Why do we use letters like x and y to represent numbers in algebra?
In: Mathematics
Part of it is just tradition. Renee Descartes, for whom the Cartesian plot is name, used x, y, z for unknown variables and a, b, c, for known variables. His notation carried over to Newton, Leibniz, and Euler, with added conventions introduced as they were needed.
Ultimately since the convention is used while learning it just carries forward. Also, an x and y usually don’t look like numbers, which helps with legibility for homework.
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