What is Arithmetic?
Find out what the branch of math known as arithmetic is all about.
Jason Marshall, PhD
This might surprise you, but the words “arithmetic” and “math” don’t mean the same thing. They are, of course, related: arithmetic is math, but math is not arithmetic. In other words, arithmetic is a branch of mathematics, specifically, the part that has to do with counting and figuring out how to work with and manipulate numbers like integers and fractions.
The most common processes used in elementary arithmetic are the four arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In other words, arithmetic is all that stuff you first learned to do in school a long time ago. And you’ve gotten a lot better at it since then, right? Well, hopefully!
About the Author
Jason Marshall is the author of The Math Dude’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Algebra. He provides clear explanations of math terms and principles, and his simple tricks for solving basic algebra problems will have even the most math-phobic person looking forward to working out whatever math problem comes their way.