The sum or for some others the addition, is that mathematical composition operation that consists of combining or, failing that, adding two or more numbers to obtain a certain final or total amount of something. For example, in a restaurant, the value of each one of the things that a certain table consumed: a portion of French fries, a Milanese, a pizza and the pertinent drinks that each one has had, will be added so that the owner of the same or the person in charge of the box, as well as the customer who consumed them, know how much is the final and total amount that the customer must pay for having consumed them.
The sum has five properties, the commutative one that states that even altering the order of the addends, it will not change the result, therefore, 2 + 1 = 3 is the same as saying or putting 1 + 2 = 3. The associative that the We can explain graphically in this way: a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c. Neutral element that says that any sum that contains the number 0 among the elements to be added will not be modified by it, since 2 + 0 = 2. The opposite element that establishes that for any rational, integer, real or complex number there is a opposite number. And finally, the distributive property, which holds that the sum of two numbers multiplied by a third, will be equal to the sum of each addend multiplied by the third number, for example: 4 * (6 + 3) = 4 * 6 + 4 *3.
As a condition without equanom and as a rule also, whenever we write a sum, either for someone else to do it or that we have done it ourselves to obtain some special calculation, this sign + which is the sign that implies the plus or the sum.
When sums of more than one figure are made, for example 2333 + 300 + 20 + 5, they must be ordered and arranged in columns starting from the right with the units figure, continuing with the tens, then the hundreds and then the thousands, like this for example:
2.333
+ 300
20
5
But the term sum does not only refer to the mathematical operation that we explained in the preceding paragraphs, but it also applies to other contexts or situations. Because the term is used very frequently to talk about the a set of many things and especially money, that is why it is common to hear someone say that he received a large sum of money as an inheritance from his uncle.
And finally, the word sum is also applied when you want to talk about the compendium or the compilation of a certain science, for example, Juan prepared a sum of mathematics for the rest of his classmates.
