Why do we use letters like x and y to represent numbers in algebra?

1.46K viewsMathematicsOther

Why do we use letters like x and y to represent numbers in algebra?

In: Mathematics

29 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I remember one year in elementary school, where the unknown was always listed as “n”. No idea why as every year afterwards was x and y. I do remember wondering why they switched from n, when we were used to it. This was back in the “60s, so I have no idea if that is still a thing.

You are viewing 1 out of 29 answers, click here to view all answers.