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If the sum of the interior angles α and β is less than 180°, the two straight lines, produced indefinitely, meet on that side. In geometry, the parallel postulate, also called Euclid's fifth postulate because it is the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements, is a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry.
The various attempted proofs of the parallel postulate produced a long list of theorems that are equivalent to the parallel postulate. Equivalence here means that in the presence of the other axioms of the geometry each of these theorems can be assumed to be true and the parallel postulate can be proved from this altered set of axioms.
Since non-Euclidean geometry is provably relatively consistent with Euclidean geometry, the parallel postulate cannot be proved from the other postulates. In the 19th century, it was also realized that Euclid's ten axioms and common notions do not suffice to prove all of the theorems stated in the Elements .
In Euclid's Elements, the first 28 Propositions and Proposition 31 avoid using the parallel postulate, and therefore are valid in absolute geometry.One can also prove in absolute geometry the exterior angle theorem (an exterior angle of a triangle is larger than either of the remote angles), as well as the Saccheri–Legendre theorem, which states that the sum of the measures of the angles in ...
Parallel lines are the subject of Euclid's parallel postulate. [2] Parallelism is primarily a property of affine geometries and Euclidean geometry is a special instance of this type of geometry. In some other geometries, such as hyperbolic geometry , lines can have analogous properties that are referred to as parallelism.
Parovicenko's theorem ; Parallel axis theorem ; Parseval's theorem (Fourier analysis) Parthasarathy's theorem (game theory) Pascal's theorem ; Pasch's theorem (order theory) Peano existence theorem (ordinary differential equations) Peeling theorem ; Peetre theorem (functional analysis) Peixoto's theorem (dynamical systems)
It follows from Euclid's parallel postulate that if the two lines are parallel, then the angles of a pair of corresponding angles of a transversal are congruent (Proposition 1.29 of Euclid's Elements). If the angles of one pair of corresponding angles are congruent, then the angles of each of the other pairs are also congruent.
The Pythagorean theorem is derived from the axioms of Euclidean geometry, and in fact, were the Pythagorean theorem to fail for some right triangle, then the plane in which this triangle is contained cannot be Euclidean. More precisely, the Pythagorean theorem implies, and is implied by, Euclid's Parallel (Fifth) Postulate.