AXIOMS OF EQUALITY

An axiom (or


postulate) is a
statement that is
assumed to be true.
 Axioms of Equality
 Let a, b, and c be and elements of  .

 Reflexive Property: aa

 
 Symmetric Property: If a  b, then b  a
 Transitive Property:
If a  b and b  c, then a  c
 THEOREMS AND
PROOF: ADDITION
ADDITION PROPERTY
OF EQUALITY
 Theorem
 For all real numbers a, b, and c,

 If acbc ab
, then
 Theorem
 For all real numbers a, b, and c, if

a  c  orb  c
ca cb
then

ab
Property of the Opposite of a Sum
 For all real numbers a and b,

 a  b   a   b 

 That is, the opposite of a sum of real numbers is the

sum of the opposites of the numbers.
Cancellation Property of Additive Inverses

 For all real numbers a,

 a   a
Properties of Products
Multiplication properties are


similar to addition properties.

The following are theorems of



multiplication.
 Theorem

 For all real numbers b and all

nonzero real numbers c,
1
bc   b
c
 Cancellation Property of
Multiplication
 For all real numbers a and b and
all nonzero real numbers c, if
ac  bc ca  cb ab
or ,then
 Properties of the Reciprocal of a
Product
 For all nonzero real numbers a and b,

1 1 1
 
ab a b
 That is, the reciprocal of a product of nonzero real
numbers is the product of the reciprocals of the
numbers.
 Multiplicative Property of Zero
 For all real numbers a,

and
a0  0 0a  0
 Multiplicative Property of -1
 For all real numbers a,

a 1  a and 1 a  a
 
Properties of Opposites of Products
 For all real numbers a and b,

a b  ab
a b   ab

a b   ab