Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Arithmetic is a branch of mathematics which records elementary properties of certain operations on numbers. The traditional operations are addition and subtraction, multiplication and division although the more advanced operations, exponentiation and square roots, are also a part of this subject. Arithmetic is performed according to an order of operations. The arithmetic of natural numbers, integers, rational numbers (in the form of fractions) and real numbers (in the form of decimal expansions) is typically studied by schoolchildren of the elementary grades. Representations of numbers in terms of percentages are generally studied then as well. However, in adult life, most people rely on calculators to perform arithmetical computations. The term "arithmetic" is also used to refer to elementary number theory; it's in this context that one runs across the fundamental theorem of arithmetic and arithmetical functions. See also: addition in N additive inverse associativity commutativity distributive property number line order of operations simple:Arithmetic This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.