Arithmetic operations are the basic mathematical processes used to calculate numbers. The four primary operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Each operation serves a different purpose: addition combines numbers, subtraction finds the difference, multiplication scales numbers, and division splits them into equal parts. These operations are foundational in mathematics and are used in everyday life, from budgeting to cooking. Understanding how to perform these operations is essential for solving more complex problems and is a key skill in fields such as science, engineering, and finance.