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  2. Descartes' rule of signs - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes'_rule_of_signs

    The rule states that if the nonzero terms of a single-variable polynomial with real coefficients are ordered by descending variable exponent, then the number of positive roots of the polynomial is either equal to the number of sign changes between consecutive (nonzero) coefficients, or is less than it by an even number.

  3. Mathematical fallacy - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 examples of mathematical fallacies there is some element of concealment or ...

  4. Proving a negative - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proving_a_negative

    Proving a negative or negative proof may refer to: Proving a negative, in the philosophic burden of proof; Evidence of absence in general, such as evidence that there is no milk in a certain bowl; Modus tollens, a logical proof; Proof of impossibility, mathematics; Russell's teapot, an analogy: inability to disprove does not prove

  5. Proof of impossibility - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_impossibility

    One of the widely used types of impossibility proof is proof by contradiction.In this type of proof, it is shown that if a proposition, such as a solution to a particular class of equations, is assumed to hold, then via deduction two mutually contradictory things can be shown to hold, such as a number being both even and odd or both negative and positive.

  6. Proof by contradiction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_by_contradiction

    Such a proof is again a refutation by contradiction. A typical example is the proof of the proposition "there is no smallest positive rational number": assume there is a smallest positive rational number q and derive a contradiction by observing that ⁠ q / 2 ⁠ is even smaller than q and still positive.

  7. Second partial derivative test - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_partial_derivative_test

    At the remaining critical point (0, 0) the second derivative test is insufficient, and one must use higher order tests or other tools to determine the behavior of the function at this point. (In fact, one can show that f takes both positive and negative values in small neighborhoods around (0, 0) and so this point is a saddle point of f.)

  8. Resolution (logic) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_(logic)

    In order to prevent generating useless trivial resolvents, the rule shall be applied only when has at least one "negative" and "positive" [14] occurrence in and , respectively. Murray has shown that this rule is complete if augmented by appropriate logical transformation rules. [10]: 103

  9. Double negation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_negation

    Double negative elimination is a theorem of classical logic, but not of weaker logics such as intuitionistic logic and minimal logic. Double negation introduction is a theorem of both intuitionistic logic and minimal logic, as is ¬ ¬ ¬ A ⊢ ¬ A {\displaystyle \neg \neg \neg A\vdash \neg A} .