Learn English – Counterpart to “given” in a mathematical problem statement

mathematicsterminologyword-request

Often mathematical problem statements start by describing some given objects and continue by requesting some objective, something to be computed from these given objects. What's the established title for that second part, the unknown object to be computed?

In German, the first would by titled “Gegeben:”, the second “Gesucht:”. Possible terms that come to my mind include “Find:”, “Requested:”, “Goal:” or “Objective:”, but I don't know which of these is established in actual mathematical practice.

Does it matter whether it's a single sentence which could be read out loud, or whether it's more like a headline that doesn't fit in well with reading it in context? I can imagine “Given … find …” as a single sentence, but somehow “Find:” as a title feels odd to me.

Example:

Problem 123: (i.e. on a worksheet or similar)
Given: two integers a, b
‹your word here›: integers x and y such that ax + by = gcd(a, b)

Best Answer

In practice, many options can be given:

Consider X + Y, then compute X - Y.
Given X + Y, find X - Y
Compute the following: X + Y, given X - Y.

However, you'll often see alone expressions like find, compute, determine because it's probably stated in a direct form what's about to be solved/calculated.

In maths, there's no rule for people to choose just one way to state what they want to write. As long as the sense and goal are clear, you can put whatever you want.


As for OP's example, we can state

Given: two integers a and b
Find, if possible: integers x and y such that ax + by = gcd(a, b); or
Find, if they exist: integers x and y such that ax + by = gcd(a, b); or
Assuming that x and y are integers, determine if ax + by = gcd(a, b).

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