
In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, an operation is a
function which takes zero or more input values (also called "''
operand
In mathematics, an operand is the object of a mathematical operation, i.e., it is the object or quantity that is operated on.
Example
The following arithmetic expression shows an example of operators and operands:
:3 + 6 = 9
In the above exampl ...
s''" or "arguments") to a well-defined output value. The number of operands is the
arity
Arity () is the number of arguments or operands taken by a function, operation or relation in logic, mathematics, and computer science. In mathematics, arity may also be named ''rank'', but this word can have many other meanings in mathematics. ...
of the operation.
The most commonly studied operations are
binary operations (i.e., operations of arity 2), such as
addition
Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication and division. The addition of two whole numbers results in the total amount or '' sum'' of ...
and
multiplication
Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol , by the mid-line dot operator , by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk ) is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addi ...
, and
unary operation
In mathematics, an unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input. This is in contrast to binary operations, which use two operands. An example is any function , where is a set. The function is a unary operation ...
s (i.e., operations of arity 1), such as
additive inverse
In mathematics, the additive inverse of a number is the number that, when addition, added to , yields 0 (number), zero. This number is also known as the opposite (number), sign change, and negation. For a real number, it reverses its sign (math ...
and
multiplicative inverse
In mathematics, a multiplicative inverse or reciprocal for a number ''x'', denoted by 1/''x'' or ''x''−1, is a number which when multiplied by ''x'' yields the multiplicative identity, 1. The multiplicative inverse of a fraction ''a''/''b ...
. An operation of arity zero, or
nullary operation
Arity () is the number of arguments or operands taken by a function, operation or relation in logic, mathematics, and computer science. In mathematics, arity may also be named ''rank'', but this word can have many other meanings in mathematic ...
, is a
constant.
The
mixed product is an example of an operation of arity 3, also called
ternary operation.
Generally, the arity is taken to be finite. However,
infinitary operations are sometimes considered,
in which case the "usual" operations of finite arity are called finitary operations.
A partial operation is defined similarly to an operation, but with a
partial function in place of a function.
Types of operation

There are two common types of operations:
unary and
binary. Unary operations involve only one value, such as
negation
In logic, negation, also called the logical complement, is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P or \overline. It is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and fal ...
and
trigonometric function
In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in al ...
s. Binary operations, on the other hand, take two values, and include
addition
Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication and division. The addition of two whole numbers results in the total amount or '' sum'' of ...
,
subtraction
Subtraction is an arithmetic operation that represents the operation of removing objects from a collection. Subtraction is signified by the minus sign, . For example, in the adjacent picture, there are peaches—meaning 5 peaches with 2 take ...
,
multiplication
Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol , by the mid-line dot operator , by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk ) is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addi ...
,
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
, and
exponentiation
Exponentiation is a mathematical operation, written as , involving two numbers, the '' base'' and the ''exponent'' or ''power'' , and pronounced as " (raised) to the (power of) ". When is a positive integer, exponentiation corresponds to r ...
.
Operations can involve mathematical objects other than numbers. The
logical values ''true'' and ''false'' can be combined using
logic operation
In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denoted 1 and 0, whereas in ...
s, such as ''and'', ''or,'' and ''not''.
Vectors can be added and subtracted.
Rotation
Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...
s can be combined using the
function composition
In mathematics, function composition is an operation that takes two functions and , and produces a function such that . In this operation, the function is applied to the result of applying the function to . That is, the functions and ...
operation, performing the first rotation and then the second. Operations on
sets include the binary operations ''
union'' and ''
intersection
In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
'' and the unary operation of ''
complementation''. Operations on
functions include
composition and
convolution
In mathematics (in particular, functional analysis), convolution is a mathematical operation on two functions ( and ) that produces a third function (f*g) that expresses how the shape of one is modified by the other. The term ''convolution'' ...
.
Operations may not be defined for every possible value of its ''
domain''. For example, in the real numbers one cannot divide by zero or take square roots of negative numbers. The values for which an operation is defined form a set called its ''domain of definition'' or ''active domain''. The set which contains the values produced is called the ''
codomain
In mathematics, the codomain or set of destination of a function is the set into which all of the output of the function is constrained to fall. It is the set in the notation . The term range is sometimes ambiguously used to refer to either th ...
'', but the set of actual values attained by the operation is its codomain of definition, active codomain, ''
image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimension ...
'' or ''
range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to ...
''. For example, in the real numbers, the squaring operation only produces non-negative numbers; the codomain is the set of real numbers, but the range is the non-negative numbers.
Operations can involve dissimilar objects: a vector can be multiplied by a
scalar to form another vector (an operation known as
scalar multiplication
In mathematics, scalar multiplication is one of the basic operations defining a vector space in linear algebra (or more generally, a module in abstract algebra). In common geometrical contexts, scalar multiplication of a real Euclidean vector ...
), and the
inner product
In mathematics, an inner product space (or, rarely, a Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space) is a real vector space or a complex vector space with an operation called an inner product. The inner product of two vectors in the space is a scalar, often ...
operation on two vectors produces a quantity that is scalar. An operation may or may not have certain properties, for example it may be
associative
In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations, which means that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a valid rule of replacement ...
,
commutative
In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Most familiar as the name of ...
,
anticommutative
In mathematics, anticommutativity is a specific property of some non- commutative mathematical operations. Swapping the position of two arguments of an antisymmetric operation yields a result which is the ''inverse'' of the result with unswapped ...
,
idempotent, and so on.
The values combined are called ''operands'', ''arguments'', or ''inputs'', and the value produced is called the ''value'', ''result'', or ''output''. Operations can have fewer or more than two inputs (including the case of zero input and infinitely many inputs
).
An operator is similar to an operation in that it refers to the symbol or the process used to denote the operation, hence their point of view is different. For instance, one often speaks of "the operation of addition" or "the addition operation", when focusing on the operands and result, but one switches to "addition operator" (rarely "operator of addition"), when focusing on the process, or from the more symbolic viewpoint, the function .
Definition
An ''n''-ary operation ''ω'' from to ''Y'' is a
function . The set is called the ''domain'' of the operation, the set ''Y'' is called the ''codomain'' of the operation, and the fixed non-negative integer ''n'' (the number of operands) is called the ''
arity
Arity () is the number of arguments or operands taken by a function, operation or relation in logic, mathematics, and computer science. In mathematics, arity may also be named ''rank'', but this word can have many other meanings in mathematics. ...
'' of the operation. Thus a
unary operation
In mathematics, an unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input. This is in contrast to binary operations, which use two operands. An example is any function , where is a set. The function is a unary operation ...
has arity one, and a
binary operation has arity two. An operation of arity zero, called a ''nullary'' operation, is simply an element of the codomain ''Y''. An ''n''-ary operation can also be viewed as an -ary
relation that is
total on its ''n'' input domains and
unique on its output domain.
An ''n''-ary partial operation ''ω'' from to ''Y'' is a
partial function . An ''n''-ary partial operation can also be viewed as an -ary relation that is unique on its output domain.
The above describes what is usually called a finitary operation, referring to the finite number of operands (the value ''n''). There are obvious extensions where the arity is taken to be an infinite
ordinal or
cardinal,
or even an arbitrary set indexing the operands.
Often, the use of the term ''operation'' implies that the domain of the function includes a power of the codomain (i.e. the
Cartesian product of one or more copies of the codomain), although this is by no means universal, as in the case of
dot product
In mathematics, the dot product or scalar productThe term ''scalar product'' means literally "product with a scalar as a result". It is also used sometimes for other symmetric bilinear forms, for example in a pseudo-Euclidean space. is an algeb ...
, where vectors are multiplied and result in a scalar. An ''n''-ary operation is called an . An ''n''-ary operation where is called an external operation by the ''scalar set'' or ''operator set'' ''S''. In particular for a binary operation, is called a left-external operation by ''S'', and is called a right-external operation by ''S''. An example of an internal operation is
vector addition
In mathematics, physics, and engineering, a Euclidean vector or simply a vector (sometimes called a geometric vector or spatial vector) is a geometric object that has magnitude (or length) and direction. Vectors can be added to other vectors ...
, where two vectors are added and result in a vector. An example of an external operation is
scalar multiplication
In mathematics, scalar multiplication is one of the basic operations defining a vector space in linear algebra (or more generally, a module in abstract algebra). In common geometrical contexts, scalar multiplication of a real Euclidean vector ...
, where a vector is multiplied by a scalar and result in a vector.
An ''n''-ary multifunction or ''ω'' is a mapping from a Cartesian power of a set into the set of subsets of that set, formally .
See also
*
Finitary relation
*
Hyperoperation
*
Operator
*
Order of operations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation (Mathematics)
Elementary mathematics