

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

initial answer of 1.827, after rounding to (n + 1) = 2 decimal

places, becomes 1.83 having only 2 significant digits.

Therefore, the entire process is summarized as:

17 ÷ 9.3 = 1.827 = 1.83

(c) Dividing 20 by 6 gives 3.333333333…

Step 1: Determine n, the largest decimal places within the original data

The number of decimal places in 20 is zero, as so does 6.

Therefore, n is zero (i.e. n = 0).

Using the formula (n + 2), the decimal places for the initial
answer is determined to be (0 + 2) = 2. Therefore, the initial
answer when we divide 20 by 6 should be reported as:

20 ÷ 6 = 3.33 (only 2 decimal digits)

Step 2: Round the number so that the final answer contains significant
digits with only (n + 1) decimal digits

Our initial answer was determined previously as 3.33 with 2

decimal digits. But, the final answer must only contain (n + 1) =
(0 + 1) = 1 decimal digits. To achieve this, we will only look at
the last decimal digit as shown below:

Last decimal digit

3.3 3

Since the last decimal digit, i.e. 3, is less than 5, we will simply
drop the decimal digit and leave the decimal digit before it as it
is. Thus, our initial answer of 3.33, after rounding to (n + 1) = 1
decimal place, now becomes 3.3 having only 1 significant digit.

Therefore, the entire process is summarized as:

20 ÷ 6 = 3.33 = 3.3

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MBT1033 Overview of Mathematical Notations and Rules

Key Terms

Variable Absolute value Associative property

Quantitative Decimal point Distributive property

Qualitative Decimal digit

Counter Decimal places

Summation Significant value

Real numbers Commutative property

References

Hinkle, D.E., Wiersma, W. and Jurs, S.G. (1994). Applied Statistics for the
Behavioral Sciences. 3rd. ed. Geneva, IL: Houghton Mifflin.

Glossary/Daftar Istilah

Absolute value - Nilai mutlak

Decimal digit - Digit perpuluhan
Decimal places - Tempat perpuluhan
Decimal point - Titik perpuluhan
Decimals - Perpuluhan
Fractions - Pecahan
Integers - Integer
Real numbers - Nombor nyata
Rounding - Pembundaran
Signed numbers - Nombor bertanda
Significant digit - Digit bererti
Variable - Pembolehubah
Whole number - Nombor bulat

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