_____________ are characters or symbols that perform operations on one or more operands.

Operators are characters or symbols that perform operations on one or more operands. Operands are the values that the operators act on. Operators are used in mathematics, programming, and other fields to express equations, formulas, and algorithms.

Examples of operators include arithmetic operations such as + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), and / (division). There are also comparison operators like < (less than), > (greater than), == (equal to), and != (not equal to), and logical operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. Operators can also include assignment symbols like = (assigns a value to a variable).

Basic arithmetic operators include addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*) and division (/). We will explain each by using two operands, a and b: 1. Addition (+): The addition operator adds the values of two or more operands. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a+b will result in a value of 8. 2. Subtraction (-): The subtraction operator subtracts the value of one operand from another. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a-b will result in a value of -2. 3. Multiplication (*): The multiplication operator multiplies the values of two or more operands. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a*b will result in a value of 15. 4. Division (/): The division operator divides the value of one operand by another. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a/b will result in a value of 0.6.

Comparison operators are used to compare the values of the operands. They return a boolean value, either true or false. Here are the basic comparison operators: 1. Less than (<): Returns true if the value of the left operand is smaller than the right operand. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a): Returns true if the value of the left operand is larger than the right operand. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a>b will return false. 3. Equal to (==): Returns true if the values of the left and right operands are equal. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a==b will return false. 4. Not equal to (!=): Returns true if the values of the left and right operands are not equal. If a=3 and b=5, the equation a!=b will return true.

Logical operators are used to combine two or more conditions in a boolean expression. The basic logical operators are: 1. AND: The AND operator returns true if both conditions are true. 2. OR: The OR operator returns true if at least one of the conditions is true. 3. NOT: The NOT operator returns true if the condition is false and vice versa. These operators are commonly used in programming and control structures to make decisions based on specific conditions.