Friday 10 October 2014

Week 5

This week we learned more about proof structures and using the basic knowledge of the contrapositive, contradiction, existence, and sequence and applying them to a proof.  I found the case of P -> Q to be interesting when applying it to n is odd -> n^2 is odd. I see the usefulness of applying the contrapositive of n^2 is not odd -> n is not odd for more general cases when the reverse of the directions is the easiest way to approach a proof. I also learned that contradictions were useful in approaching a proof when something seems obvious and so to assume the negation of the antecedent and see whether that is true or false. For existential  I learned that you have to find one example where the claim is true. Sequences confused me, at first the example proofs of sequences, the  symbols, and steps you had to take in the proof overwhelmed me but then I later looked at the slides and approached the example proof step by step and in great detail and it became clearer. I see that there are multiple approaches and techniques already established for proofs so you do not have to approach a proof completely from scratch. I also can see that proofs require a lot of trial and error. The week before we did A1 which I found was helpful in preparing for the test as it gave me practice questions and let me review the material so that I understood the course content more clearly when coming to the term test.

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