Why do we use letters like x and y to represent numbers in algebra?
In: Mathematics
In terms of constants, it can be viewed as redundant. Why not just use the actual number instead of a letter to represent it? In the case of large numbers, they help keep equations shorter. If I have a number like 0.0005, instead of writing that every time, I can represent it with a letter, and just write that letter instead. I know that every time I see that letter chosen, it represents 0.0005, saving me time.
But in terms of variables, and unknown quantities, they are simply placeholders for numbers not yet known. We could technically use any symbol we want to represent the unknown numbers, but we use letters as they are familiar.
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