Paul Nicholls Stuff

22May/080

Proof by Induction

A proof aims to establish a fact by taking a proposition - conjecture - and applying by the mathematical axioms (given truths) establish a proved theorum. Induction is a general method for establishing a proof, and is usually used to establish that a proposition is true for any natural number.

22May/080

Lets Talk About Sets

A set is a collection of distinct objects considered as a whole.

[Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set ]

A set can be thought of as a collection of objects - or elements - and these objects can be anything, data - numerical - or indeed other sets. Elements in a set are in no particular order, and elements in a set must by definition be unique.

22May/080

Propositional and Predicate Logic

A Proposition is a declarative sentence, which may be shown to be either true, or false, whether the statement is true or false is not - however - relevant. Both "1+2-=3" and "1+2=4" are example of propositions. Predicate logic allows us to explore the truthfulness of a statement, it has an expressive power which propositional logic does not.