Mathematical Fallacies
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Mathematical Fallacies
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 examples of mathematical fallacies there is some element of concealment or deception in the presentation of the proof. For example, the reason why validity fails may be attributed to a division by zero that is hidden by algebraic notation. There is a certain quality of the mathematical fallacy: as typically presented, it leads not only to an absurd result, but does so in a crafty or clever way. Therefore, these fallacies, for pedagogic reasons, usually take the form of spurious proofs of obvious contradictions. Although the proofs are flawed, the errors, usually by design, are comparatively subtle, or designed to show that certain steps are conditional, and ...
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Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ...
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P(A) = Det(AIn − A) = Det(A − A) = 0
P, or p, is the sixteenth letter of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is ''pee'' (pronounced ), plural ''pees''. History The Semitic Pê (mouth), as well as the Greek Π or π ( Pi), and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet, all symbolized , a voiceless bilabial plosive. Use in writing systems In English orthography and most other European languages, represents the sound . A common digraph in English is , which represents the sound , and can be used to transliterate '' phi'' in loanwords from Greek. In German, the digraph is common, representing a labial affricate . Most English words beginning with are of foreign origin, primarily French, Latin and Greek, these languages preserve Proto-Indo-European initial *p. Native English cognates of such words often start with , since English is a Germanic language and thus has undergone Grimm's law; a native English word with initia ...
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Square Root
In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that ; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or  ⋅ ) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16, because . Every nonnegative real number has a unique nonnegative square root, called the ''principal square root'', which is denoted by \sqrt, where the symbol \sqrt is called the ''radical sign'' or ''radix''. For example, to express the fact that the principal square root of 9 is 3, we write \sqrt = 3. The term (or number) whose square root is being considered is known as the ''radicand''. The radicand is the number or expression underneath the radical sign, in this case 9. For nonnegative , the principal square root can also be written in exponent notation, as . Every positive number has two square roots: \sqrt, which is positive, and -\sqrt, which is negative. The two roots can be written more concisely using the ± sign as \plusmn\sqrt. ...
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Inverse Function
In mathematics, the inverse function of a function (also called the inverse of ) is a function that undoes the operation of . The inverse of exists if and only if is bijective, and if it exists, is denoted by f^ . For a function f\colon X\to Y, its inverse f^\colon Y\to X admits an explicit description: it sends each element y\in Y to the unique element x\in X such that . As an example, consider the real-valued function of a real variable given by . One can think of as the function which multiplies its input by 5 then subtracts 7 from the result. To undo this, one adds 7 to the input, then divides the result by 5. Therefore, the inverse of is the function f^\colon \R\to\R defined by f^(y) = \frac . Definitions Let be a function whose domain is the set , and whose codomain is the set . Then is ''invertible'' if there exists a function from to such that g(f(x))=x for all x\in X and f(g(y))=y for all y\in Y. If is invertible, then there is exactly one function sat ...
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Constant Function
In mathematics, a constant function is a function whose (output) value is the same for every input value. For example, the function is a constant function because the value of is 4 regardless of the input value (see image). Basic properties As a real-valued function of a real-valued argument, a constant function has the general form or just :Example: The function or just is the specific constant function where the output value is The domain of this function is the set of all real numbers R. The codomain of this function is just . The independent variable ''x'' does not appear on the right side of the function expression and so its value is "vacuously substituted". Namely and so on. No matter what value of ''x'' is input, the output is "2". :Real-world example: A store where every item is sold for the price of 1 dollar. The graph of the constant function is a horizontal line in the plane that passes through the point In the context of a polynomial in one variable ...
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Up To
Two Mathematical object, mathematical objects ''a'' and ''b'' are called equal up to an equivalence relation ''R'' * if ''a'' and ''b'' are related by ''R'', that is, * if ''aRb'' holds, that is, * if the equivalence classes of ''a'' and ''b'' with respect to ''R'' are equal. This figure of speech is mostly used in connection with expressions derived from equality, such as uniqueness or count. For example, ''x'' is unique up to ''R'' means that all objects ''x'' under consideration are in the same equivalence class with respect to the relation ''R''. Moreover, the equivalence relation ''R'' is often designated rather implicitly by a generating condition or transformation. For example, the statement "an integer's prime factorization is unique up to ordering" is a concise way to say that any two lists of prime factors of a given integer are equivalent with respect to the relation ''R'' that relates two lists if one can be obtained by reordering (permutation) from the other. As anot ...
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Common Logarithm
In mathematics, the common logarithm is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm and as the decimal logarithm, named after its base, or Briggsian logarithm, after Henry Briggs, an English mathematician who pioneered its use, as well as standard logarithm. Historically, it was known as ''logarithmus decimalis'' or ''logarithmus decadis''. It is indicated by , , or sometimes with a capital (however, this notation is ambiguous, since it can also mean the complex natural logarithmic multi-valued function). On calculators, it is printed as "log", but mathematicians usually mean natural logarithm (logarithm with base e ≈ 2.71828) rather than common logarithm when they write "log". To mitigate this ambiguity, the ISO 80000 specification recommends that should be written , and should be . Before the early 1970s, handheld electronic calculators were not available, and mechanical calculators capable of multiplication were bulky, expensive and not widely ...
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Integration By Parts
In calculus, and more generally in mathematical analysis, integration by parts or partial integration is a process that finds the integral of a product of functions in terms of the integral of the product of their derivative and antiderivative. It is frequently used to transform the antiderivative of a product of functions into an antiderivative for which a solution can be more easily found. The rule can be thought of as an integral version of the product rule of differentiation. The integration by parts formula states: \begin \int_a^b u(x) v'(x) \, dx & = \Big (x) v(x)\Biga^b - \int_a^b u'(x) v(x) \, dx\\ & = u(b) v(b) - u(a) v(a) - \int_a^b u'(x) v(x) \, dx. \end Or, letting u = u(x) and du = u'(x) \,dx while v = v(x) and dv = v'(x) \, dx, the formula can be written more compactly: \int u \, dv \ =\ uv - \int v \, du. Mathematician Brook Taylor discovered integration by parts, first publishing the idea in 1715. More general formulations of integration by parts ex ...
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Differential (mathematics)
In mathematics, differential refers to several related notions derived from the early days of calculus, put on a rigorous footing, such as infinitesimal differences and the derivatives of functions. The term is used in various branches of mathematics such as calculus, differential geometry, algebraic geometry and algebraic topology. Introduction The term differential is used nonrigorously in calculus to refer to an infinitesimal ("infinitely small") change in some varying quantity. For example, if ''x'' is a variable, then a change in the value of ''x'' is often denoted Δ''x'' (pronounced ''delta x''). The differential ''dx'' represents an infinitely small change in the variable ''x''. The idea of an infinitely small or infinitely slow change is, intuitively, extremely useful, and there are a number of ways to make the notion mathematically precise. Using calculus, it is possible to relate the infinitely small changes of various variables to each other mathematically using d ...
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Integral
In mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ..., an integral assigns numbers to functions in a way that describes Displacement (geometry), displacement, area, volume, and other concepts that arise by combining infinitesimal data. The process of finding integrals is called integration. Along with Derivative, differentiation, integration is a fundamental, essential operation of calculus,Integral calculus is a very well established mathematical discipline for which there are many sources. See and , for example. and serves as a tool to solve problems in mathematics and physics involving the area of an arbitrary shape, the length of a curve, and the volume of a solid, among others. The integrals enumerated here are those termed definite integrals, which can be int ...
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Limit Of A Function
Although the function (sin ''x'')/''x'' is not defined at zero, as ''x'' becomes closer and closer to zero, (sin ''x'')/''x'' becomes arbitrarily close to 1. In other words, the limit of (sin ''x'')/''x'', as ''x'' approaches zero, equals 1. In mathematics, the limit of a function is a fundamental concept in calculus and analysis concerning the behavior of that function near a particular input. Formal definitions, first devised in the early 19th century, are given below. Informally, a function ''f'' assigns an output ''f''(''x'') to every input ''x''. We say that the function has a limit ''L'' at an input ''p,'' if ''f''(''x'') gets closer and closer to ''L'' as ''x'' moves closer and closer to ''p''. More specifically, when ''f'' is applied to any input ''sufficiently'' close to ''p'', the output value is forced ''arbitrarily'' close to ''L''. On the other hand, if some inputs very close to ''p'' are taken to outputs that stay a fixed distance apart, ...
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Mathematical Analysis
Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series (mathematics), series, and analytic functions. These theories are usually studied in the context of Real number, real and Complex number, complex numbers and Function (mathematics), functions. Analysis evolved from calculus, which involves the elementary concepts and techniques of analysis. Analysis may be distinguished from geometry; however, it can be applied to any Space (mathematics), space of mathematical objects that has a definition of nearness (a topological space) or specific distances between objects (a metric space). History Ancient Mathematical analysis formally developed in the 17th century during the Scientific Revolution, but many of its ideas can be traced back to earlier mathematicians. Early results in analysis were i ...
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