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Mathematical fallacy. In mathematics, certain kinds of mistaken proof are often exhibited, and sometimes collected, as illustrations of a concept called mathematical fallacy. There is a distinction between a simple mistake and a mathematical fallacy in a proof, in that a mistake in a proof leads to an invalid proof while in the best-known ...
Fermat–Catalan conjecture. In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers a, b, and c satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than 2. The cases n = 1 and n = 2 have been known since antiquity to have infinitely many ...
In two dimensions, 2x 1 + 2x 2 is the perimeter of a rectangle with sides of length x 1 and x 2. Similarly, 4 √ x 1 x 2 is the perimeter of a square with the same area, x 1 x 2, as that rectangle. Thus for n = 2 the AM–GM inequality states that a rectangle of a given area has the smallest perimeter if that rectangle is also a square.
Fermat's little theorem. In number theory, Fermat's little theorem states that if p is a prime number, then for any integer a, the number ap − a is an integer multiple of p. In the notation of modular arithmetic, this is expressed as. For example, if a = 2 and p = 7, then 27 = 128, and 128 − 2 = 126 = 7 × 18 is an integer multiple of 7 .
The classic proof that the square root of 2 is irrational is a refutation by contradiction. [11] Indeed, we set out to prove the negation ¬ ∃ a, b ∈ . a/b = √ 2 by assuming that there exist natural numbers a and b whose ratio is the square root of two, and derive a contradiction.
Viviani's theorem, named after Vincenzo Viviani, states that the sum of the shortest distances from any interior point to the sides of an equilateral triangle equals the length of the triangle's altitude. [ 1] It is a theorem commonly employed in various math competitions, secondary school mathematics examinations, and has wide applicability to ...
Chebyshev's inequality. In probability theory, Chebyshev's inequality (also called the Bienaymé–Chebyshev inequality) provides an upper bound on the probability of deviation of a random variable (with finite variance) from its mean. More specifically, the probability that a random variable deviates from its mean by more than is at most ...
In mathematics, Hall's marriage theorem, proved by Philip Hall ( 1935 ), is a theorem with two equivalent formulations. In each case, the theorem gives a necessary and sufficient condition for an object to exist: The combinatorial formulation answers whether a finite collection of sets has a transversal —that is, whether an element can be ...