There are many fields of math above and beyond the ones every student is taught. Arithmetic, the use of the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, is a necessary stepping stone for the working of other forms of math, but every field has its own purposes and processes. You are likely to come across these fields in high school and college:

Algebra: The name comes from an Arabic word, al-jabr, meaning "the reduction." Algebra is an extension of arithmetic where letters are used to replace numbers. These letters can represent a simple unknown number or an abstract concept such as complex numbers, matrices, sets of numbers, and vectors.

Geometry: Named for the Greek word for "to measure the Earth," geometry deals with points, lines, angles, and shapes their measurement, properties and relationships. Plane geometry is in a flat surface, and solid geometry deals with three-dimensional objects in space.

Trigonometry: Closely related to geometry, trigonometry is the study of angles, which is the origin of its name (which means "the measure of three angles"). The basic concept is the trigonometric functions of sine, cosine, and tangent, which are ratios between the lengths of the sides of a right triangle.

Analytic Geometry: Also called coordinate geometry, analytic geometry is the study of geometric properties by use of algebraic functions and a coordinate system. In short, it defines geometrical ideas in terms of algebra.

Calculus: With a name taken from the word for "stone," calculus rests on two basic concepts: the derivative, which is the slope of a line at any point on a graph, and the integral, which is the area under a curve. Calculus is used when variables are changing, to determine rates of change, effects of changes, maximum and minimum values, areas and volumes of shapes, and other characteristics of functions.

Statistics: Statistics deals with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of data.

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