Word Problem

The term word problem has several meanings:

  • word problem (mathematics education) is a type of textbook problem designed to help students apply abstract mathematical concepts to "real-world" situations
  • word problem (mathematics) is a decision problem for algebraic identities in mathematics and computer science
  • word problem for groups is the problem of recognizing the identity element in a finitely presented group
  • word problem (computability) is a decision problem concerning formal languages

Famous quotes containing the words word and/or problem:

    “A man is reputed to have thought and eloquence; he cannot, for all that, say a word to his cousin or his uncle. They accuse his silence with as much reason as they would blame the insignificance of a dial in the shade. In the sun it will mark the hour. Among those who enjoy his thought, he will regain his tongue.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line—the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea. It was a phase of this problem that caused the Civil War.”
    —W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)