Posted by T.Gracken on October 16, 2002 at 10:04:46:
In Reply to: ( ), { }, or [ ] posted by jb on October 15, 2002 at 22:44:20:
: what is the significance of using ( ), { }, or [ ] when listing ordered pairs?
I don't know about significance... but as far as notation, parenthesis are used for ordered pairs.
brackets [ ], parenthesis ( ), or a combination are used for "interval notation".
braces { } are used to indicate sets (collections).
angle brackets < > are used for vectors.
other pairs of symbols are used for specific purposes. So I suppose you might say the significance is to indicate a special or specific set, depending on the context of the problem.