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Category
Equations
Summary
In mathematics, an equation is a mathematical formula that expresses the equality of two expressions, by connecting them with the equals sign . The word equation and its cognates in other languages may have subtly different meanings; for example, in French an équation is defined as containing one or more variables, while in English, any well-formed formula consisting of two expressions related with an equals sign is an equation.
Solving an equation containing variables consists of determining which values of the variables make the equality true. The variables for which the equation has to be solved are also called unknowns, and the values of the unknowns that satisfy the equality are called solutions of the equation. There are two kinds of equations: identities and conditional equations. An identity is true for all values of the variables. A conditional equation is only true for particular values of the variables.
The "=" symbol, which appears in every equation, was invented in 1557 by Robert Recorde, who considered that nothing could be more equal than parallel straight lines with the same length.
An equation is written as two expressions, connected by an equals sign ("="). The expressions on the two sides of the equals sign are called the "left-hand side" and "right-hand side" of the equation. Very often the right-hand side of an equation is assumed to be zero. This does not reduce the generality, as this can be realized by subtracting the right-hand side from both sides.
The most common type of equation is a polynomial equation (commonly called also an algebraic equation) in which the two sides are polynomials.
The sides of a polynomial equation contain one or more terms. For example, the equation
has left-hand side , which has four terms, and right-hand side , consisting of just one term. The names of the variables suggest that x and y are unknowns, and that A, B, and C are parameters, but this is normally fixed by the context (in some contexts, y may be a parameter, or A, B, and C may be ordinary variables).
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