1

I've been thinking about it, and the term "side of an equation" (in reference to an equation such as $x^2 + x + 1 = 0$) doesn't seem like a very formal way of trying to describe the expressions on either side of an equal sign. My reasoning is that with operators such as +, -, /, and *, you have, respectively, the addend, augend, and sum; minuend, subtrahend, and difference; dividend, divisor, and quotient; and the multiplicand, multiplier, and product. Despite these being simple operations, there is a more detailed way of expressing each part. Is there a similar terminology for equations?

jstowell
  • 231
  • 2
    LHS (Left Hand Side) and RHS (Right Hand Side) are some that I have encountered already. – For the love of maths May 01 '19 at 05:53
  • 1
    Unless the expression on one side or the other has a formal name of its own (like "zero"), it seems that LHS and RHS are formal enough. If you need to keep mentioning an expression you can always assign a brief name to it instead of repeatedly writing it out in full. This is what you are doing when you say LHS or RHS. – DanielWainfleet May 01 '19 at 06:47
  • 1
    +1 I've never heard the term "augend" before. It's interesting how a commutative operation has different names associated with the two terms. – Theo Bendit May 01 '19 at 06:50

0 Answers0