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In mathematics, proof by contrapositive, or proof by contraposition, is a rule of inference used in proofs, where one infers a conditional statement from its contrapositive. [15] In other words, the conclusion "if A , then B " is inferred by constructing a proof of the claim "if not B , then not A " instead.
The converse may or may not be true, and even if true, the proof may be difficult. For example, the four-vertex theorem was proved in 1912, but its converse was proved only in 1997. [3] In practice, when determining the converse of a mathematical theorem, aspects of the antecedent may be taken as establishing context.
Example 1. One way to demonstrate the invalidity of this argument form is with a counterexample with true premises but an obviously false conclusion. For example: If someone lives in San Diego, then they live in California. Joe lives in California. Therefore, Joe lives in San Diego. There are many places to live in California other than San Diego.
In logic, an inverse is a type of conditional sentence which is an immediate inference made from another conditional sentence. More specifically, given a conditional sentence of the form P → Q {\displaystyle P\rightarrow Q} , the inverse refers to the sentence ¬ P → ¬ Q {\displaystyle \neg P\rightarrow \neg Q} .
In the monoid of binary endorelations on a set (with the binary operation on relations being the composition of relations), the converse relation does not satisfy the definition of an inverse from group theory, that is, if is an arbitrary relation on , then does not equal the identity relation on in general.
In proof by exhaustion, the conclusion is established by dividing it into a finite number of cases and proving each one separately. The number of cases sometimes can become very large. For example, the first proof of the four color theorem was a proof by exhaustion with 1,936 cases. This proof was controversial because the majority of the cases ...
Example 1 "John is a king" implies that John is male. So knowing that John is a king is sufficient to knowing that he is a male. Example 2 A number's being divisible by 4 is sufficient (but not necessary) for it to be even, but being divisible by 2 is both sufficient and necessary for it to be even. Example 3
Such a proof is again a refutation by contradiction. A typical example is the proof of the proposition "there is no smallest positive rational number": assume there is a smallest positive rational number q and derive a contradiction by observing that q / 2 is even smaller than q and still positive.