Proofs:Contraposition
Let and be propositions such that . Then, the contrapositive of the conditional statement "" (read as "if P, then Q" or "P implies Q") is " (read as "if not Q, then not P" or "not Q implies not P"). The contrapositive is logically equivalent to the original conditional; that is, a conditional and its contrapositive always have the same truth values. For example, the contrapositive of "if , then is positive" is "if is NOT positive, then ". These two statements are logically equivalent, and are both true. Sometimes, proving the contrapositive of a conditional is easier than proving the conditional itself. For example: Let x be an integer. If is even, then x is even. While we can attempt to prove this conditional statement directly, it is easier to show that if x is not even, then is not even, given that an odd number times an odd number must be odd (that is, not even).
Resources
- Proof by Contrapositive, Dartmouth University
- Proof by Contrapositive, Fresno State University