Algebra is often referred to as a generalisation of arithmetic. As such, it is a
collection of rules : rules for translating words into the symbolic notation of
mathematics, rules for formulating mathematical statements using symbolic
notation, and rules for rewriting mathematical statements in a manner that
leaves their truth unchanged.
Together with geometry, analysis, topology, combinatorics, and number theory,
algebra is one of the main branches of pure mathematics. The part of algebra
called elementary algebra is often part of the curriculum is secondary education
and introduces the concept of variables representing numbers. Algebra is much
broader than elementary algebra and studies what happens when different