BRIDGING THE GAP:

DESIGNING AN INTRODUCTION TO
PROOFS
Mihaela Munday Ph.D.
Mathematics Education
School of Teacher Education
Savannah State University
 HOW TO DO MATH PROOFS
1. Understand that math uses information that the students already know or they should know, especially axioms or the results of
other theorems.

2. Write out what is given, as well as what is needed to be proven. It shows that you will start with what is given, use other axioms,
theorems, or math that you already know to be true, and arrive at what you want to prove. True understanding means you can repeat, and
paraphrase the problem in at least 3 different ways: pure symbols, flowchart, and using words.

3. Ask yourself questions as you move along. "Why is this so?" and "Is there any way this can be false?" are good questions for every
statement, or claim. These questions will be asked by your professor in every step, and as soon as he/she can't verify one of those questions,
your grade will go down. Back up every statement with a reason! Justify your process.

4. Make sure your proof is step-by-step. It needs to flow from one statement to the other, with support for each statement, so that there is
no reason to doubt the validity of your proof. It should be constructionist, like building a house: orderly, systematic, and with properly paced
progress. There is a very graphic proof of the Pythagorean theorem which is found by a simple process.

5. Ask your professor or classmate if you have questions. It's okay to ask questions every now and then—doing so is part of the learning
process. Remember: There is no such thing as a silly question.

6. Designate the end of your proof. There are several methods for doing this: Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum, which is Latin for "which
was to be shown"). Technically, this is only appropriate when the last statement of the proof is itself the proposition to be proven.
-A filled-in square (a "bullet") at the end of the proof.
-R.A.A. (reductio ad absurdum, translated as "a bringing back to absurdity") is for indirect proofs, or proofs by contradiction. If the proof is
incorrect, however, these symbols are very bad news for your grade.
-If you're not sure if your proof is correct, just write a few sentences saying what your conclusion was and why it is significant. If you use
one of the above symbols and you turned out to be wrong, your grade will suffer.

7. Remember the definitions you were given. Go through your notes and the book to see if the definition is correct.

8. Take time to ponder about the proof. The goal wasn't the proof, it was the learning. If you only do the proof and then move on then, you
are missing out on half of the learning experience. Think about it. Will you be satisfied with this?
 TIPS ABOUT PROOFS
 A good mathematical proof makes every step really obvious. Impressive-sounding statements
might get marks in other subjects, but in mathematics they tend to hide holes in the reasoning.

 Proofs are difficult to learn to write. One excellent way to learn proofs is to study related
theorems, and how those were proved.

 What looks like failure, but is more than you started with, is actually progress. It can inform the
solution.

 There are thousands of "heuristics“(experience-based techniques for problem solving) or good

ideas to try. Polya's book has two parts, a how to, and an encyclopedia of heuristics.

 The best thing about most proofs: they've already been proven, which means they are usually
true! If you come to a conclusion that's different than what you were to prove, then you more than
likely messed up somewhere. Just go back and carefully review each step.

 Writing multiple drafts for your proofs is not uncommon. Considering some homework sets will
comprise 10 pages or more, you will want to make sure you got it right.

 Realize that a proof is just a good argument with every step justified.
 INTRODUCTION TO PROOFS
Proving Something is False
Conjectures can be proved false with a single counter-example.
For example:
 In a quadrilateral, if all angles are congruent, then all sides are congruent.
This is false, because a rectangle that is not a square constitutes a counter-example: all its angles are
congruent, and yet all the sides are not congruent.

Proving Something is True

Conjectures can be proved true by using a logical argument, based on known facts. When a conjecture has been
proved true, it is called a theorem.
A proof is a logical argument. In math, something is considered true if it has been proved.
It is not enough for something to seem true. In writing a proof, you can only use facts that have previously been proved,
or facts that are assumed true without proof.

In this class, we will assume the following facts are true without proving them:
 Vertical angles are congruent.

 If a line crosses two parallel lines, then corresponding angles are congruent. (also alternate

 interior)

 If the corresponding (or alternate interior) angles are congruent, then the lines are parallel.

 The sum of the angles in a triangle is 180°.

 SSS, SAS, ASA for congruent triangles.

 SSS, SAS, AA for similar triangles.

 INGREDIENTS OF A PROOF

Setup:
 A statement of what you are trying to prove,
 An “if, then” diagram,
 A figure, and
 A “given, prove” statement, based on the figure
Example
The Isosceles Triangle Theorem: in a triangle, if two sides are congruent, then the angles opposite them are congruent.
If-then diagram:
Given: In ∆ABC, AB = AC
Prove: <ABC <ACB
1. You will write a proof based on drawing an auxiliary (i.e. helping) line.
a. On the figure, mark the midpoint of segment BC. Label it M.
b. Mark the resulting equal segments.
c. Join segment AM with a line segment. (AM is called the median.)
d. Write a proof that the angles are congruent, giving reasons for all your statements. (Hint: use congruent triangles.)
2. Another way to state this theorem is “The base angles of an ________________ are ________”. Fill in the blanks.
Proving the Converse
The converse of a theorem is the statement you get when you reverse the “if” and “then” parts. It needs its own proof, because it is not
always true.
Converse of the Isosceles Triangle Theorem: In a triangle, if two angles are congruent, then the sides opposite them are congruent.
3. a. Draw an “if, then” diagram.
b. Draw a figure.
c. Write a “Given” and a “Prove” based on the figure.
4. Write a proof of the Converse of the Isosceles Triangle Theorem, using an altitude. (An altitude is the perpendicular dropped from a
vertex to the opposite side.)
 TWO FORMATS FOR PROOF
1. This is an example of a proof in paragraph form. This is the form
mathematicians use. Examine the given information and mark the
diagram appropriately. Then fill in the blanks in the proof.

Given: RQ=SQ and RP=SP.

P
Prove: ∠ R = ∠ S.

The given information is:_____________ and______________

PQ=PQ because of the_________________________. So
∆PRQ∆PSQ because of the____________ property for congruent
triangles. Therefore,______________________
because corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent.