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Writing Proofs
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Deductive Reasoning and Proving

Example

Prove that if a line that does not lie on a plane intersects the plane, then their point of intersection contains only one point.



Solution

It will help if you construct diagrams and restate the problem to understand what you need to prove. Refer to the figure below.


Restatement

If line l does not lie on plane Ƥ but intersects plane Ƥ, then line l and plane Ƥ intersect at exactly one point.

Given: Line l does not lie on plane Ƥ.
Line l intersects plane Ƥ.
Prove: Line l and plane Ƥ intersect at exactly one point.


Proof

Suppose line l does not lie on plane Ƥ but intersects plane Ƥ at two points, say, Q and R.

Line l passes through points Q and R, and so, line l lies on plane Ƥ.

However, this contradicts the assumption that line l does not lie on plane Ƥ.

Therefore, line l intersects plane Ƥ at exactly one point.