In mathematics, a binary operation or dyadic operation is a calculation that combines two elements

(called operands) to produce another element. More formally, a binary operation is an operation of arity
two.

More specifically, a binary operation on a set is a binary operation whose two domains and the
codomain are the same set. Examples include the familiar arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication. Other examples are readily found in different areas of mathematics, such as vector
addition, matrix multiplication and conjugation in groups.

However, a binary operation may also involve several sets. For example, scalar multiplication of vector
spaces takes a scalar and a vector to produce a vector, and scalar product takes two vectors to produce a
scalar.

Binary operations are the keystone of most algebraic structures, that are studied in algebra, and used in
all mathematics, such as fields, groups, monoids, rings, algebras, and many more.

In mathematics, a set is a collection of distinct objects, considered as an object in its own right. For
example, the numbers 2, 4, and 6 are distinct objects when considered separately, but when they are
considered collectively they form a single set of size three, written {2, 4, 6}. The concept of a set is one of
the most fundamental in mathematics. Developed at the end of the 19th century, set theory is now a
ubiquitous part of mathematics, and can be used as a foundation from which nearly all of mathematics
can be derived. In mathematics education, elementary topics from set theory such as Venn diagrams are
taught at a young age, while more advanced concepts are taught as part of a university degree.

The German word Menge, rendered as "set" in English, was coined by Bernard Bolzano in his work The
Paradoxes of the Infinite.